Overall a £1.7 billion pound funding package has been agreed by Homes England to support a total of 23 strategic partners, who together will deliver around 40,000 affordable homes starts by March 2022.

The new partnerships announced today are: Bromford, Curo & Swan, Liverpool Mutual Homes & Torus, Longhurst & Nottingham Community Housing Association, Together, Walsall Housing Group, Yorkshire and Your Housing Group. They represent a range of housing associations from across England, all with the ambition to deliver more homes at pace.

Homes England Chairman, Sir Edward Lister said:

I welcome the new strategic partners who share our ambition to build better homes faster.

Our new ways of working with the sector means that housing associations can use their funding flexibly across their development programmes and respond quickly to local housing demand and a changing market.

ENDS

For further information please contact Patsy Cusworth, PR and Media Manager, Tel: 020 7393 2201 or 0796772328 Email: patsy.cusworth@homesengland.gov.uk.

Notes to Editors:

About Homes England:

Homes England is the new housing delivery organisation that has been created to adopt a more commercial approach to respond to the long term housing challenges facing this country. The new, expanded agency will play a far bigger role in investing in supply and intervening in the market to help deliver 300,000 homes a year by the middle of the next decade.

Homes England will act differently from its predecessor, bringing together money, land, expertise and planning and compulsory purchase powers to accelerate the supply of new homes and address affordability issues in areas of highest demand.

Following the publication of the 2019 Total Allowable Catch Regulation in the official journal of the European Union, the revised rules relating to fishing for sea bass now apply.

Commercial fishing for seabass

Commercial fishing vessels are prohibited from fishing for seabass in ICES divisions 4b and 4c, and in ICES subarea 7 during 01 February to 31 March 2019. Commercial fishing from the shore, within these areas, is prohibited for the entirety of 2019.

Those commercial fishing vessels with authorisation to do so from the MMO may catch and retain bass during 1 April to 31 December 2019. The MMO will be writing to all fishing vessel owners who have a current authorisation to catch and retain bass and providing further guidance on our website soon.

Recreational fishing for seabass

Recreational fisheries, including from shore, in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 6a, 7a to 7k are limited to catch-and-release only during 01 February to 31 March and 1 November to 31 December 2019. From 1 April to 31 October 2019, not more than one seabass may be retained per fisherman per day.

In recreational fisheries in ICES divisions 8a and 8b, a maximum of three seabass may be retained per fisherman per day.

This morning, the Prime Minister chaired the second meeting of the Council of Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chairs at Downing Street.

Alongside the LEP Chairs she was joined by Business Secretary Greg Clark and Communities Secretary James Brokenshire.

The Prime Minister began by thanking the Chairs for their work to help deliver the modern Industrial Strategy across the UK.

She emphasised the importance the government places on listening to business as we prepare to leave the European Union and reaffirmed her commitment to supporting the role of LEPs to make sure that communities across the country are best placed to thrive.

Discussion covered the different approaches which LEPs are taking to develop bespoke Local Industrial Strategies, as well as their engagement with SMEs.

The Chairs spoke about the ongoing partnerships between government, business and academia to drive productivity and tackle the Grand Challenges outlined in the Industrial Strategy.

Attendees recognised the need to reflect the specific strengths and potential of each area in their plans and they highlighted successes to date such as tailored programmes of support for local SMEs.

All agreed on the importance of making sure that Local Industrial Strategies deliver a meaningful difference to local growth and emphasised the opportunities ahead for greater collaboration and innovation.

Prime Minister Theresa May chaired the second meeting of the Council of Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Chairs at Downing Street.

The major milestone comes after the first cohort of RAF aircrew commenced their training for the programme earlier this month, marking the start of a vital enhancement of the UK’s military capabilities in the maritime environment. The P-8A Poseidon is a new aircraft for the RAF designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles, in particular anti-submarine, anti-shipping and search and rescue.

The Minister made the announcement for the P-8A programme during a visit to local Cambridge firm, Marshall Aerospace and Defence, where the fuel tanks for the aircraft are being produced.

Marshall Aerospace and Defence, which trained over 20,000 pilots during World War Two, manufactures the fuel tanks for sub-hunters globally, including for the United States Navy and Royal Australian Air Force. Marshall has been producing tanks for P-8 aircraft since 2009, and is due to deliver the 700th to Boeing this month. The skill involved in the design of this specialist equipment helps keep our Armed Forces safe and provides global protection to NATO and Allies’ submarines and warships, while sustaining 60 local jobs.

Minister for Defence Procurement Stuart Andrew said:

Local companies, like Marshall Aerospace and Defence, form the backbone of our economy. The MOD has invested £141m in Marshall and I am proud to recognise the vital role they play in shaping our world-leading defence industry. Our new submarine-hunters will be a potent deterrent to our adversaries and a dependable asset for the UK and our allies, and the innovative defence equipment built by Marshall will help us combat a range of intensifying threats.

The Poseidon MPA aircraft is based on the Boeing 737, which is already supported by UK industry, providing several hundred direct UK jobs at companies including Boeing, Marshall’s, Martin Baker and General Electric UK.

The innovative sub-hunting fleet, designed for future growth and adaptability, will enhance the UK’s specialist airborne maritime patrol capability through advanced, state of the art anti-ship missiles, sonobuoys and torpedoes. The aircraft will also contribute to the protection of the UK’s nuclear deterrent and the UK’s new aircraft carriers, seek to locate and track hostile submarines and enhance maritime Search & Rescue (SAR) capability.

A total of nine submarine hunting aircraft will be delivered to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland in Spring 2020, bringing future opportunities for high-tech employment to the region. The MOD and Boeing have invested £100m in the infrastructure that will house the aircraft at RAF Lossiemouth. When the fleet is fully operational, an additional 470 personnel will be based at RAF Lossiemouth. Further roles are also expected when the training and support services are established at the new facility.

Chief of Materiel (Air) for Defence Equipment and Support, Air Marshal Julian Young said:

The work carried out under the P-8A programme demonstrates how we work collaboratively with industry to deliver vital capability to our Armed Forces – a proven approach that is leading the way internationally. This battle-proven aircraft, already in service with our allies across the globe, will be crucial in the protection of our continuous-at-sea deterrent as well as our new aircraft carriers, helping to tackle the threats we face in the skies and at sea.