The first events to inform, include and inspire have been announced for National Democracy Week.

A series of nationwide events have been announced today as part of the inaugural National Democracy Week, taking place from 2 – 8 July. The events are aimed at inspiring people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in democracy and will be organised by charities and community groups across the country.

This festival of democracy is being held in July to coincide with and celebrate the 90th anniversary of the 1928 Equal Franchise Act – a further historic constitutional milestone which granted equal voting rights to men and women.

Proceedings will kick off on the 2 July in Manchester, with the first ever National Democracy Awards at the People’s Museum. The Awards will recognise the exceptional service of those who work tirelessly to increase democratic engagement in the UK.

Minister for the Constitution, Chloe Smith MP said:

This is a UK-wide festival to celebrate 90 years of equal democratic rights for women and men. I’d encourage everyone to join in National Democracy Week and participate in an activity in their local area. Putting on an event in your local scout hut, school hall or community centre is a great way to celebrate and get your local community involved.

Our democracy should be inclusive of everyone in society. We hope the fantastic events being held around the country will inform, include and inspire people of all backgrounds to participate in our democracy.”

During the week, organisations around the country will hold a wide variety of events, including:

• Shout Out UK will host a ‘Women In Politics Hackathon’ inviting up to 100 young women, including influential figures across parties, to come together and tackle the issue of representation in politics.

• UpRising, the British Red Cross and the Refugee Council are hosting ‘Our Voice’, a youth-led event focused on refugee and asylum seeker issues in Birmingham and Bedford.

• Faith Forums for London will deliver a five day Civic and Democracy Leadership Programme equipping young leaders to participate and engage with our Democracy.

• The Patchwork Foundation is hosting an event to promote positive integration of under-represented, deprived and minority communities into British democracy and civil society.

Over 25 events have been confirmed in eight cities throughout the UK and more are being added all the time. Sign up for an event, advertise yours or download our partner pack here.

Further information

The Prime Minister answered a question at Prime Minister’s Question Time on 6 June about National Democracy Week. Read the full transcript here.

• National Democracy Week events will take place on a national and local level to encourage members of the public to get involved with our democracy, in particular those from under-registered groups, including young people, BAME groups, British ex-pats, and people with disabilities. Events can be found here.

• The week will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918 when the first British women over 30 (who met a property qualification) won the right to vote and the 90th anniversary of the Equal Franchise Act 1928 which granted equal voting rights to men and women.

• The week is being delivered in collaboration with the National Democracy Week Council members, the Cabinet Office and partners across the country.

• Follow us on social media at #talkdemocracy.

• You can find out more about National Democracy Week on the website here.

• For further information on National Democracy Week, contact the Cabinet Office Press Office on 0207 276 0436.

• It takes about 5 minutes to register to vote online. To find out more visit this page.

UK universities and research centres which improve the resilience, sustainability and quality of major crops will benefit from a funding package worth around £5.3 million over five years, Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced today.

The funding will go to four leading agricultural research centres to help develop new technologies and environmentally friendly production for farmers and growers across the country.

They will focus on boosting productivity for pulses, wheat, leafy vegetables and oilseed rape as part of Defra’s Crop Genetic Improvement Networks (GINs).

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

Developing new technology is crucial to making sure our farmers can continue to grow world-class produce in an environmentally friendly way.

Through this new fund, I hope to see the creation of new and innovative growing practices and crop protections so we can truly unlock the potential of our food and farming industries.

Since their creation in 2003 Defra’s GINs have:

• Increased crop resistance to pests and diseases such as orange blossom midge and turnip mosaic virus.
• Enhanced pea crops which are now being used to produce high-quality animal feed.
• The four recipients that will undertake the research are the John Innes Centre, Rothamsted Research, University of Warwick and University of York.

Professor Ian Bancroft, who leads the agricultural research centre at the University of York, said:

We aim to support industry in long-term, sustainable rapeseed production by utilising UK expertise in plant genetics to better understand specific crop traits. Innovation through these networks is essential if we are to see growth in healthy crop production.

The government has so far invested £160 million through the Agri-Tech Strategy to harness the latest agricultural research and technologies.

• more smaller energy suppliers will be required to give vulnerable customers, including pensioners, £140 off their winter bills
• energy suppliers with 150,000 customer accounts or more will be obliged to offer the Warm Home Discount
• having more energy suppliers in the £340 million scheme will increase consumer choice and improve switching for vulnerable customers as part of government plans to eradicate fuel poverty

Plans to ensure more of the smaller energy suppliers are obliged to help vulnerable customers under one of the government’s flagship schemes to tackle fuel poverty, were outlined today (Friday 15 June) by the Minister for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry, following a consultation.

In a move to bring greater fairness to energy prices, lowering the threshold for suppliers to participate in the scheme will mean that 97% of the consumer energy market will be covered. Low income and vulnerable households who get their energy from smaller suppliers will become eligible for the Warm Home Discount, making bills more affordable for around 20,000 more pensioners in 2019/20, and an additional 10,000 pensioners in 2020/21, if the eligibility criteria were to continue in its current form. Extending the eligibility also makes it easier for customers to compare like for like when considering switching.

A stepped approach of lowering the criteria from 250,000 down to 150,000 customer accounts between 2019 and 2021 will ensure that smaller suppliers have enough time to put the right processes in place to take part in the scheme, and reflects the increasing maturity of challengers in the energy retail market.

To reflect this trend, the threshold will be reviewed after 2021 where it could continue to fall, potentially to zero or a small minimum, delivering a level playing field for energy suppliers.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry said:

Tackling fuel poverty is a key priority for this government. Everyone who is automatically eligible for the £140 discount on their energy bills each winter should be able to get it. It shouldn’t be dependent on which energy supplier they are with, so we want change that.

This is why, as part of our commitment to create an energy market that works for everyone, we are lowering the threshold so more smaller suppliers will be able to offer this lifeline discount to their customers who most need it.

Clean and affordable energy is a central aim of our modern Industrial Strategy, building a Britain fit for the future, creating better, higher-paying jobs in every part of the UK.

The Warm Home Discount provides £140 off winter fuel bills each year. It helps around 2.2 million customers who struggle to meet their energy costs during the coldest months.

Some vulnerable customers are provided with this rebate automatically through data matching. The government intends to further consult on this scheme so that with better data matching, all eligible low-income households are identified to automatically get the discount, rather than having to apply to their suppliers to get it.

Reforming and extending policies on fuel poverty are a key part of the government’s commitment to protect low income vulnerable consumers. As outlined in the Industrial Strategy, this includes a recent consultation on changes to the government’s energy efficiency scheme to ensure that nearly a million more low-income households are set to benefit from innovative energy saving measures.

A Bill is also currently progressing through Parliament to cap poor value standard variable and default tariffs for 11 million households. This temporary cap will protect consumers, including vulnerable consumers, until effective competition and an energy market that works for everyone is in place.

Ofgem also extended its Safeguard Tariff Cap on pre-payment meter tariffs to protect a further 1 million vulnerable households, bringing the total protected to 5 million households this winter.

1. The Warm Home Discount scheme was launched in April 2011 and has provided assistance with energy costs to over 2 million low income and vulnerable households in Great Britain each year. Since its launch, the scheme has provided over £2 billion of direct assistance to low income and fuel poor households.
2. The government response to the Warm Home Discount consultation states that the threshold for energy suppliers’ participation in the scheme will remain at 250,000 customer accounts this winter. This will be lowered in future years to 200,000 customer accounts in 2019/20 and 150,000 customer accounts in 2020/21. The threshold will be reduced in a phased way to allow smaller suppliers time to prepare while setting a clear signal to the energy retail market.
3. As the spending envelope for the scheme is fixed, lowering the threshold will not mean more low income and vulnerable customers benefitting from the rebate overall, but more suppliers will be obliged to make it available and costs will be spread across more customers.
4. Only the threshold for the core group of the Warm Home Discount scheme will be reduced. This involves automatic rebates through data matching. If the scheme is reformed in 2019/20 to be fully based on consumers automatically getting the entitlement, this reduce in threshold would still apply.
5. Under the current scheme 94% of the market is covered, the move to reduce the threshold will bring this up to 97% (this is based on current numbers and may change in 2019 as the market develops).
6. Other suppliers below the threshold will be able to volunteer under the scheme. There are currently 3 voluntary smaller suppliers.

Courageous service animals such as police dogs and horses will be offered greater protection under a new law being backed by Government.

The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill has been published in Parliament by Sir Oliver Heald MP and is scheduled for its second reading today (Friday 15 June).

It relates to the prominent Finn’s Law campaign, named after the police dog which was stabbed whilst pursuing a suspect with his handler PC David Wardell.

The proposed legislation will remove a section of the current law of self-defence, often used by those who harm a service animal.

This change, coupled with the government’s plans to increase maximum sentences for animal cruelty offences to five years in prison, will make sure those who harm service animals are punished accordingly.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

This Bill will offer stronger protection for the many brave service animals that help to protect us. I pay tribute to PC David Wardell, Sir Oliver and all those who have campaigned for Finn’s Law.

This Government is continuing to raise the bar on animal welfare, whether it be for our beloved pets, brave service animals or on farms.

PC Dave Wardell, Finn’s Police Dog handler, said:

My boy Finn, now retired, was one of several thousand service animals that work to protect the whole of society 24 hours a day, everyday. When Finn was seriously injured it didn’t seem right to me or the public that he was seen as an inanimate object/property, in law.

This campaign and Bill is my way of saying thank you to Finn for saving my life and to the many others for the truly outstanding and brave work they do everyday.

With the amazing support of my MP, Sir Oliver Heald QC, a great working relationship with DEFRA was formed. Sir Oliver, along with Sarah Dixon and Nicola Skelley, have worked so incredibly hard to get us to the point we are at today. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them and DEFRA from my heart and from the thousands of supporters that our service animals have.

What you have done today will help protect our amazing service animals, animals we should be very proud of. It’s time for Finn’s Law

The Bill proposes amending the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to address concerns on an existing section where a defendant accused of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal can claim they were protecting themselves and justified in using physical force against a service animal.

Sir Oliver Heald MP, who presented the Bill, said:

I am delighted that the campaign for Finn’s Law has gained the support of the Government.

I’ve had productive meetings with Defra ministers on this Bill and am looking forward to its passage through Parliament. This is a good day for all of our brave service animals.

Nicola Skelley and Sarah Dixon, of the Finn’s Law Campaign, said:

We are absolutely delighted to receive and welcome the backing from DEFRA to Sir Oliver Heald’s amended Bill.

Throughout the Finn’s Law campaign we have been grateful to Lord Gardiner, in particular, for the respectful discussions he has held with Sir Oliver.

For too long have the Courts struggled with securing prosecutions for injuries intentionally inflicted on Police and Prison dogs and horses in particular.

We are looking forward to the 2nd reading of Sir Oliver’s Bill and we feel optimistic for a positive outcome. We will continue to work tirelessly towards securing protection for these animals.