More than £3 million will be invested to support creative and cultural organisations across the Northern Powerhouse.

Sheffield-based social enterprise Key Fund has been selected to distribute the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund to creative organisations that provide a meaningful social impact in their local communities.

Groups will be eligible for grants or loans of up to £150,000. This could include using music sessions for young people not in education or craft workshops with former offenders.

The fund, which was set up to provide a lasting legacy to this summer’s Great Exhibition of the North, will also attract additional social investment to the region. It is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to grow a culture of impact investing, including improving access to finance for local cultural and creative organisations that do social good.

Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism Michael Ellis said:

Creativity is one of the North’s greatest calling cards. This funding will strengthen arts and cultural organisations across the Northern Powerhouse and boost the important work they do in their local communities.

Matt Smith, Chief Executive of Key Fund Investments Ltd, said:

We are incredibly excited about the potential impact of the fund developing and supporting both the creative and cultural activity, whilst delivering social impact in disadvantaged communities across the North.

Key Fund will also partner social investor Social Investment Business for its work in the North East, and Creative United, a community interest company that works to help arts and creative businesses grow.

The social investment fund will run for two years from April 2019 and is open to non-profit creative, arts and cultural organisations. Small or medium creative businesses from industries such as crafts, design, fashion and art that can demonstrate positive social outcomes can also apply.

Notes to Editors

The fund will cover the following Local Enterprise Partnership regions: Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Humber, Lancashire, Leeds City Region, Liverpool City Region, North East, Sheffield City Region, Tees Valley, York and North Yorkshire and East Riding.

The Rural Payments Agency(RPA) has published the Basic Payment Scheme(BPS) entitlement values and greening rates online today (6 November 2018).

This follows the confirmation of the BPS exchange rate for payments this year, which will start landing in bank accounts from Monday 3 December.

Under BPS, farmers need to hold an entitlement for every hectare of eligible land they are claiming on. The size of farmers’ payments will depend on how many entitlements they use, supported by eligible land and the value of those entitlements.

The greening part of payments will be calculated by taking the number of entitlements that they have used with eligible land to claim payment and multiplying it by the greening value.

Now that the rates are set, the RPA is focusing on preparing payments so these are ready to land in bank accounts when the payment window opens.

Entitlement values

Greening rates

• The Euro exchange rate that will be used to calculate all payments is €1 = 0.89281

The Queen has been pleased to appoint Mrs Johanna Ropner DL as Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the County of North Yorkshire in succession to the late Mr Barry Dodd CBE.

The Regulator of Social Housing reports that Encircle Housing Limited has been placed on its Grading under Review list today (6 November 2018).

It notifies that at the time of the last Statistical Data Return the provider had fewer than 1,000 homes and therefore does not have a current published regulatory judgement in accordance with our established procedures.

The regulator is currently investigating a matter regarding the provider’s compliance with the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. The outcome of the investigation will be confirmed in a regulatory notice, once completed.

The GUR list is available on the website.

Further information

1. The Regulatory standards can be found on the RSH website.

2. The Regulator of Social Housing promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants. For more information visit the RSH website.

3. See our Media enquiries page for press office contact details. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

Today (6 November) advice has been issued to pet owners about what they need to do to make sure they can travel to the EU with their pets when the UK leaves the EU.

Pet owners will still be able to travel to Europe with their pet after we leave the EU whatever the outcome of the negotiations. However, in the unlikely event of a no-deal they may need to take some additional steps. This includes a rabies vaccination followed by a blood test a minimum of 30 days afterwards.

If pet owners are planning to travel after 29 March 2019, the government recommends they contact their vet at least four months in advance of their intended travel date to check what they need to do.

Those wishing to travel to the EU on 30 March 2019, for example, should discuss requirements with their vet as soon as possible and before the end of November 2018 at the latest.

The requirements include making sure that pets are effectively vaccinated against rabies before they travel. This involves having an up-to-date rabies vaccination and a blood test to demonstrate sufficient levels of rabies antibody.

The blood test would need to be carried out a minimum of 30 days after any initial rabies vaccination and a minimum of three months before their travel date. Pet owners will need to talk to their vet about health requirements in good time.

Christine Middlemiss, UK Chief Veterinary Officer, said:

Today we are giving practical and straightforward advice for people who wish to travel to Europe with their pets after we leave the EU in the unlikely event of a no-deal situation.

I urge all pet owners who wish to travel immediately after 29 March 2019 to consult with their vet as soon as they can. This is about planning ahead to ensure their pet has the correct health protection documented and in place for all possible Exit scenarios.

In recent weeks we have been in contact with vets to highlight this issue. They are expecting pet owners to consult with them and plan ahead.

Pet owners can also stay up to date with the latest advice on pet travel on GOV.UK or by searching ‘pet travel’.