The Regulator of Social Housing has today (6 September) published the latest quarterly survey of registered providers’ financial health.

The report covers the period 1 April to 30 June 2022 and was completed before the launch of the Government’s consultation on rents for 2023/24. It shows that the sector remains financially robust with strong liquidity. Historically high levels of investment in existing stock continued, but the effects of wider economic pressures are becoming apparent.

The sector continues to raise new debt. Total agreed borrowing facilities increased by £0.5 billion in the quarter, reaching £119.3 billion by the end of June. New finance of £1.9 billion was agreed in the quarter, with 70% from capital markets. The sector has liquidity to cover forecast expenditure on interest costs, loan repayments and investment in new homes over the year.

Investment in major capitalised repairs stood at £503 million between April and June, the highest total ever recorded in a first quarter, but 33% below forecast. Labour and material shortages continue to impact on planned investment, and cost inflation is evident.

Providers continued to invest in new homes, with £2.9bn spent over the quarter. However, this was 14% below forecasts for contractually committed schemes. Providers reported that supply chain issues and planning delays are holding back some development projects. Total investment is expected to reach £18.2 billion over the next 12 months; 4% higher than previously forecast and reflecting reprofiling of earlier underspends.

Providers expect to see an average interest cover excluding sales of 98% over the next 12 months, which compares to 124% in the last financial year. This is due to forecast increased expenditure on repairs and maintenance, as well as higher interest payments. Providers continue to have headroom against covenants and flexibility to manage expenditure, but RSH will monitor liquidity in the sector closely, especially as rent policy is confirmed.

Will Perry, Director of Strategy at RSH, said:

While the social housing sector remains financially strong, wider economic trends are starting to present challenges for providers. This is seen most clearly in cost inflation and material and labour shortages, as well as higher interest payments and potential changes to the rent ceiling. Boards will need to monitor these trends closely and have a strong focus on contingency planning to ensure they can respond quickly to emerging risks.

The quarterly surveys are available on the RSH website.

1. The quarterly survey provides a regular source of information regarding the financial health of private registered providers, in particular with regard to their liquidity position.

2. The quarterly survey returns summarised in the report cover the period from 1 April 2022 to 30 June 2022. The latest report is based on regulatory returns from 204 PRPs and PRP groups which own or manage more than 1,000 homes.

3. Additional disclosures have been added to the quarterly survey return from April 2022: new lines have been added to the cashflow statement to provide an enhanced breakdown of sales receipts and repairs costs, and narrative questions regarding delays or changes to repairs and maintenance programmes have been introduced.

4. For press office contact details, see our media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

5. 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.

The Chevening Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) Fellowships are aimed at mid-career academics or professionals who are dedicated to the promotion of academic activities which encourage a more informed understanding of the culture and civilisation of Islam and contemporary Muslim societies.

The following fellowships are a collaboration between the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and OCIS:

• Chevening OCIS Fellowship
• Chevening OCIS Abdullah Gül Fellowship

Course/programme structure

Fellows will undertake a 6-month period of self-directed research focusing on their own project on the culture and civilisation of Islam and contemporary Muslim societies in a global context.

Fellows will benefit from meeting a multi-disciplinary group of scholars focusing on the Islamic world and have the opportunity to develop contacts with relevant individuals, discuss issues relating to the Islamic world, including Islamic history, classical Islamic sciences, economics and Islamic finance, and the study of Muslims in the West. Fellows will contribute to the Centre’s objective to encourage and promote sustained dialogue and collaboration within the global academic community of the culture and civilisation of Islam and contemporary Muslim societies.

OCIS is a recognized independent centre for the University of Oxford and provides a meeting point for the Western and Islamic worlds of learning.

This fellowship programme will commence in October 2023. Fellows will need to develop their own research project to focus on during their fellowship prior to arriving in the UK.

Fellows must reside in Oxford for the duration of their award. OCIS can provide information about accommodation options in Oxford upon selection.

Benefits

• 6-month period of research at OCIS
• Living expenses for the duration of the fellowship
• Return economy airfare from home country to the UK
• Allowance package for research-related activities
• Access to a programme of cultural events and activities organised by the FCDO and the Chevening Secretariat.

Eligibility

The Chevening OCIS Abdullah Gül Fellowship is available to applicants from Turkey.

To be eligible for a Chevening OCIS Fellowship, you must:

• Demonstrate the potential to rise to a position of leadership and influence
• Demonstrate the personal, intellectual and interpersonal attributes reflecting this potential
• Be a citizen of Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Philippines, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan
• Return to country of your citizenship at the end of the period of the fellowship
• Hold a postgraduate level qualification (or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant area) at the time of application
• Have significant professional and/or academic research experience (at least five years)
• Provide evidence of meeting at least the minimum English language abilities for Chevening Awards
• Not hold British or dual-British citizenship
• Not be an employee, a former employee, or relative of an employee (since August 2020) of Her Majesty’s Government (including British embassies/high commissions, the Department for International Development, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office), or a staff member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Please note that applicants who have previously received financial benefit from a HMG-funded scholarship or fellowship are eligible to apply after a period of five years following the completion of their first HMG funded award. In these cases, applicants will be required to demonstrate their career progression from that point.

For more detailed information on the eligibility criteria for fellowships, read the guidance page on the Chevening website.

Well this is it folks

thanks to all of you for coming out so early this morning

In only a couple of hours from now I will be in Balmoral to see Her Majesty The Queen

and the torch will finally be passed to a new Conservative leader

the baton will be handed over in what has unexpectedly turned out to be a relay race

they changed the rules half-way through but never mind that now

and through that lacquered black door a new Prime Minister will shortly go to meet a fantastic group of public servants

the people who got Brexit done

the people who delivered the fastest vaccine roll out in Europe

and never forget – 70 per cent of the entire population got a dose within 6 months, faster than any comparable country

that is government for you – that’s this conservative government

the people who organised those prompt early supplies of weapons to the heroic Ukrainian armed forces,

an action that may very well have helped change the course of the biggest European war for 80 years

And because of the speed and urgency of what you did – everybody involved in this government

to get this economy moving again from July last year in spite of all opposition, all the naysayers

we have and will continue to have that economic strength

to give people the cash they need to get through this energy crisis that has been caused by Putin’s vicious war

And  I know that Liz Truss and this compassionate Conservative government will do everything we can to get people through this crisis

And this country will endure it and we will win

and if Putin thinks that he can succeed by blackmailing or bullying the British people then he is utterly deluded

and the reason we will have those funds now and in the future is because we Conservatives understand the vital symmetry between government action

and free market capitalist private sector enterprise

we are delivering on those huge manifesto commitments

making streets safer – neighbourhood crime down 38 per cent in the last three years

13,790 more police on the streets

building more hospitals – and yes we will have 50,000 more nurses by the end of this parliament and 40 more hospitals by the end of the decade

putting record funding into our schools and into teachers’ pay

giving everyone over 18 a lifetime skills guarantee so they can keep upskilling throughout their lives

3 new high speed rail lines including northern powerhouse rail

colossal road programmes from the Pennines to Cornwall,

the roll-out of gigabit broadband up over the last three years, since you were kind enough to elect me, up from 7 per cent of our country’s premises having gigabit broadband to 70 per cent today.

And we are of course providing the short and the long term solutions for our energy needs

and not just using more of our own domestic hydrocarbons but going up by 2030 to 50 GW of wind power, that is half this country’s energy electricity needs from offshore wind

alone, a new nuclear reactor every year

and looking at what is happening in this country, the changes that are taking place,

that is why the private sector is investing more venture capital investment than China itself

more billion pound tech companies sprouting here than in France, Germany and Israel combined

and as a result unemployment as I leave office, down to lows not seen since I was about ten years old and bouncing around on a space hopper

and on the subject of bouncing around and future careers

let me say that I am now like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function

and I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the pacific

And like Cincinnatus I am returning to my plough

and I will be offering this government nothing but the most fervent support

this is a tough time for the economy

this is a tough time for families up and down the country

we can and we will get through it and we will come out stronger the other side but I say to my fellow Conservatives it is time for the politics to be over folks

and it’s time for us all to get behind Liz Truss and her programme

and deliver for the people of this country

because that is what the people of this country want, that’s what they need and that’s what they deserve

I am proud to have discharged the promises I made my party when you were kind enough to choose me,

winning the biggest majority since 1987 and the biggest share of the vote since 1979.

delivering Brexit

delivering our manifesto commitments – including social care

helping people up and down the country

ensuring that Britain is once again standing tall in the world

speaking with clarity and authority

from Ukraine to the AUKUS pact with America and Australia

because we are one whole and entire United Kingdom whose diplomats, security services and armed forces are so globally admired

and as I leave I believe our union is so strong that those who want to break it up, will keep trying but they will never ever succeed

thank you to everyone behind me in this building for looking after me and my family over the last three years so well including Dilyn, the dog

and if Dilyn and Larry can put behind them their occasional difficulties, then so can the Conservative party

and above all thanks to you, the British people, to the voters for giving me the chance to serve

all of you who worked so tirelessly together to beat covid to put us where we are today

Together we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time

whether by taking back control of our laws or putting in vital new infrastructure

great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together

paving the path of prosperity now & for future generations

and I will be supporting Liz Truss and our new government every step of the way.

Thank you all very much.

Good morning, Turks and Caicos, and a particularly warm welcome to all who are with us in the nation’s Capital celebrating not only Her Majesty’s 96th Birthday, but also her Platinum Jubilee – an extraordinary 70 years of unbroken service and making Her Majesty the longest-reigning monarch in British History.

Before saying another thing, let me commend those on parade today for your turnout, your foot and rifle drill, and most importantly your service. The ‘shine’ our security and emergency services show here on parade ground, belies the necessary ‘grime’ of their day-to-day efforts on behalf of our Territory. We all thank you for your service. Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in a round of applause recognising your uniformed services.

Over the last three years I’ve come to understand your respective roles but also how that work impacts on your families and your wider lives. For your families here, supporting you, as they support you every working day of your life, I pass on my personal thanks.

With the mention of families and children, given this extraordinary 70 year Jubilee, I am going to focus on the early years of Her Majesty’s reign because I hope, even with the distance of time, young people here with us today will be able to appreciate what it must have been like for Her Majesty, as both a child and as a young woman, to assume enormous lifelong responsibilities and then stick to her vows. In this I do think she is a global role-model.

We often associate hefty responsibilities with those in middle, or later age, but leadership and the burden of service can – and at times must – be shouldered by the young. Given the impact the Pandemic had on youth and youth activities it is so heartening to see the Cadets, Scouts and Cubs here on parade in such numbers and looking so grand. So, Mums and Dads, Uncles and Aunts, brothers, and sisters, let’s recognise our young people with us today, on parade, who carried themselves and their Turks and Caicos Islands Flags with such exuberance and joy.

None of us know – least of all our children – what their futures hold and our Queen, as a young child, did not expect to be Monarch. Her destiny changed on the unexpected abdication of her Uncle – Edward VIII – when her father George VI, assumed the Throne.

As a result, the now Queen made her first radio broadcast in the early months of the Second World War when, aged just 14, she recorded a message on the BBC in support of young people across Europe evacuated from their homes: “I can say to you all” – she said – “that we children at home are full of cheerfulness and courage”. “We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war.”

Princess Elizabeth’s first solo public engagement was on her 16th birthday, when she inspected the Grenadier Guards at Windsor Castle. During the war, she remained with the Royal Family in London even as Buckingham Palace was bombed. She enlisted becoming the first woman in the Royal Family to join the armed services as a full-time, active member and learned to be a vehicle mechanic.

At just 18, Princess Elizabeth was appointed a Counsellor of State during the Kings absence as he toured Italian battlefields and for the first time, she carried out some of the duties of Head of State. On Victory in Europe Day, she and her sister Princess Margaret, aged 19 and 14 respectively, joined the crowds in London incognito, Princess Elizabeth with her military cap pulled down over her face.

In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, then 21, married Prince Philip of Greece. The couple went on to have four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. Queen Elizabeth now has three generations of heirs in line for the monarchy. Her son Charles, Prince of Wales, is followed by her grandson, William, the Duke of Cambridge, and the newest heir, her great grandson, George.

In February 1952, Elizabeth became Queen at just 25, after her father died of cancer. Three million people lined the route from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace after her coronation ceremony. Britain was slowly emerging from the privations of wartime, rationing and shortages. The sudden accession of a beautiful 25-year-old woman, someone the public had watched since she was an infant, created newfound hope. Prime Minister Winston Churchill talked about “a new Elizabethan age” to shed the sorrows and losses of war.

To place this in context she became our Queen while we in TCI were still a dependency of Jamaica. It would take a further 10 years before John Glenn would splash down just off Grand Turk following his three orbits of the earth, a further 21 years before TCI had its first Governor and 24 years until JAGS McCartney won the 1976 election.

She has, as a result, been on the throne during the time in office of 14 British Prime Ministers and 14 US Presidents. She has been Defender of the Faith during the time of 7 Popes – of whom she has met four – and she has seen the baton pass nine times between Secretary Generals of the United Nations while she has been Head of the Commonwealth. A remarkable record of Service and of experience.

Importantly I think, for us here today, the Queen is a committed Christian and churchgoer and has often spoken of her faith in her speeches and broadcasts. In her 2014 Christmas Broadcast she said: “For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life”. “A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people of whatever faith or none.

The longest overseas tour that the Queen has undertaken began in Bermuda in November 1953 and ended in Gibraltar in May 1954. She was away for 168 days. The greatest number of countries that the Queen has visited in one trip is 14. This was during her 1966 trip to the Caribbean which included TCI.

Looking back many, including myself, are fond of recalling the words Her Majesty said on her 21st Birthday – “I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” Isn’t it inspiring to think of a young woman, making such a profound promise, on her 21st Birthday and then living up to that promise – all the way through her life to her 96th Birthday.

If I were to be presumptuous, and suggest what Her Majesty’s greatest accomplishment is, it would have to be the Commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth, then still in her 20s, threw herself behind a fledgling group her father had initially overseen. The Queen made the Commonwealth a priority and, under her stewardship, it has grown from eight members to 54 members today. In the words of her son, Prince Charles: “As a family of some 2.6 billion people, from fifty-four nations across six continents, the Commonwealth represents a rich diversity of traditions, experience and talents which can help to build a more equal, sustainable and prosperous future”. Helping build a global organisation second only to the United Nations in size, is a remarkable and positive legacy.

Now, back to the Parade ground. We will be presenting medals today to those on Parade who have served for 18, 25 and 30 years. There are many not on Parade today who will receive their awards separately. To commemorate the Jubilee, those who completed five full years of service, on 6 February 2022, in the Emergency Services and Armed Forces will also receive the Platinum Jubilee medal. It carries on it a Latin Inscription that translates as: “Elizabeth II, By the Grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith”. To not unduly keep those on Parade in the sun, many on Parade are already wearing their medal and, I will therefore present to just a representative sample.

I end on welcoming, for the first time on this Parade and stood beside the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force, a Force with a 220 year history, the newest addition to those who protect us; those who represent the Officers and Marines of our very own Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment. Not only the first time on this parade, it is also the first time they have worn their new ceremonial uniform which draws on the theme of their green berets and their affiliation with the largest – and to my mind the best – Infantry Regiment of the British Army – ‘The Rifles’.

The previous British Chief of Defence Staff (the most senior military officer in the UK across the Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) and the present Chief of the General Staff (the most senior officer in the British Army) are both ‘Rifles’ Officers and I’m grateful to them both for the support they have given us, not least in having one of their best Non-Commissioned Officers working permanently with our Marines.

Presently they number a little over 40 and they are set to grow again in the coming months by around 30 – and given their success we expect further growth next year. The majority are part-time volunteers, but they are consistently operational, in support of our Maritime Police and our Immigration Enforcement Team. They are the only Overseas Territory Military force operational every night, and their contribution is already significant. It would be fair to say their story has only just begun. I am incredibly proud to be able to take the salute at their first Queens Birthday Parade.

So in celebration of this Platinum Jubilee, may God Bless Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. May God bless the Turks and Caicos Islands. May God bless all those before me and everything you represent in terms of serving our people and securing our future. With that it only remains for me to say, in the words of the national anthem: ‘Long May She Reign Over us. God Save the Queen’.

Thank you.