Graduates applying to train as teachers in high priority subjects will receive increases to tax-free cash bursaries and scholarships from next year under government plans to recruit and retain top talent.

For aspiring teachers starting their training in September 2023, bursaries worth £27,000 and scholarships worth £29,000 will draw talented trainees into the highest-priority STEM (science, technology and mathematics) subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.

£25,000 bursaries and £27,000 scholarships will be offered to prospective languages teachers – up £10,000 on this academic year.

Bursary and scholarship eligibility is being extended to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages.

The generous package is worth £181 million in total, up £52 million on the current academic year, and will help ensure there are excellent teachers across the country, developing the pipeline of skills that the future UK economy will need.

A new relocation premium for overseas nationals coming to England to teach or train in these subjects was confirmed earlier this year in the Schools White Paper, which will help with visa costs and other expenses.

Teachers in the first five years of their career teaching mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing in disadvantaged schools are also able to claim the Levelling Up Premium, worth up to £3,000 tax free.

Schools Minister Jonathan Gullis said:

As a former teacher, I know that investing in our teachers is investing in young people. These generous bursaries and scholarships will attract the brightest and the best into teaching.

Shoring up the talent pipeline to teach vital subject areas such as STEM and languages will, in turn, equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to secure a bright future, and ensure that our economy remains globally competitive.

Further bursaries available include those for aspiring geography teachers, who will receive £25,000, an increase of £10,000, while £20,000 bursaries for biology and design & technology represent increases of £10,000 and £5,000 respectively on the current academic year. A £15,000 tax-free bursary for English will also be reintroduced.

The funding available is the latest step towards the Government’s intention, set out earlier this year in the Schools White Paper, for every child to be taught by an excellent teacher.

It is also part of broader work to raise the profile of teaching. Earlier this year the Government announced the highest pay awards for teachers in a generation – 8.9 percent increases for new teachers and five percent for experienced teachers and leaders – in recognition of their hard work and supporting with the cost of living, while also reflecting the need for the sound management of schools’ budgets.

Louis Barson, Director of Science, Innovation and Skills at the Institute of Physics said:

Great physics teaching opens up career opportunities in a broad and growing range of career paths: from developing new cancer treatments to tackling climate change.

We are pleased to be delivering the government’s scholarships programme for physics teachers, helping tackle the physics teacher shortage and focussing on areas with the greatest need for specialists, enhancing the life chances of local pupils.

Scholars will benefit from additional financial support, access to experienced professional coaching, high-quality resources and a mutually supportive community.

Thank you very much, most distinguished Madame Chair, and High Commissioner.

This year, we come together here in the face of a myriad of challenges. Armed conflict; violence; persecution; climate change; economic uncertainty; and food insecurity – all of them on the rise.

The figures are well-known and they’ve been well-rehearsed here in this hall over the last couple of days. But they don’t lose their power to shock. Over 300 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 100 million forcibly displaced.

The humanitarian system alone cannot respond to those 300 million people in need. Coming together in this Executive Committee – striving to do better, and to reach as many in need as possible – is critical.

And, High Commissioner, as others have said, as ever, we remain deeply inspired by and grateful to all UNHCR staff and their partners for their tremendous efforts, striving to assist millions in the toughest and often the most dangerous situations. And despite the risks that you and your staff take on, and the personal sacrifices that so many of you make, UNHCR’s dedication is steadfast. For this, and for so much more, we applaud you.

Let me also recognize and commend the enormous generosity of host nations and communities who welcome and support those who are forced to flee their homes, as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel did so eloquently at the Nansen Awards last night.

High Commissioner, this is a critical moment for tens of millions of vulnerable people across the globe.

The COVID pandemic, climate change, and conflict have created the worst food security crisis in more than a generation. And we need to do more work, right now, to break the cycle of famine.

And let me take a moment, Chair, to echo others’ horror and incredulity in the face of President Putin’s latest atrocities in Ukraine: strikes on civilian targets that have no other purpose than trying to spread terror. This, after an aggression that has already displaced almost 14 million people and left almost 18 million in need of humanitarian assistance and which has worsened food insecurity across the planet.

All this – at a time when globally, humanitarian need has never been greater.

For our part in the UK, we are taking life-saving action. This year, we plan to provide more than £150 million to East Africa, including to meet urgent needs in Somalia. And we pledged over £50m to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund at the G7 Summit.

Our new International Development Strategy sets out our long-standing commitment to life-saving humanitarian work. We intend to contribute £3 billion to humanitarian needs, globally, over the next three years.

And our Humanitarian Framework delivers on the ambition laid out in that strategy in three ways: prioritising humanitarian assistance to people in greatest need; protecting the people most at risk in conflict and crises; and preventing and anticipating future shocks and building resilience.

As a nation, and as a Government, we are strongly committed to supporting refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, and all those people across the world who are forcibly displaced from their homes – as well as the countries who so generously host them. We continue to provide significant levels of multi-year, unearmarked funding to UNHCR, and our total funding in 2022 stands at over $100m.

High Commissioner, we commend UNHCR’s progress in driving reform to become a more effective and more efficient organisation. We have seen already welcome changes, including decentralisation and the introduction of COMPASS for multi-year planning, budgeting and monitoring. We look forward to partnering with you to ensure that these changes continue to drive improvement.

We also recognise your efforts to expand the donor base, and welcome the significant increase in contributions from the private sector this year. It’s critical that UNHCR seizes the opportunity to build on these new partnerships to ensure they are both sustainable and strategic, and that can offer long-term support to your mandate.

Last, but far from least: after a successful High-level Official Meeting at the end of 2021, we now look forward to the second Global Refugee Forum in late 2023. This will be an important milestone for all those concerned with the plight of refugees and the forcibly displaced, and we will work alongside you and other Member States to deliver a Forum which ensures the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees to find practical, long-term solutions for refugees, internally displaced, asylum seekers, the stateless – and their host communities.

Thank you very much.

A new leaflet outlines how to protect the natural environment by preventing pollution incidents and minimising waste at boatyards, harbours and marinas.

Storage and disposal information is a key part of the leaflet. There is a specific focus on fishing nets, pots, oils and anti-foul products, including hazardous waste type storage advice pages.

There is also a poster inviting members of the fishing community to pledge their support by carrying out a series of actions to protect the ocean. This includes avoiding single-use plastics in galleys, keeping on-board equipment to collect lost gear, and using available waste facilities.

The materials have been funded by the Interreg Preventing Plastic Pollution project – a partnership of 18 organisations in England and France. The partnership aims to reduce the impact of plastic pollution in river and marine environments. This includes embedding behaviour change in local communities and businesses, and implementing effective solutions and alternatives.

Project lead Imogen Douglas, from the Environment Agency’s plastic and sustainability team, said:

Oil is a highly visible form of pollution and the most frequently reported type of water pollution incident. Without proper shoreside waste management, it harms plants and animals, damages water and land, and destroys natural habitats.

Similarly, abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear can impact on fish stocks and navigation. It can cause marine life to become tangled in plastic pollution, demonstrating the importance of proper disposal for end of life equipment.

We hope this new leaflet and pledge poster will help faciliate good waste practice at ports and change behaviours to help our planet thrive. This is a significant step forward for the Environment Agency as we continue to meet the goals and commitments outlined in our 5 year plan to create better places for people, wildlife and the environment, and the government’s 25 year environment plan.

The leaflet and poster will be issued to ports and harbours across England, and circulated to relevant stakeholders. This includes the Marine Management Organisation, the British Ports Association and trawler firms. It can also be found on the Interreg Preventing Plastic Pollution website.

As a regulator, the Environment Agency prevents waste plastic entering the environment by cracking down on waste crime and poor waste management. As an influencer, its ambition is to promote better environmental practices that result in a reduction of plastic waste.

Background

Interreg Preventing Plastic Pollution: Working in partnership with 18 organisations from across France and England, Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP) seeks to understand and reduce the impacts of plastic pollution in the river and marine environments. By looking at the catchment from source to sea, the project will identify and target hotspots for plastic, embed behaviour change in local communities and businesses, and implement effective solutions and alternatives.

PPP is a €14million funded EU INTERREG VA France (Channel) England Programme project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund which works mainly across seven pilot sites: Brest Harbour, Bay of Douarnenez, Bay of Veys, Poole Harbour, and the Medway, Tamar, and Great Ouse estuaries.

Partners are the Environment Agency, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Queen Mary University of London, LABOCEA Conseil, Expertise et Analyses, Syndicat mixte établissement public de gestion et d’aménagement de la baie de Douarnenez, Office Français De La Biodiversité, Parc naturel marin d’Iroise, Brest Métropole, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Counseil départemental de la Manche, Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer, The Rivers Trust, Syndicat de bassin de l’Elorn, ACTIMAR, Brest’aim, Westcountry Rivers Trust, South East Rivers Trust, and Plymouth City Council.