Dr Junaid Bajwa, Professor Graham Cooke, Dr Paul Goldsmith and Raj Long have been appointed as Non-Executive Directors on the Board of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for three years.

In addition, Haider Husain has been appointed as a non-voting Associate Non-Executive Director to add further experience to the Board.

Their terms will come into effect from 1 September 2021 to replace Dr Barbara Bannister MBE, Professor Bruce Campbell, Anne-Toni Rodgers and Professor David Webb CBE whose terms all came to an end on 31 August 2021.

Mandy Calvert, Mercy Jeyasingham MBE and Michael Whitehouse OBE will also continue in their roles as Non-Executive Directors on the MHRA Board until the end of their terms in 2023.

I’m pleased to announce that after a comprehensive search and selection process we have been able to appoint such talented Non-Executive Directors to the MHRA Board. Their appointment brings a wealth of diverse experience and expertise that will add huge value to the strategic leadership of the Agency.

I also want to thank our outgoing Non-Executive Directors for their hard work, commitment and wise counsel over what has been a challenging and high-profile period in the Agency’s history.

Notes to Editors

Dr Junaid Bajwa has a wide range of global digital health experience from a software and pharmaceutical perspective, combined with his ongoing clinical, academic and non-executive experience around the world.

Junaid is the Chief Medical Scientist at Microsoft Research, a practising GP in London, Non-Executive Director at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Non-Executive Director of Nahdi Medical Corporation in Saudi Arabia and a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health in the USA. He was previously an Executive Director in the Digital Centre of Excellence for the global pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme, where he helped shape the global digital strategy of the company and then led the academic and technology partnerships to implement it.

Professor Graham Cooke has extensive experience of international clinical research, innovative clinical trial design, World Health Organisation (WHO) Committees and expert groups.

Graham is NIHR Professor of Infectious Diseases at Imperial College in London and leads the translational infection research within the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre with a particular interest in precision medicines and diagnostics. He has been the Principal Investigator for the REACT study of COVID-19 home testing with over 3 million participants and has been involved in several other COVID-19 studies and expert committees. Graham’s international experience also includes being Chair of the WHO Committee on the Selection & Use of Essential Medicines, which has led to globally recognised recommendations on the use of innovative therapies and antibiotics. Graham’s experience also includes being a founding Principal Investigator in the National Health Informatics Collaborative collecting secondary care data to complement our Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) primary care data and was Convenor of a Clinical Expert Group for the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Dr Paul Goldsmith has a breadth of clinical, drug development, digital health and governance experience, whilst also being a serial innovator who has co-founded 4 healthcare businesses.

He has extensive experience in frontline clinical medicine as a Consultant Neurologist and has held NHS Clinical Networks, Vanguard and Senate roles. He is also President, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of Closed Loop Medicine Limited, as well as being a Board Member of the MDU Ltd and MDU Investments Ltd, and trustee of the Big Tent Foundation. Paul’s start-up companies have involved disease modelling, drug development, digital automated therapy provision, online cognitive behavioural therapy and drug optimisation by integrating the use of diagnostics, drugs and digital technologies. He has a PhD in developmental biology and has particular interest in applying evolutionary neuroscience insights to the problems of modern life.

Raj Long has considerable experience as a senior international regulatory executive in the pharmaceutical industry, combined with strategic experience as an advisor to the Department of Health & Social Care, European Union, Gates Foundation and World Health Organisation (WHO).

Raj is currently a Deputy Director for safety and pharmacovigilance at the Gates Foundation and also supports the WHO COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing taskforce. Prior to that, Raj was Consultant Advisor to the Chief Scientist of the WHO, as well as being a WHO co-lead on the COVAX Task Force on COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing and supporting other WHO committees, Vice Chair of the World Dementia Council and has provided advice to numerous expert groups and government initiatives such as the G7 Global Action Against Dementia initiative and the Accelerated Access Review with NHS England. In her executive career, Raj held very senior international regulatory roles with responsibility for licensing innovative medicines in global pharmaceutical companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis and GE Healthcare.

Haider Husain is an experienced international healthcare IT business leader with a strong technology background and experience of partnership working, combined with his work as a Panel Chair for the British Standards Institute (BSI) and non-executive experience within the NHS.

Haider is the Chief Operating Officer of an international healthcare technology consultancy called Healthinnova Limited, a Non-Executive Director of Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and is the Panel Chair for the Safe and Effective Use of AI in Healthcare at the British Standards Institute. Prior to this, Haider was the General Manager for Caradigm’s European population health management business and has worked for other international companies such as Microsoft, GE Healthcare and Logica.

• These Non-Executive Director appointments are made by Ministers in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Governance for Public Appointments. The regulation of public appointments against the requirements of this Code is carried out by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
• Associate Non-Executive Directors are appointed by the Chair of the MHRA Board to provide additional breadth and depth of experience to enable the Board to achieve its responsibilities, but they do not have any voting rights.
• The appointments are made on merit and political activity played no part in the decision process. However, in accordance with the Code, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public.
• The appointment will involve a time commitment of 2 to 3 days per month. Annual remuneration for the role will be £7,883 for the preparation required and attendance at Board Meetings and Board Committee Meetings.
• More information on the work of the Agency Board can be found on the MHRA’s [Governance page}(https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/medicines-and-healthcare-products-regulatory-agency/about/our-governance#the-board)

Families may be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare to help pay for breakfast and after school clubs as children go back to school.

Eligible families can save money on their childcare and benefit from a government top-up worth up to £2,000 every year, or up to £4,000 a year if a child is disabled. In June 2021, about 308,000 families across the UK benefited from using Tax-Free Childcare, but thousands are missing out on this opportunity.

Tax-Free Childcare is available to parents or carers who have children aged up to 11, or 17 if their child is disabled. For every £8 a parent or carer deposits into their account, they will receive a £2 top-up, up to the value of £500 every three months, or £1,000 if their child is disabled.

HMRC recognises that families’ personal circumstances have changed since March 2020 as more parents and carers are preparing to return to their workplaces. The 20% top-up is paid into the Tax-Free Childcare account and is ready to use almost instantly, meaning parents and carers can use the money towards the cost of childminders, breakfast and after school clubs, and approved play schemes.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

As your children head back to school this autumn, don’t miss out on the opportunity to receive your 20% top-up to help pay for their childcare.

It is quick and easy to sign up, just search ‘tax-free childcare’ on GOV.UK.

Tax-Free Childcare is also available for pre-school aged children attending nurseries, childminders or other accredited childcare providers. Parents and carers, who are returning to work after parental leave, can apply for a Tax-Free Childcare account for that child before they need to start using it. Families can start depositing money 31 days before they return to work, maximising the potential government top-up saving.

Childcare providers can also sign up for a childcare provider account via GOV.UK to receive payments from parents and carers via the scheme.

Each eligible child requires their own Tax-Free Childcare account. If families have more than one eligible child, they will need to register an account for each child. The 20% government top-up is then applied to deposits made for each child, not household.

Account holders must confirm their details are up to date every 3 months to continue receiving the government top-up.

This protocol is for the administration of inactivated influenza vaccine to individuals in accordance with the national influenza vaccination programme.

More than 200 industry practitioners joined this online meeting with more than 16 companies sharing best practice in offshore wind farm Operations and Maintenance (O&M), smart grid and innovative floating offshore wind technology. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between CSBC, Taiwan’s largest ship builder and Flotation Energy, a British floating wind developer, focusing on collaboration on floating wind development in Taiwan. The MoU signing was witnessed by YU Cheng-Wei, Director General of Bureau of Energy and John Dennis, British Representative in Taiwan.

Through its energy transition policy, Taiwan plans to increase the proportion of renewable energy power generation to 20% by 2025 and become an offshore wind power hub in the Asia region. The three stages of Taiwan’s offshore wind power policy include demonstration, potential, and zonal development. Recently Taiwan officially began Phase 3 of offshore wind development. “The Developer Selection Mechanism for Phase 3 (Zonal Development) of Offshore Wind” was announced on 19th August 2021 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs after extensive consultation with stakeholders. 15 GW of capacity will be released in phases from 2026 to 2035. It is expected to steadily develop Taiwan’s offshore wind market and move toward an environmentally sustainable future.

With rapid offshore wind expansion and ambitious energy transition, Taiwan has the potential to become a leader in the Asia Pacific region in the offshore wind industry. The UK government is investing in technologies to bring more green energy into the UK grid system. Offshore wind is becoming cheaper and more economically compelling every year, and the UK is at the forefront of this innovation, and the UK is committed to sharing this innovation with Taiwan.

30 UK offshore wind companies are already established in Taiwan – a strong sign of confidence in Taiwan’s offshore wind market. The UK has the experience and commercial capabilities to help Taiwan build a robust supply chain of developers, setting the global standard for offshore wind development. Capitalising on new technologies such as floating offshore wind will cement Taiwan as the region’s leading offshore wind market.

TSENG Wen-Sheng, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs remarked:

This Roundtable Meeting has acted as an important platform for regular dialogue and cooperation on renewable energy between Taiwan and the UK. To achieve our target of 20% renewable energy generation by 2025, Taiwan has been working on accelerating its offshore wind farm development. In line with the global RE100 initiative, more and more Taiwanese enterprises have committed to the RE100 goal, and thus domestic demand for clean energy is increasing. The Ministry of Economic Affairs will continue to promote the expansion of renewable energy related plans in order to supply domestic green power demand.

John Dennis, British Office Representative said:

The British Office has a long history of working with Taiwan in offshore wind. As Taiwan embarks on its energy transition, we are excited to see how this relationship develops. The industry is evolving, with new technology on the horizon. In the years ahead, we will strengthen our relationship with Taiwan by sharing these technologies and methods, helping ensure Taiwan remains at the apex of Asia’s offshore wind development.

Huub den Rooijen, Managing Director (Marine) of The Crown Estate as the UK Chair of the 16th UK-Taiwan Renewable Energy Roundtable Meeting also commented:

Great wind resources and strong government leadership have catapulted Taiwan to the premier league of offshore wind developers. Similar to the UK, continuous dialogue between industry and stakeholders is critical to create favourable investment conditions, and we are pleased to share our experiences with Taiwan.

Taiwan Chair, YU Cheng-Wei, Director General of Bureau of Energy also said:

I am glad to have continued to organise this Roundtable Meeting for the sixteenth time with the UK, and I am also delighted to witness the MOU signing between CSBC Corporation Taiwan and Flotation Energy from the UK. I look forward to seeing more Taiwanese and British companies cooperate in the renewable energy field in the future. At today’s meeting, a lot of government and industry representatives from both sides were invited and put forward very insightful ideas and knowledge exchanges. The UK has always been an important partner for Taiwan to achieve our energy transition goals, and Taiwan is also working hard on expanding the deployment of renewable energy and offshore wind. Therefore, I believe there will be more cooperation opportunities for both sides to work together towards the goal of net zero carbon emissions.

• To support offshore wind industry development in Taiwan, two MoUs have been signed between the UK and Taiwan organisations for further collaboration in skills development and health, safety & environment (HSE). They are:

1. MoU on information exchange and cooperation on workplace health and safety between Taiwan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Ministry of Labour and UK’s Health and Safety Executive.

2. MoU on strengthening technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and achieving excellence in skills development between Taiwan’s Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labour and UK’s WorldSkills UK.

• The UK and Taiwan concluded the 3rd UK-Taiwan Energy Dialogue on 6 July 2021 to cooperate on the UK-Taiwan carbon reduction pathway in energy sector, as well as to co-organise a series of energy innovation workshops focusing on floating offshore wind, hydrogen and Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies.

• At the 3rd UK-Taiwan Energy Dialogue, a MoU was signed between the UK’s Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (ORE Catapult) and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) on offshore wind innovation project and information exchange, beginning a new chapter of the cooperation between UK and Taiwan on renewable energy.

• RE100 (Renewable Energy 100) is a global initiative bringing together the world’s most influential businesses committed to 100% renewable power globally in the shortest possible timeline (by Year 2050 at the latest).

Percentage of invoices to Public Health England (PHE) paid within 5, 10 and 30 working days of receipt, from April 2021 onwards.