New technologies including electrification, digital services and autonomy could revolutionise aviation.

They could help to power a new generation of flying taxis, drones delivering goods and services and small, all-electric aircraft.

The UK has played a leading role in aviation over the last 100 years and is well-placed to take advantage of a new generation of aircraft that could help to ease congestion and reduce the carbon footprint of the industry.

Individuals from businesses and research organisations with an interest in this field are invited to apply to attend a workshop to develop ideas to meet the challenges posed by future flight.

The invitation is the first phase of a £125 million government investment in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Future Flight Challenge. It will be matched by a £175 million investment from industry.

Demonstrate green flight and new services

The aim of the Future Flight Challenge is to demonstrate innovative ways to achieve greener flight, new services and ways to travel, increased mobility, better connectivity and reduced congestion.

Individuals applying to attend the 2-day workshop in February 2020 can come from a wide range of disciplines.

They must show how they would attempt to solve one or more of 6 problem statements:

• the full range of drone applications is stifled by the absence of the physical and data infrastructures needed to exploit the potential of the global market
• current air traffic management systems are not scalable
• there is a need to develop autonomy while maintaining high levels of safety
• there is a need to move towards more electric flight by moving technology between urban, sub-regional vehicles and larger aircraft
• there is a need to develop use cases and operational frameworks for the adoption of autonomous air vehicles
• there is no aviation innovation or development environment that will allow real-life demonstration and evaluation of the issues presented in the first 5 problem statements

The aim of the discovery workshop is to help participants form consortia that will apply for funding in future phases of the competition.

Competition information

Phase one discovery workshop

• the workshop will be held in Birmingham, 4-5 February 2020
• no grant funding is available at this stage but costs will be covered
• the application process is open and closes on 13 November 2019
• it is open to UK businesses and research and technology organisations
• a briefing event will be held on 7 October 2019

Phases 2 and 3

• we expect future projects to range in size between £5 million and £20 million

The UK is proud to present this resolution with Somalia and the group of friends of Somalia, to renew the mandate of the Independent Expert on human rights in Somalia.

We commend Somalia for recent progress it has made in the field of human rights and recognise that Somalia’s recovery from over 25 years of conflict is ongoing. In this regard, we welcome progress in upholding human rights and in strengthening political processes. We particularly commend the work by the Ministry for Women and Human Rights Development as the lead federal government body to advance the human rights agenda in Somalia. We congratulate Somalia for ratifying the Convention on the Rights of the Child in August 2019.

The resolution does not shy away from recognising the many challenges that remain. It calls for support to Somalia’s institutions to build a stable, peaceful and prosperous state. It expresses concern at the attacks against and harassment of human rights defenders and the media in Somalia, including journalists, especially in the form of harassment, arbitrary arrest or prolonged detention. It calls on Somalia to promote freedom of expression and end a prevailing culture of impunity.

We recognise Somali’s desire to transition towards deeper engagement with the OHCHR and other thematic experts, including Special Procedures. A specific paragraph in this resolution asks the incoming Independent Expert to work with the Federal Government of Somalia to propose a roadmap towards this transition and we stand ready to work with Somalia to identify specific areas that need addressing.

The cooperation shown by Somalia with a range of international mechanisms and this Council, demonstrates a willingness to move forward and improve the human rights situation. We are struck by the level of engagement Somalia has shown on this resolution and hope this can translate to improvements on the ground.

The oral revisions presented in this draft simply aim to streamline the resolution by combining Operative Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 into one single paragraph.

It is clear we must continue to strengthen our combined support to Somalia. This resolution does exactly that, and we count on your support.

The OTS is currently looking to recruit up to 3 permanent part-time tax professionals who have current or recent private sector exerience to join our team.

You can find out more about these posts and apply here.

The closing date for applications is 13 October 2019.

Published 30 September 2019

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock has launched a new hospital building programme as part of a new health infrastructure plan due to be published on Monday 30 September. This sets out a long-term programme of investment in health infrastructure, including capital to:

• build new hospitals
• modernise our primary care estate
• invest in new diagnostics and technology
• help eradicate critical safety issues in the NHS estate

At the centre of this plan is a new hospital building programme, which the government has launched today with a £2.8 billion investment that gives 6 new large hospitals the funding to go ahead now, aiming to deliver by 2025, and a further 21 schemes the green light to go to the next stage of developing their plans, with the aim of being ready to deliver between 2025 and 2030. 

In total this first tranche involves more than 40 hospital building projects, as some schemes involve the development of more than one hospital site. All local areas will have the opportunity to bid to be part of future funding rounds.

The 6 trusts getting £2.7 billion in funding today to develop new hospitals are:

• Barts Health Trust
• Epsom and St Helier Trust
• West Hertfordshire Trust
• Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust
• University Hospitals of Leicester Trust
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust

Details of 6 trusts receiving funding (PDF, 39 KB, 1 page)

The 21 schemes receiving £100 million of seed funding include:

• Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge
• Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham
• North Manchester General Hospital

List of 21 trusts receiving seed funding (PDF, 43.5 KB, 1 page)

Today’s investment is on top of the extra £33.9 billion a year by 2023 to 2024 that the government is providing to the NHS, and follows the government’s recent commitment of £1.8 billion in capital funding for 20 hospital upgrades and other critical infrastructure works for the NHS, as well as the announcement on Friday of £200 million to replace more than 300 diagnostic machines across the country to help drive earlier cancer diagnosis and improve survival.

Representatives – from participating states of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – have been to 16 Air Assault Brigade in Colchester and RAF Marham in in Norfolk. The programme also included a day at RAF Lakenheath, hosted by the USA.

The visitors, largely arms control experts, were given the opportunity to see front line units operating the latest equipment and platforms including air assault demonstrations and the F35 Lightning.

The visit is intended to promote mutual trust and transparency, and allows participating states to verify that there are no undeclared military capabilities or activities of concern.

Defence Minister Baroness Goldie said:

We can reduce the risk of mistakes and strengthen Euro-Atlantic security by increasing military transparency. In so doing we reinforce the European security order which has benefited the UK – and kept our country safe and prosperous – for decades.

The UK is unequivocally committed to the rules based international system, of which the OSCE is an important part, and that of course means always meeting our international obligations – whether it is hosting or visiting other countries.

The UK hosts such visits every five years, in accordance with the requirements of the Vienna Document – a political agreement between the 57 countries that make up the OSCE. The Vienna Document contains a set of confidence-building measures designed to provide assurances on military activities and facilitates dialogue between the militaries of those 57 countries. OSCE participating states are obliged to accept a number of visits and inspections by other members each year: the UK regularly conducts its own visits to military sites of fellow member states.

The OSCE is the world’s largest regional security organisation – with its genesis in the Cold War – and which includes the entirety of Europe, Russia, and North America. Representatives from the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG) escorted the visitors throughout their time in the UK.