The UK Government has launched a major information campaign urging UK nationals living in Italy to get ready for Brexit on 31 October. It is part of a wider communications campaign effort across Europe.

UK nationals in Italy will receive information about specific actions they need to take to keep their rights and access to services in Italy including around residency, healthcare, driving licences and passports.

The campaign will use multiple channels – from Facebook posts to billboard posters in towns and cities across Italy – urging people to take action ahead of 31 October.

The British Embassy in Italy has already been doing a lot over the past months to inform UK nationals, including town hall information meetings including question and answer sessions with the Ambassador and Consular experts.

There are more than one million UK nationals living in the EU, with more than 60% living in just four countries – Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The UK Government recently announced up to £3 million in grant funding for charities and other voluntary organisations who can inform UK nationals about the need to register or apply for residency and to support them as they complete their applications.

The Government also allocated an extra £300,000 to British Embassies and Consulates across the EU to engage with ‘hard to reach’ UK nationals such as disabled people, those living in remote areas or people who might need extra help to complete any paperwork in preparation for Brexit. ​ This extra assistance will build on the support that British Embassies are already providing with more than 541 outreach events with UK nationals since November 2017.

The new information campaign asks UK nationals to take action to prepare for Brexit by checking the Living in Italy guide and:

• apply for residency
• register for healthcare
• exchange their UK driving licence for an Italian one
• check their passport is valid for travel

​

Specifically designed for pupils aged 7-11, the workshop-based learning programme focuses on STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and encourages pupils to work together to plan, design and build a new railway for the future.

In a series of hands-on and interactive challenges, pupils work as a team and put their problem solving skills into practice as they are tasked with designing a railway, which meets the needs of the modern day traveller, between fictional towns and cities.

Kate Myers, HS2 Ltd’s Head of Skills, Employment and Education explains:

For today’s school pupils, HS2 is probably the largest engineering programme that will take place in this country in their lifetime. It’s really important that we capture the significance of that in a compelling and interesting way so pupils understand not just the challenges of delivering a project of this scale, but the benefits and opportunities it will bring now and into the future.

We’re introducing pupils to the wide range of diverse career opportunities that HS2 is creating, and inspiring them to think about how they might play a part in this once in a lifetime project.

With HS2 set to arrive in the East Midlands in 2033, today’s school pupils could help to tackle the UK’s growing engineering skills gap. The aim of the education programme is to inspire pupils to think about how the STEAM subjects they learn at school could set them on the path to becoming the apprentices, engineers and train drivers of the future.

HS2 will transform rail travel in the UK, give passengers thousands of extra seats every day, take freight off our roads and free up space for more local rail services on existing lines. It will play a crucial role in rebalancing Britain’s economy and is already supporting over 9.000 jobs with 2,000 businesses already having won work on the project.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• HS2 will transform Britain’s railways: HS2 takes inter-city trains off the line, opening up the ability for more localised services with over 100 cities and towns benefitting. It will deliver a travel experience as yet unseen in this country, with a fast, reliable and affordable service. It will unlock a massive amount of space on the existing railway, creating thousands of extra seats for passengers and taking freight off the roads.

• HS2 will better connect Britain: Serving over 25 towns from Scotland to the South East, HS2 links nearly half of the UK population. It is needed in order to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail. Together these better connections will unleash the economic potential of the country. Local plans around HS2 sites show nearly 500,000 jobs and 90,000 houses are planned.

• HS2 is happening: There are now 9,000 jobs supported by the programme and 2,000 businesses (70% SMEs) that have provided work. Works on HS2 are well underway with over 250 active sites.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Latest information and actions from the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, schools, colleges, local authorities and further education providers.

Through its International Tech Hub Network, the UK government is inviting applications from health-tech start-ups from India, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria to participate in TeXchange 2020: Healthcare Innovation. The most innovative start-ups will be selected to come to the UK and participate in TeXchange, February 2020.

This will be an early initiative of the UK-India Tech Hub, which aims to develop UK-India tech collaborations, create skilled digital tech jobs and stimulate the digital economy of both the UK and India. The Hub was announced last year as part of the wider UK-India Tech Partnership.

TeXchange is an immersive three-day programme that offers participants direct access to the UK’s top corporate and government agencies through public events, meet-ups and presentations. TeXchange 2020: Healthcare Innovation will focus on AI and big data in healthcare, early detection of diseases, population health, telemedicine, and diagnostics.

Key stakeholders involved will include healthcare start-ups, British healthcare companies, and leading UK service providers and intermediaries.

Digital Minister Matt Warman said:

We are giving the brightest global entrepreneurs focused on the development of innovative healthtech solutions the unique opportunity to come to the UK and showcase their solutions to the UK’s healthcare sector. Texchange will help to build connections for global innovative startups and demonstrate that the UK is the place to grow and scale your tech business.

As part of the UK-India Tech Partnership, the UK government has delivered a number of initiatives over the last few years to support the buoyant Indian tech sector including the FinTech Rocketship Awards where FinTech entrepreneurs from UK and India were given an opportunity to experience their respective tech ecosystems and pitch for investments to grow their new businesses in this first-of-its-kind mentoring programme.

Further information

The UK government is building an International Tech Hub Network to support entrepreneurs around the globe; stimulate local digital economies; and facilitate innovation partnerships between local tech sectors and UK and international businesses.

Since 2013, TeXchange, the flagship programme of the UK-Israel Tech Hub, has exposed British businesses to some of the world’s brightest innovators whilst opening the UK market to forward-thinking startups. Hundreds of UK companies and over 70 Israeli startups have participated in previous TeXchange activities, resulting in more than 20 signed UK-Israel business partnerships, with many more under negotiations.

Previous themes include retail, fintech, cyber and smart cities.

India is home to a thriving digital sector worth approximately $200 billion and is a growing hub for technologies such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, data analytics and a leading manufacturer of internet-connected devices and services. There are multiple initiatives that the UK and India are pursuing together to help skilled talent and promote trade and investment between the two countries.

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors in India, forecast to be valued at over $280 billion by 2020. There are estimated to be over 5,000 start-ups in the healthtech space, which raised more than $500 million between 2014 and 2018.

In July the UK government announced Go Global India, due to start later in the year. This programme will offer some of India’s most innovative and cutting-edge ‘tech for good’ start-ups the opportunity to participate in a programme to improve their business skills, build links with the UK’s thriving digital sector and pave the way for future partnerships. Go Global is part of the ambitious UK-India Tech Partnership.

More information: Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future

Mail to: Ishan.Bhatkoti

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Youtube, Eventbrite and Blogs

The directors of two Bradford based businesses have been sentenced following a successful prosecution by the Environment Agency at Leeds Crown Court.

Tejpal Sagoo (41) of Tudor Road, Hayes, Middlesex was sentenced to six months imprisonment (suspended for two years) and instructed to carry out 250 hours of unpaid community work after the discovery of illegally stored mixed household, commercial and industrial waste material at his company’s (Robin Hood Group Ltd) site on Duncombe Road, Bradford.

He was also ordered to pay the Environment Agency £2,400 in costs and served with a Regulation 44 Notice under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016, which obliges Mr Sagoo to clear the offending waste within six months or face a contempt of Court hearing.

Sagoos uncle, Jarnail Bassan (64) of Pasture Lane, Clayton, Bradford was fined £2,400 and ordered to pay £200 per month for the role he and his now dissolved company, LHC Asset Management Ltd, played in the crime.

Over 275 tonnes of waste were taken to the site on Duncombe Road between January and March 2017. Despite both men claiming that they intended to ship the waste abroad to burn as fuel, the vast majority of it remains at the site now, some two years later.

LHC Asset Management Ltd had helped to source the waste and leased the site, but Robin Hood Group Ltd had been in control of the operation.

Inspections by Environment Agency officers at the Duncombe Road site started in March 2017, following a report from Bradford Council. There, they found hundreds of large bales of mixed waste material which were being stored on the site.

Officers instructed Sagoo not to bring any more waste into the site and to legitimately remove and dispose of the waste stored there.

On sentencing, Judge Batty said Bassan had been guided principally by his nephew (Sagoo) and that he had been reckless. In relation to Sagoo he said that “The whole operation was a sham” and that Sagoo “had shown a continuous disregard for the environment”. “Your description as a waste cowboy by the prosecution was apposite.”

Paul Glasby, the Environment Agency’s investigating officer said:

This was a clear case of a rogue operator trying to circumnavigate environmental law for their own financial gain. This sentence sends out a strong message that the Environment Agency and Courts will hold businesses and individuals to account for harm to the environment.