The change to the Public Lending Right scheme is being introduced in the Digital Economy Bill and will mean authors of e-books and e-audiobooks are eligible for payment in the same way as those whose physical books are borrowed from libraries.

The UK is one of the first countries to extend its library lending compensation scheme to remote e-lending.

E-book lending has jumped 38% in the last year alone, with more than four million e-book loans and almost one million e-audiobook loans in Great Britain in the twelve months to April 2016.

Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society and responsible for libraries, said:

“We want to help public libraries embrace the digital age by improving access to e-lending and wifi services.

“This important change will put e-book authors on the same footing as those writers, illustrators and photographers whose physical books are borrowed for free.

“This legislation fulfils a manifesto commitment and underlines our support for the growing e-book sector, while ensuring that appropriate protections for rights holders are maintained.”

The Public Lending Right scheme is managed by the British Library on behalf of the Government, with more than £6 million of payments made to 22,000 authors, illustrators, photographers, translators and rights holders each year.

Roly Keating, Chief Executive of the British Library, said:

“With the rapid rise in popularity of ebooks and e-audiobooks in recent years, it’s fantastic news that authors’ PLR payments will now reflect remote ebook loans of their books from public libraries as well as the borrowing of hard copies.

“Over 22,000 writers, illustrators, photographers, translators and editors who have contributed to books lent out by public libraries in the UK receive PLR payments each year, so we look forward to working with even more new authors who are now eligible.”

The change comes after the Government funded a wifi roll-out across England, which benefitted more than 1,000 libraries, helping to increase access to digital services and e-lending.

Government has also launched a £4 million library fund to help disadvantaged communities and promote new digital and literacy projects. The Libraries Taskforce’s Libraries Ambition: Ambition for Public Libraries in England 2016 to 2021 also provides local authorities with practical and innovative options to help improve and develop services across the country.

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The Home Office has today recommended to police chiefs that people not convicted of an offence should be given the right to request that their custody image is deleted from all police databases, with a general presumption that it must be removed.

That is one of a series of recommendations included in the Home Office’s report, published today (Friday 24 February) on the Review of the Use and Retention of Custody Images by police in England and Wales, as well as the current legal and operational framework by which they are governed.

Following consultation with key policing partners, the principal recommendation is that an individual not convicted of the offence in relation to which their custody image was taken may apply for it to be deleted. There should be a presumption that police will remove it from their databases unless retention is necessary for a policing purpose, and there is an exceptional reason for it to be retained. For those under the age of 18 when the image was taken, the review sets out there should be a strong presumption that police will remove it unless there is a highly exceptional reason to retain it.

Brandon Lewis, Minister for Policing and the Fire Service, said:

Custody images and facial searching play an important role in the detection and prevention of crime but there is a clear need to strike a careful balance between protecting an individual’s privacy and giving the police the tools they need to keep us safe.

I believe the recommendations of this important review strike the right balance. They will now be passed to the NPCC and the College of Policing to take forward, and I expect the changes to guidance to come into effect in the near future.

The report also recommends that police should automatically review all custody images held after specified periods to ensure that they are only retaining those they need to keep – without the need for the individual to apply for them to be deleted. It also recommends that – when undertaking these reviews – police should generally delete images of unconvicted individuals, those whose image was taken when they were under 18 and persons convicted of a non-recordable offence. The Home Office recommends that the specified period after which reviews should be undertaken vary according to the seriousness of the offence which the individual had been accused.

The review’s key recommendations include:

• giving unconvicted people (i.e. persons who are not convicted of the offence in relation to which their image is taken) the right to request that their image is deleted
• a presumption that chief officers will delete images following such an application, except where retention is necessary for a policing purpose and there is an exceptional reason to retain it, or a highly exceptional reason in the case of individuals whose image was taken when they were under 18
• that the police should automatically review after specified periods all of the custody images that they hold to ensure that they are only retaining those they need to keep
• that under certain, limited circumstances (for example, if a conviction is very old or is for a minor offence) it may be appropriate for the police to delete the custody image related to that offence. However, other than where the conviction was for a non-recordable offence (or the image was taken when the person was under 18), there would be no presumption in favour of deletion.

The review also considered whether it would be possible to require all forces to undertake a weeding out exercise to identify custody images which should no longer be retained but concluded that such an approach would not be practical. The Police National Database does not link custody images to individual crime records. Therefore such an exercise would require forces to review all of the images that they hold which we would be extremely lengthy and resource intensive. It would also cost a very considerable amount of taxpayers’ money and would unnecessarily take funding away from other areas of policing, potentially weakening the police’s ability to protect the public.

You can read the Report on the Review of the Use and Retention of Custody Images.

Boeing Sheffield will enable the aerospace company to bring the manufacture of key high-tech actuation components and systems in-house. These include components for Boeing’s next-generation 737, 737 MAX and 777 aircraft. This should enhance production efficiency and reduce costs.

Locating the plant alongside the University of Sheffield’s world-class Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) will also allow Boeing to initiate a major research and development programme. Specifically the aerospace company will look to innovate new techniques in manufacturing.

New jobs are also expected to be created in 2018.

Boeing is a co-founder of the AMRC. It is a member of the high value manufacturing (HVM) Catapult Centres, supported by Innovate UK.

Sir Michael Arthur, President of Boeing Europe and Managing Director of Boeing UK and Ireland, said:

The UK provides Boeing with the talent and infrastructure we need to grow and maintain a high level of productivity and quality to meet our significant order book.

We are proud to expand our relationship with the UK still further with Boeing Sheffield. Our decision to start manufacturing high-value components in the UK is a step-change in our engagement and a further example of Boeing’s commitment to grow here, supporting the UK’s long-term prosperity.

The Boeing Sheffield news follows the recently announced partnership between the AMRC and McLaren Automotive.

Ruth McKernan, Innovate UK’s Chief Executive said:

This significant further investment and partnership by Boeing in Sheffield and the AMCR is excellent news for the region. It is testament to world-class expertise and facilities provided by the AMRC, and the high value manufacturing Catapult, supported by Innovate UK.

It comes off the back of McLaren Automotive’s recent announcement that it will open a £50 million composites technologies centre next to the AMRC, illustrating the strength of advanced manufacturing innovation in the UK.

Healthcare UK secured the first commercial Letter of Intent to participate in a new diabetes prevention programme in the Middle East. The programme has been developed in partnership with NHS England, Public Health England, and Diabetes UK.

Diabetes is an urgent public health challenge shared by the UK and the Gulf countries. A commercial organisation in Qatar is now working with UK health organisations to scope and roll out the prevention programme in Qatar.

Our approach with the diabetes programme has been to take an existing UK capability and make the learning from it available overseas. This is a model that we are looking to replicate in other areas.

Growing demand for UK healthcare in the Middle East

Arab Health is an important event for Healthcare UK as there is growing demand for healthcare in the Middle East. Healthcare UK has now widened its strategic focus to include Qatar and Oman, alongside Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

The Healthcare UK team works closely with:

• our partners in UK embassies and consulates across the region
• the International Healthcare Management Association (UKHIMA) – established by Healthcare UK to help UK suppliers respond to high-value opportunities by bringing together consortia of exporters

Minister Blackwood puts the spotlight on mental health and innovation

The UK presence at Arab Health was headed up by Nicola Blackwood, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health.

The minister had a packed programme, leading a large number of high-level discussions with ministries of health in the region. Several of these discussions were about mental health and innovation, areas in which the minister has a particular interest.

The minister highlighted the NHS digital health initiative, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, and also attended a demonstration of 3D tools that can be used for surgical training.

Value of building strategic partnerships

Through seminars, meetings and the HealthCare UK stand, we established several new links between UK suppliers of healthcare services and interested buyers at Arab Health 2017.

Together with UKHIMA, we ran a series of seminars showcasing the best of UK healthcare in fields that are in greatest demand in the Middle East: disease prevention and healthcare innovation. Sessions included breakthroughs in gene therapy and the latest advances in paediatric radiology.

Healthcare UK worked with the investment company, Ashmore, to run an event aimed at promoting the value of strategic partnerships to the UK organisations attending Arab Health. The event highlighted the benefits of partnerships between funders, NHS organisations, and local organisations in ensuring business success.

The Healthcare UK team at their stand in the heart of the Arab Health trade show.

Arab Health

Arab Health is the largest gathering of healthcare professionals in the MENA region with:

• 4,400 of the world’s leading healthcare companies
• exhibitors from 70 countries
• 102,000 visitors over the 4 days
• attendees mainly from the Gulf and the Middle East region, with significant numbers from China, India, and South America

Further information