• this means £780 million for the Scottish Government, £475 million for the Welsh Government and £260 million for the Northern Ireland Executive
• this adds to the support people across the country will receive through UK-wide measures tackling the impact of COVID-19 including extending Statutory Sick Pay

The Devolved Administrations will receive at least £1.5 billion from the UK Government to make sure they have the resources they need to support people and businesses through COVID-19. This will mean they can increase funding for the NHS and provide grants to businesses.

Through the £1.5 billion package, the Scottish Government will receive £780 million, the Welsh Government £475 million and the Northern Ireland Executive £260 million – worked out through the Barnett formula.

This funding is in addition to the UK-wide support that people in all four corners of the country will receive from the UK Government. This includes extending Statutory Sick Pay, making it easier and quicker to access benefits, and providing a Business Interruption Loan Scheme, among other measures.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:

We will do what is right to help businesses and individuals in every part of the UK. That is why we announced a special funding package at the Budget last week to support those affected by COVID19.

Today I am confirming this additional funding that will ensure the devolved administrations can support vulnerable people, businesses and vital public services, including the NHS, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack, said:

The UK and Scottish Governments are working closely together in the fight against COVID – 19 as we do all we can to delay the spread and alleviate pressure on our public services, people and businesses.

The £780 million for the Scottish Government announced today is in addition to the £1.9 billion spending increase for 2020-21 confirmed at the Budget last week. This will help ensure the Scottish Government has the resources it needs to support those affected by COVID-19.

Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, said:

The UK Government will do everything possible to help individuals, business and communities across Wales which are being affected by coronavirus.

Following the response package announced in the Budget last week, nearly half a billion pounds is now being allocated by the UK Government to help the Welsh Government meet this exceptional challenge and we will continue to work closely with the Welsh Government to ensure the money reaches those who need it.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, said:

I wholeheartedly welcome today’s announcement from the Chancellor. This additional £260 million for the Northern Ireland Executive demonstrates the UK Government’s commitment to making sure everyone in every part of the UK receives the support they need to cope with the spread of COVID-19.

This £1.5 billion announcement is part of the £12 billion response plan announced last week to support public services, people and businesses through the disruption caused by COVID-19. This included a £5 billion COVID-19 Response Fund for the NHS and public services, a £500 million local authority hardship fund, business rates reliefs and £3,000 grants for the smallest businesses – all of which cover devolved policy areas meaning additional funding is being made available for the devolved administrations.

The UK government will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations as the situation develops to ensure they have the funding needed to tackle the impacts of COVID-19.

A boat-owner from Ashford in Middlesex has been convicted of failing to register the craft for use on the River Thames, in spite of warnings he could face legal action.

The Environment Agency discovered Leighton Lewis had no legal registration for his 18-foot long cruiser, The One That Got Away, during routine checks at Walton-on-Thames last summer.

Navigation officers attached a warning notice to the boat in July 2019, requiring Lewis to comply with the law within 14 days.

It is a criminal offence to keep, use or let for hire an unregistered vessel on a waterway.

Guildford magistrates’ court was told riverside inspections by officers revealed Lewis had skipped the annual £186.39 fee, determined by the length and width of the boat.

A month after the first visit, in August last year, the Environment Agency wrote to Lewis after officers found the boat still unregistered and moored in the same place. The letter warned Lewis to register the boat inside a week, or enforcement proceedings would begin.

Despite this second warning, Lewis, of Doris Road, Ashford, still failed to log the vessel with the Environment Agency.

Similar to excise duty for road vehicles, boat registration fees allow the Environment Agency to manage and maintain more than 600 miles of inland waterways across England, keeping them open and safe for thousands of river-lovers.

Nick McKie-Smith, waterways enforcement manager for the Environment Agency, said:

You can’t escape vehicle duty on the road. Why on the river? Boat registration fees go towards the upkeep of our waterways, providing enjoyment for river-users and support for boating businesses.

Lewis had a number of opportunities to register The One That Got Away, which, in the end, proved an inaccurate name because he didn’t.

Tried in absentia at Guildford magistrates’ court on 9 March 2020, Leighton Lewis was found guilty of breaching the Environment Agency (Inland Waterways) Order 2010. He was fined £400, and ordered to pay costs of £85 and his outstanding boat registration fee of £186.39 for 1 January to 31 December 2019.

Summary

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is looking at how telexistence capabilities can benefit UK defence and security. On behalf of the Chief Scientific Adviser’s (CSA) Emerging Technologies for Defence (ETD) Programme, the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) are exploring the utility of telexistence capabilities.

A telexistence capability can be defined as a system, or system of systems, which allows a human user to operate in an environment without physically being there. This could be achieved by using a remotely operated avatar, which relies on the integration of:

• telepresence (which enables the user to see and hear as though in the remote environment)
• robotics (which enables the user to interact with the remote environment)
• haptic feedback (which provides sense of touch)

In this Market Exploration activity, we are looking to understand the maturity of the technology (including its associated components) in the external marketplace and its potential application in the defence and security domains. This work will help to identify gaps in order to direct potential future investment.

This Market Exploration is not a commitment to subsequently launch a formal DASA competition.

Background

Developments in remote, robotic and sensory technologies in recent decades have led to an increased ability to operate differently in challenging environments. For defence and security communities, this includes significant steps to remove the need for people to be present in potentially hazardous locations.

The field of telexistence has emerged from the combination of three generic technology groupings: telepresence, robotics and haptics. Telexistence has been identified as a means by which skilled operatives can transfer their practice to a remote location, which can enhance the speed by which a user is deployed. It can also be used to keep people safe by reducing the risks associated with physically operating in a hazardous environment, for example: explosive ordinance disposal (EOD), Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN), space exploration, firefighting etc.

Solution Requirement

This Market Exploration aims to better understand the technology readiness level of the components of telexistence systems in isolation and/or together (a system of systems) to inform future investment. Potential solutions should allow a user to interact with or immerse themselves in a remote location as if they were physically there. The telexistence solution:

• should mitigate the risk associated with operating in hazardous domains
• must be able to be tangibly demonstrated and allow the operator to interact with the environment in real-time
• can include elements of artificial intelligence but must permit the operator to remain in the loop

Suppliers should provide examples of potential use cases within defence and security.

Sub Requirements

A telexistence capability would require the integration of telepresence, robotics and haptic feedback, the requirements of each of these components are provided below. In your submission, we ask that you outline which of these requirements your solution can/could deliver. You do not have to address all sub requirements to respond.

1. telepresence platforms: the solution must have audio-visual capability and have the potential for the individual to feel fully immersed in the environment. The solution must have the ability to integrate robotic and haptic components into the system.

2. robotic systems: the solution must be mobile and have the capacity to function (move) in response to the operator’s commands, in real-time. The solution must have the ability to integrate telepresence and haptic components into the system. Submissions should indicate potential operating environments.

3. haptic sensory information: the solution must be able to transmit sensory (haptic) information to the human operative. Solutions must be able to demonstrate real-time motion capture, positional and rotational tracking. The solution must sense and provide real-time feedback on at least one of the following: kinaesthetic force, cutaneous force, temperature, vibration. Whilst not essential, we are also interested in systems that can operate to levels of fine dexterity. The solution must be able to tangibly demonstrate the ability to perform simple-complex motor tasks.

What we don’t want

• We are not interested in receiving ideas for literature reviews that respond to the requirements or sub-requirements of the solution.
• We are not interested in paper-based concepts.
• We are not interested in consultancy proposals.
• We are not interested in non-technical solutions which deviate from the haptic, telepresence or robotics sub-requirements.

This is not a competition and therefore we are not asking for costed proposals at this stage. This is a market engagement request for information exercise and we do not commit to subsequently launch a formal DASA competition.

How to submit

Responses to this Market Exploration must be submitted via the DASA submission service, for which you will need to register.

You will be asked for a title and short summary of your innovation, followed by questions related to your capability. We are seeking to understand what and how much further development is required for a complete solution to all requirements, or whether a combination of separate solutions is required. The information you provide will assist in developing a statement of requirements for potential future activities.

Submissions must be submitted by midday on 27 April 2020.

Please only provide details of one product/capability per form. If you have a number of potential solutions, then please submit multiple forms.

If you have any questions then please email accelerator@dstl.gov.uk with ”Telexistence” in the subject line.

How we use your information

Information you provide to us, that is not already available to us from other sources, will be handled in-confidence. By submitting, you are giving us permission to keep and use the information for our internal purposes, and to provide the information onwards, in-confidence, within UK Government. The Defence and Security Accelerator will not use or disclose the information for any other purpose, without first requesting permission to do so.

In light of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Office of the Pubs Code Adjudicator (OPCA), has taken steps to ensure that our staff remain safe and well. As part of this, many (and at times all) of our staff will be working remotely. We do not envisage that this will cause any significant disruption to our core services and will continue to operate as normal. However access to hard copy post may be delayed and those contacting the PCA are strongly advised to use our email and telephone contacts for the Office in the first instance and not rely solely on hard copy correspondence to this Office.

We will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice and guidance issued by Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care.

We have been clear with all pub-owning businesses (POBs) that we expect them to be giving active consideration as to how they can ensure that individual tied pub tenants do not lose out on their Pubs Code rights as a result of COVID-19. You can find out what we have said to the POBs here

We will update this page to keep you informed of any changes.