Minister for Countering Extremism, Baroness Williams, has held bilateral talks with Indian government ministers and will use a speech in Delhi to outline how closer cooperation with trusted allies is the best way to undermine extremist ideologies across the globe.

Baroness Williams’ visit builds on the closer cooperation on counter-terrorism and counter-extremism which Prime Minister Theresa May agreed with Prime Minister Modi during the Indian leader’s visit to the United Kingdom in April.

Addressing the Observer Research Foundation conference, Baroness Williams will say:

It is no secret that there are those in nations across the world, who do not share our values of democracy, the rule of law, mutual respect and tolerance of individuals of different faiths and beliefs.

The threat we face from extremists is unprecedented. The internet is enabling them to spread their ideologies at a pace and scale never before seen. Defeating extremism in all its forms is not something any government can, or should, do alone.

Only through close cooperation with trusted allies and partners can we undermine the extremists who wish to do us all harm.

The Minister is set to outline the UK government’s strategic approach to countering extremism, which vigorously opposes extremist ideologies in all their forms, whether violent or non-violent, Islamist or far and extreme right wing.

She will also discuss key successes in the UK’s approach including establishing the independent Commission for Countering Extremism and creating a network of over 160 civil society groups who challenge extremism in their local areas.

Baroness Williams has also held meetings with Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar, and Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, focused on what more can be done to tackle the threat of extremism in both countries.

The visit follows Prime Minister Modi’s successful visit to the United Kingdom in April this year, where he and Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to work in partnership to take decisive and concerted actions against globally-proscribed terrorist organisations. As part of this renewed cooperation, the UK and India will work together to tackle the threat of online radicalisation and violent extremism.

• new rules apply to businesses developing military and dual-use technology, computing hardware and quantum technology
• changes to help continue to keep the country safe and maintain UK’s global reputation as an open, trading nation
• the measures follow a review of the government’s approach to foreign investment and national security

Today (Monday 11 June 2018) the government made changes to the UK’s merger regime to recognise the growing importance of small British businesses in developing cutting edge technology products with national security applications.

In order to address changes in the market, the government amended the threshold tests for businesses in the military, dual-use, computing hardware and quantum technology sectors that are most likely to have implications for our security.

Today’s changes allow ministers to intervene on certain grounds when the target business’s UK turnover is more than £1 million, down from £70 million under the previous rules. They also remove the requirement that a merger or takeover in these sectors lead to an increase in the parties’ combined share of supply of relevant goods or services before the government is able to intervene.

Business Minister Richard Harrington said:

These new rules ensure mergers and takeovers in key areas of the economy cannot risk our national security, while maintaining the openness to trade and investment that is underpinned by our modern Industrial Strategy.

The changes follow a consultation launched last year to amend the Enterprise Act to reform and strengthen the government’s powers. Today’s new rules are the first step, with broader changes to be announced in a white paper later this year.

The government has today published guidance for businesses to support them in adapting to today’s changes:

BEIS: Enterprise Act 2002: guidance on changes to the turnover and share of supply tests for mergers

CMA: Mergers jurisdictional thresholds from June 2018

Notes to editors

1. The National Security and Infrastructure Investment Review green paper, published on 17 October 2017, outlined the government’s plans to take a staged approach through short and long term measures to reform how it scrutinises national security implications of business transactions. Today’s measures are a response to this consultation on amending the Enterprise Act through secondary legislation.

2. The consultation on longer term proposals closed on 9 January. The government will publish a response to this consultation in due course.

3. Ministers can only intervene in mergers and takeovers (foreign or domestic) that give rise to specific public interest concerns of national security, financial stability or media plurality. However, for ministers to be able to intervene, the transaction had to meet certain thresholds. These were that the target company had a UK turnover of over £70 million, or that the merger took the merging parties’ combined share of supply to 25% or more (or increased an existing share of supply of 25% or more). There were limited exceptions to this related to some defence and media transactions.

4. The affirmative statutory instrument that comes into force today amends the share of supply test to allow the scrutiny of more mergers in 3 areas: (a) the military and dual-use sector, (b) 2 parts of the advanced technology sector, encompassing computing hardware and quantum technologies. For these areas alone, the instrument amended the share of supply test so that it is met where a merger or takeover involves a target with 25% or more share of supply in the UK, as well as where the deal leads to an increase in the share of supply to, or above, this threshold, which is the previous requirement.

5. The second, negative statutory instrument that comes into force today amends the turnover test to allow the scrutiny of more mergers in the same 3 areas of the economy. The second instrument lowers the level of UK turnover required of the target business from over £70 million to over £1 million. Both of these instruments have come into force at the same time.

6. The changes, while made for national security-related reasons, also amend the thresholds that allow the independent Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to scrutinise mergers for competition concerns. However, neither the government or the CMA expect that the changes will bring about a material change in the CMA’s approach to the assessment of mergers on competition grounds. The CMA have today also published their technical guidance in relation to these changes Guidance on changes to the jurisdictional thresholds for UK merger control.

Public sector organisations in Scotland have challenged innovators to come up with digital solutions to some of the most pressing issues they face today.

These challenges have been issued by the Scottish Government Digital Directorate in its CivTech programme, which brings together public and private sectors to solve problems with new products and better services.

Organisations could win contracts that are ultimately worth up to £250,000 with their ideas for using technology.

Improving services and experiences

The challenges announced are:

• Scottish Anti-Illicit Trade Group is looking at how tech can stop illicit trading. The group is seeking ideas for using data to identify or predict trade in counterfeit and dangerous products at a community level

• Glasgow City Council wants to better connect people and places and address social isolation. Ideas should address how public transport could improve access to services, learning opportunities and employment

• Stirling Council is seeking ways of using technology to better understanding investment requirements for public buildings – including repairs, maintenance and property investment – to improve services

• Scottish Housing Regulator is inviting ideas to increase standards in social rented housing and give tenants a stronger voice in the services they pay for through the use of data

• Scottish Natural Heritage wants to use tech to enhance the experience of young people with the outdoor environment in Scotland

• NHS National Services Scotland wants to review how it manages single-use medical products and pharmaceuticals, as well as other medical devices, which could potentially be re-manufactured and re-used

• NHS National Services Scotland is also inviting ideas to make the NHS waiting time system more efficient and effective

• Scottish Government Digital Directorate wants to support employee engagement by improving how they monitor staff satisfaction, happiness and wellbeing

• Scottish Government Digital Planning is looking at how it can develop a world-leading planning system, specifically how technology and data might improve the quality and reach of public engagement

• Young Scot wants to empower young people in their access of technology by ensuring their rights online and off

Funding for the competition is under SBRI (the Small Business research Initiative).

Competition information

• the competition opens on 11 June 2018, and the deadline for applications is at 9 am on 2 July 2018
• it is open to any organisation that can demonstrate a route to market for its idea
• up to 3 contracts of £3,000 will be awarded to initially explore each challenge area
• a contract of up to £20,000 will then be awarded to develop the most promising idea within each challenge. Further funding could be available for field testing and implementation
• successful projects will attract 100% funded development contracts
• applications should be made through Public Contracts Scotland
• briefing events will be held on 11 June 2018 and 14 June 2018

The UK is providing emergency medical treatment to some of the world’s poorest people at risk from a deadly heatwave that has seen temperatures in Pakistan reach as high as 45°C, significantly hotter than the temperature in London today which is expected to reach 24°C.

UK aid is providing relief to up to 30,000 vulnerable people, including children and the elderly, in some of the poorest areas of Karachi, Pakistan, where up to 70 people have already died from heat-related symptoms since mid-May.

UK aid is supporting 30 heat stroke relief camps which are equipped with solar fans, cold drinking water and first aid kits. The camps are also providing spaces for people to keep cool, providing temporary shelters for those at high risk of death or falling critically ill from the extreme temperatures. Specialist medical staff are treating patients with symptoms such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke, which can damage the brain and cause organ failure.

Secretary of State for International Development Penny Mordaunt said:

Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those that have lost lives from these extraordinary temperatures.

UK aid is working hard to save the lives of the most vulnerable people in some of Pakistan’s poorest communities, including the elderly and new born babies born during this deadly heatwave.

With temperatures reaching as high as 45°C, our support is providing emergency medical assistance and helping to prevent people falling critically ill in the first place.

Pakistan is one of the UK’s top development priorities, with around 60 million people in Pakistan living in poverty meaning nearly 1 in 3 of the population are living on less than 80p a day. Camps have been set up in some of the region’s poorest areas, where many face challenges to their everyday lives including power outages and water shortages.

In 2015, where temperatures were similar to those in parts of Pakistan now, over 1,300 people died. Simple measures, such as providing clean water and keeping people cool, can be the difference between life and death.

The heatwaves come in the holy Muslim month of Ramadhan, increasing the risk of dehydration as Muslims fast during the hours of daylight.

UK aid is also supporting the ‘Beat the Heat’ campaign to educate up to 150,000 people about how to reduce the risks of falling critically ill to the high temperatures. The campaign will distribute brochures and posters with important advice in communities, and display banners at prominent locations including bus stops, schools, hospitals and main roads.

Notes to editors

The relief activities are a part of DFID’s Multi-Year Humanitarian Programme in Pakistan (MYHP). The programme supports responses to natural disasters and helps those displaced as a result of conflict.

The support is being provided through a local partner on the ground, the Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS). HANDS has established 30 relief camps in the most densely populated and poverty stricken areas in Lyari Town, Korangi Town, Surjani Town, Nazimabad, Gulshan e Iqbal, Gulstan e Jauher, and Saddar.

Introduction

Thank you. I am grateful to Dame Louise Casey for that warm introduction.

I am very honoured to be here with you this morning to mark Crisis’ 50th year.

As I’ve recently discovered, turning 50 can also bring with it a whole range of emotions and sometimes some unexpected challenges.

That’s why I’m particularly pleased to be here today. It comes with a sense of pride, perhaps a feeling of accomplishment, yes.

But also a restless determination that comes from knowing there is so much more to do.

But as John Sparkes has rightly said, Crisis’ 50th anniversary cannot truly be a celebration.

Half a century later we are still grappling with the challenges of homelessness and rough sleeping.

Too many people still live without the security of a home.

Too many people still lack the simple comfort of a warm bed at the end of a hard day.

Too many people are still living out on the street.

It puts in clear focus what still needs to be done whilst recognising the huge contribution you have made.

And I am in no doubt as to the priority we need to give to bring about change.

Now, my first direct contact with Crisis was as a newly elected many years ago MP – visiting the then centre of operations in the Docklands for the Crisis at Christmas campaign.

I saw first-hand the incredible compassion and commitment you show and heard some of the challenges, barriers and prejudice faced by people forced to live rough on the street.

It’s truly impressive that Crisis at Christmas is now the largest volunteer led event in the UK.

It’s an example of how communities can come together to show compassion and change lives.

Crisis – campaigns

But I know your work is all year round.

And few charities can claim to have had such an impact on our collective consciousness.

You’ve led the way when it comes to campaigning for change.

You’ve put homelessness and rough sleeping at the heart of public debate.

You’ve helped ensure we never forget that these are people with their own stories, hopes and aspirations.

And as so many of these individuals will say: “I never thought it would be me. I never thought I’d be homeless”.

A life of homelessness or rough sleeping is not predestined for anyone.

This was something well understood by Bill Shearman and Ian McLeod.

When they established Crisis, they also recognised that the challenges of homelessness and rough sleeping were too serious to be party political.

That they could only be tackled with cross-party support and powerful coalitions of charities and other organizations.

I couldn’t agree more.

Fast-forward 50 years and the 2017 Homelessness Reduction Act is a perfect example of this.

This ambitious legal reform was achieved by working together, bridging political divides to help break the cycle of homelessness.

Crisis – front line

And alongside your tireless campaigning, you also deliver services that help people find their way out of homelessness.

Whether on warm June days like today, or during the coldest depths of winter.

Initiatives like Skylight Centres, as one example, tackle complex homelessness challenges by adapting to local circumstances.

You are arming people with knowledge and skills, helping to meet their aspirations to build better lives for themselves.

And your evidence based approach, through world-class research, such as the Homelessness Monitor, has rightly won respect across the sector. Not least in my department.

These are huge achievements of which you can be rightly proud.

Evolving challenges

But as your report today shows, the challenge is far from over. The very name Crisis reminds us we should never lose a sense of urgency when it comes to tackling homelessness.

While levels of statutory homelessness acceptances are well below the 2003 peak, we cannot deny the numbers have been rising in recent years.

And the challenge has evolved.

Compared to 50 years ago, today’s rough sleeping populations are younger, with more women and more foreign nationals.

Half have mental health issues and many more have alcohol and substance abuse problems.

Perhaps most shocking is the average age of death: just 47 years old.

This is simply unacceptable and does not reflect the country we should be and why dealing with it is a key priority for me.

We share your ambition

That is why this government is committed not just to managing or reducing the impact of rough sleeping, but ending it for good.

We are the first government to make such a commitment.

A commitment to halve rough sleeping in this Parliament and eliminate it entirely by 2027.

And to do this we need to tackle the underlying issues.

Fixing the broken housing market

Clearly that starts with secure and affordable housing.

We need to build more homes to meet people’s aspirations for a place of their own.

Successive governments have not built enough and the result is a broken housing market and a generation of people held back through no fault of their own.

But we are starting to change this.

Since 2010, we’ve delivered more than a million homes, including 357,000 affordable homes and 257,000 homes for rent.

Last year, we saw the biggest increase in housing supply in England for almost a decade: over 217,000 new homes.

We are taking bold steps to crack down on rogue landlords, making renting fairer and more secure and giving housing associations greater certainty over their rental income until 2025.

We will put money into schemes that make it easier for those who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to access or sustain tenancies in the private sector.

This will make a real difference when it comes to supporting people out of temporary accommodation.

But I am in no doubt that we have to do more to deliver the 300,000 new homes a year we will need by the middle of the next decade.

To that end, we are investing £9 billion in affordable housing.

This includes a new generation of council housing.

We are giving £1 billion of funding flexibility to help ambitious councils borrow more to build more.

This will support families struggling to pay their rent, because we recognize that people need greater security in their homes.

And none more so than those at risk of homelessness or rough sleeping.

Housing First

One of my very first actions as Secretary of State was to award £28 million of funding to Housing First.

It has an impressive international track record of helping people with complex needs recover, and I think offers real promise.

I pay tribute to Crisis’ pivotal role as an early champion for Housing First, helping to bring this innovative scheme into the heart of conversations around rough sleeping.

The new pilot projects for Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region and the West Midlands Combined Authority will be an important step that supports around 1000 people.

But I recognise that this is a nationwide problem and I am looking forward to seeing the difference these projects make and assessing the case for a national roll-out thereafter.

Action across government

These pilot programmes expand on steps we are already taking to tackle homelessness.

Firstly, on funding, we’ve allocated over a billion pounds to reduce and prevent homelessness.

This includes more upfront funding available for local authorities to encourage them to be more proactive – in preventing someone from becoming homeless rather than picking up the pieces after it has happened.

Earlier intervention and prevention are also very much the focus for the Homelessness Reduction Act, which came into force in April.

These important reforms are transforming the way that homeless services are delivered.

For the first time, putting prevention at the heart of our response to homelessness…

…by making sure councils, public services and the voluntary sector work together to actively prevent homelessness for a broader range of people…

… regardless of whether they’re a family or a single person, what has put them at risk or if they have a local connection to the area.

Local authorities are getting support from a team of specialist advisors to carry out these new duties.

This is the kind of joined-up approach that will ensure people get the help they need before they face losing their home.

Rough sleeping

And yes, we’ve redoubled our focus on rough sleeping, through the new Rough Sleeping Initiative.

At its heart is a £30 million fund, targeted at local authorities with high levels of rough sleeping.

In recent months they have been developing targeted plans to achieve reductions in rough sleeping in each of their areas.

And I’m pleased to confirm how this fund will be allocated.

We will fund local areas to hire more than 500 new staff, whose job will be solely focused on rough sleeping.

This will include more outreach workers to connect with people on the streets, specialist mental health and substance misuse workers and dedicated co-ordinators to drive down rough sleeping numbers.

It will also provide for over 1700 new bed spaces, including both emergency and settled accommodation.

And in each area, funds will be put to use where they are most needed.

For example, here in Westminster we will deliver new Housing First units, bed spaces for women and couples and extend existing night shelter provision.

Or in Southend, where there will be specialist outreach workers for those who have experienced domestic abuse and accommodation to cater for their older population.

Or in Manchester, where funds will be directed towards staff working with those leaving prison and young people.

Equally as importantly, the Rough Sleeping Initiative Team – a team of experts from across regional and local government, agencies and charities – will support this work and ensure that resources are applied effectively.

This team will continue to work in partnership with staff in each area to support local authorities, their voluntary sector partners and others to see that this work delivers the real change we need.

They will also be holding local authorities to account and see that this investment will help people escape rough sleeping – for good.

Jeremy Swain

And today, I am also pleased to announce that the Rough Sleeping Initiative will be led by Jeremy Swain.

Jeremy is an outstanding candidate for this position and he brings with him 30 years of invaluable front-line experience.

Jeremy will take up his post in July when we will also publish our Rough Sleeping Strategy.

The strategy – informed by the valuable contributions of our rough sleeping advisory panel, and I know many of you in this room have been working on that, and building on the work of the Rough Sleeping Initiative…

…will set out our ambitions to move towards a housing-led system that intervenes quickly and prioritises finding people a home at the earliest possible stage.

While I will be setting out further details in July, what I can tell you is that our focus will be in three core areas: prevention, intervention and recovery – so that by 2027, nobody should have to sleep on our streets.

Beyond that, I will continue to work with you to respond to the broader challenges of homelessness highlighted by the Crisis report published today and turning the vision of a place you can call home into a reality.

Grenfell

As we meet today, my thoughts are also with another community in this city.

One that has suffered beyond our imagination.

The survivors of and those grievously affected by profound personal loss from the Grenfell Tower fire.

Later this afternoon I will make a statement to the House of Commons as we prepare to mark one year since this horrific and avoidable tragedy.

This is an extremely painful time for a community that has suffered so much.

The public inquiry has laid bare the terrible human cost through the extraordinary tributes paid by families and friends.

They remind us that the decisions we take, the work we do are about individual people, individual lives.

We will not shrink from our commitments to them, the justice they seek and ensuring that the lessons learned from this disaster are applied.

Conclusion

In closing, I wanted to start where I began.

In commending Crisis in marking your 50th year.

In underlining the huge difference you have made.

In acknowledging work that remains incomplete.

But I am in no doubt that the passion, the drive, the utter commitment that you have shown over so many years will remain.

Challenging government yes, but working with government too.

To deliver the changes we need for some of our most vulnerable.

To provide them with the stability and safety of a home.

That mission remains and is one we must all support.

I wish you all success for the remainder of today’s conference and all the amazing work you do.

Thank you very much.