The Prime Minister has pledged to create thousands more good school places as he unveils a new drive for the next wave of free schools.

He is calling on parents, educational groups and community organisations to come together to set up brand new free schools, to drive up education standards and to take advantage of the freedoms and opportunities they offer.

The new schools will build on the successes of more than 500 free schools that have opened since 2010 and already created more than 133,000 school places across the country.

Over 40% of free schools are in the 30% most deprived communities in the country and 18% of all free schools are dedicated to special needs or alternative provision.

The latest round of applications for the free schools programme is open to everyone, but particularly encourages applications from parts of the country that have not previously benefited, as well as alternative provision and special schools.

The government hopes to select up to 30 schools through Wave 14, subject to the quality of bids. This comes on the back of Wave 13, which announced 22 new schools and 19,000 new places.

This follows the Prime Minister’s recent announcement to invest over £14 billion in primary and secondary education between now and 2022/23.

Ahead of a visit to a London primary school, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

Every child should have access to a good school place, no matter their background or where they live.

Free schools help to ensure children are getting the best education possible – offering exceptional teaching, encouraging strong discipline and providing families with more choices.

I want to see even more of these excellent schools open, particularly in areas most in need of more good and outstanding school places.

This government is committed to investing in our children’s futures. Not only are we improving education standards with new free schools, but we’re also levelling up funding across the entire country and increasing funding per pupil in primary and secondary schools.

Free schools are new schools set up by parents, teachers, charities, academy sponsors and existing schools in response to demand from the local community. The newly-opened schools include primary, secondary and all-through schools, and sixth form colleges. Secondary free schools are among the highest performing state-funded schools in the country.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Our free schools programme, introduced nearly a decade ago, is transforming education for children all over the country, wherever they live and whatever their ability.

Our reforms have backed the innovative and trailblazing school leaders who are running great schools up and down the country. I want to harness that expertise and use it in the areas where there is still more to do, including the alternative provision and special school sectors.

There are now over 500 open free schools nationwide, with more than 220 set to open in the coming years. Of those inspected by Ofsted, 84% have been rated good or outstanding, with 30% rated outstanding – and in 2018, four of the top 10 Progress 8 scores for state-funded schools in England were achieved by free schools. The Department for Education is today launching the 14th round of applications – this is open to everyone, but will be targeted at areas in most need of good new mainstream schools.

The deadline for submitting an application to open a new free school in Wave 14 is 11 November 2019.

Your Excellencies, Ambassador Lauber, thank you for giving me the floor.

I think I would begin by emphasising an obvious point which is; the world is increasingly digital by default. The choices individual nation-states make about how to develop, apply and regulate digital technology will be consequential for all our countries. And the choices we make together as a 193-strong General Assembly will help shape the development of cyberspace and the nature of peace and security in the 21st century.

Like all good software, the best systems derive from what has been developed and learned in the past. Without sustained agreement on the norms of international relations, peace and security breaks down. As we meet in the Open-Ended Working Group on Cyberspace our discussions can build on two essential ingredients in the United Nations Charter from June 1945. We have a collective commitment to maintain international peace and security, and to promote and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. We also have a shared commitment to uphold international law, which applies in cyberspace just like activities in any other domain. The General Assembly endorsement of this in 2013 and 2015 is an important anchor to help us frame our developing conversation.

And just as good software draws on work done before, the best innovation depends on further embedding what has already been agreed – and working together on emerging issues that matter. No single government working alone can eliminate cyber threats. International cooperation clearly is key. This includes incorporating all stakeholders in the discussion on maintaining a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace.

The United Kingdom believes in an open and pluralistic world. We welcome the General Assembly’s decisions to create an Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) and to establish another Group of Government Experts (GGE). We will actively and positively engage with both processes. We are enthusiastic to hear the views of others – Member States who bring diverse perspectives to the table along with other stakeholders who bring insight whether from the private sector, civil society, or academia. We strongly welcome the renewed commitment to hearing from diverse voices in both the OEWG and GGE. The more we listen, the more we learn. The more we learn, the more we can develop the international relations software to sustain international peace and security.

The United Nations General Assembly has already made valuable progress on cyber. Previous Groups of Government Experts have reached helpful consensus reports adopted by the GA. We have agreed an international stability framework for Responsible State Behaviour in cyberspace – based on the application of existing international law, implementation of voluntary norms of responsible state behaviour and confidence building measures. The cumulative value of this work, in particular the 2015 consensus report, which agreed a set of norms of state behaviour in cyberspace, represents significant steps forward in addressing instability and risk. And the UNGA in 2015 called on all Member States “to be guided in their use of information and communications technologies by the UNGGE’s 2015 report”.

In addition to leading the U.K. delegation to the OEWG I will also be one of the 25 members of the 2019-21 GGE. We welcome the commitment by the Chairs both processes, Ambassador Lauber and Ambassador Patriota, to coordinate as they pursue their respective mandates.

The United Nations General Assembly has already agreed that international law applies and has agreed a set of voluntary non-binding norms as tools that can strengthen international security by establishing clear expectations for state behaviour in cyberspace. In tandem with Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) these build trust, transparency and security. It is human nature to pay more attention to when international law or norms are being breached than when they are being observed. If international law and norms are mostly observed, those who breach them stand out.

We should also be clear we believe that all States have the legitimate right to develop sovereign cyber capabilities and recognise we have an obligation to ensure they are used in line with existing international law.

The United Kingdom believes in positive action by all States to abide by international law, to implement agreed norms and CBMs, and notes that there is a challenge to make sure that existing norms are better understood, communicated and implemented around the world. Sharing best practices and experience is an ideal way to help achieve this.

Confidence-building measures are one particular theme that the OEWG could productively engage on. This includes drawing on the work of regional groups that has sought to increase the transparency and predictability of state behaviour in cyberspace. Valuable work has been done by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum and the Organisation of American States (OAS) in developing and promoting specific CBMs. Another example of this includes the work undertaken across the Commonwealth, where 53 member countries endorsed a cyber-declaration in London in April last year, setting out our shared commitment to law, norms and confidence building in cyberspace.

A number of States and others have commented that there is a real challenge in terms of capacity to address cyber security and implement cyber norms. We agree. This is a high-priority problem and needs addressing. Bilaterally, the United Kingdom is doing its part. We are one of the most active cyber donors in the world, investing over £36m in international cyber work with partners in more than 100 countries across six continents since 2012. We believe that funding international capacity building on cyber is an urgent priority that deserves our collective attention and financial commitment from donors and will look to promote this particular theme in OEWG discussions.

In an increasingly digital world, familiar problems of peace and security take on a new dimension. Technology brings risks as well as tremendous opportunities. The United Kingdom believes it is important to maintain a balanced and long-term perspective. This Open-Ended Working Group has just fifteen days of discussion and debate in total. We encourage both pragmatism and focus in the process anchored on our collective commitment to make sure the 21st century does not look like the 20th.

I am delivering this statement on behalf of the following member states, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Belgium and my own country, the United Kingdom. We accept the decision of the Bureau to continue work on the decision on the structured funding dialogue. The bureau is of the view that this is not a substantive decision, however, we believe that a threat to the mandate of UNFPA is the very essence of a substantive decision.

We as Members and Observers of the Board note with regret that this discussion has been unnecessarily politicized. We are unequivocal in our position on clearly maintaining UNFPA’s mandate of protecting and progressing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Forcing us back to 1994 is a direct encroachment on the advancement of SRHR and human rights and the progress made on the agenda since. This is especially unacceptable during the 25th anniversary of the Cairo Declaration and the ICPD Programme of Action, and the 50th anniversary of the creation of UNFPA.

Let us be clear. The issues that have been raised go well beyond the scope of the structured funding dialogue which aims to effectively allocate donor funding where it is most needed to achieve the three transformative goals of the UNFPA strategic plan and are fundamental to the achievement of the SDGs.

We note that this text was placed under silence procedure and member states supporting this statement did not receive notification that the silence procedure had been broken. We appreciate that the members of the bureau have made their decision to recommend a deferral with due consideration, however, we are unable to support this approach.

The decision text presented by the facilitator contains one minor adjustment to previously agreed language, namely the Structured Funding Dialogue decisions from 2016, 2017 and 2018.

We stand fully behind UNFPA’s mandate. We would appreciate clarification in the future how these decisions are arrived at both in the Bureau and the Board. We would also like to ask a clarification question-can members of the Executive Board table a decision for consideration at the time decisions are being adopted?

In memory of Jeremy Heywood, Cabinet Secretary from 2012 to 2018, the Heywood Foundation and the University of Oxford have established a Visiting Fellowship.

The purpose of the new Fellowship will be to allow a Civil Service Permanent Secretary the privilege of exploring issues relating to public service and policy, outside of the immediate responsibilities of Government duties. The Fellowship will be based at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, with support from the Cabinet Office. The fellow will be associated with Hertford College, Lord Heywood’s former college.

The Prime Minister has approved a sabbatical for Oliver Robbins, so he can become the first Heywood Fellow. Mr Robbins will take up this opportunity immediately.

Mr Robbins said:

Jeremy, with his pride in the Civil Service and its values, remains an incredible inspiration to me and many other civil servants. It is an enormous privilege to be given the opportunity to reflect on some of the challenges the Civil Service faces, as the first Heywood Fellow.

Lady Suzanne Heywood, Chair of the Heywood Foundation, said:

On behalf of my fellow trustees I would like to congratulate Olly on this fellowship which was created to continue the passion that Jeremy Heywood (Lord Heywood of Whitehall) had for policy innovation and diversity. We are delighted that Olly will be our first fellow and I know that Jeremy would have felt the same way.

Professor Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, said:

Lord Heywood was an inspiration to many public servants, not just in the UK but around the world. He upheld the values of an impartial, independent civil service while relentlessly seeking innovative ways to improve its service to citizens and governments. We are proud to be working with the Heywood Foundation to sustain his legacy through the creation of the Heywood Fellows. We look forward to welcoming Olly Robbins as the first fellow.

Sir Mark Sedwill, Cabinet Secretary, said:

I am very pleased that the first of these prestigious Fellowships has been awarded to someone who worked closely with Jeremy, and whom Jeremy mentored as one of the leading civil servants of his generation. Olly has had an outstanding career in Government serving several Prime Ministers, including as deputy National Security Adviser, Permanent Secretary of DExEU and, most recently, as the Prime Minister’s Europe Adviser. I know that Olly will use this opportunity to make another strong contribution to the future development of the Civil Service.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

I am delighted that Olly will be the first Permanent Secretary to take up this Fellowship in Jeremy Heywood’s memory, which follows his many years of dedication to public service in a variety of different roles.

Thank you, Mr President. And let me also condemn the attacks on civilians in Burkina Faso and send our condolences to their families. Thank you also to Under-Secretary Lacroix for his briefing.

Now, colleagues, today we have an opportunity to identify where peacekeeping reforms have already delivered real impact and where we need to redouble our efforts. We are very proud to be among the 152 member states which have endorsed A4P Declaration of Shared Commitments; it remains an important framework, guiding our collective efforts to make peacekeeping operations fit for the future and our individual efforts as members of this Council. And we’re also proud of the role we’ve played in the last year in advancing the A4P commitments, including as champions in the areas of politics, peacebuilding within peace and security and performance and accountability.

On the politics, as Council penholders on AMISOM/UNFICYP, we have streamlined mission mandates, making them clearer and more focussed, and we’ve continued our practice of engaging troop contributing countries throughout the process. We’re committed to continuing to work with Council members, with TCC and the Secretariat to do the same on other complex mandates, including UNAMID in October. And I would suggest to my French colleague that they might like to rise to the challenge in doing so on MINUSCA and MONUSCO later in the year.

On the peacebuilding side, I think it’s important that we talk of UNAMID’s mandate and the events in Sudan this year. It reminds us of the importance on a focus on a successful transition to peacebuilding, sustaining peace; that is what we have learned so much from the peacekeeping operations that have taken place so far. Recognising the wider importance of transitions, we’ve therefore doubled our annual contribution to the Peacebuilding Fund to some $20 million. And it would be good to see all members of the Council able to make a contribution to the fund to show the importance we collectively give to its work. In October, we will host a conference in the UK on improving transitions, convening stakeholders from across the peace, security and development nexus.

As penholder for Resolution 1325, we will also continue to champion the Women, Peace and Security agenda, including by maintaining efforts to meet the UN’s targets for women’s uniformed participation. We were delighted to announce the contribution of $1.2 million to the Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations in March, and we handed over a chair of the Chiefs of Defence Women Peace and Security Network to Canada in July, to whom we wish all success and we’ll continue to support.

Looking ahead to 2020, we will be deploying 250 UK troops to MINUSMA to form a long-range reconnaissance patrol task group. This is a multi-year pledge responding to a specific capability need identified by the United Nations, and it will be complemented by new training offers to partners deploying alongside us. As ever, we will strive to ensure that the troops we contribute in Mali are well-trained, well-equipped and should be held, of course, to the highest standards of performance.

Now, Mr President, we recognise the important contributions made by regional and sub-regional organisations in preventing and responding to conflict, such, of course, as the role played by the African Union in Somalia. We recall our support in principle for AU-led peace operations to be partly funded from UN-assesed contributions on a case by case basis. And we look forward to continuing discussions with Council members on a mechanism for such support, which in particular ensures standards are fully met. In that context, I would ask all member states to back posts designed to support AMISOM in this way in the Fifth Committee going forward.

Mr President, in adopting Resolution 2436, this Council was clear that achieving the highest standards of peacekeeping performance requires greater transparency and accountability. We recognise the challenges involved in providing detailed performance reporting based on objective performance data. That’s why we’ve provided extra budgetary funding to support the development of tools, such as the Comprehensive Performance Assessment System. Without better performance reporting, we cannot properly assess the impact that reforms are having in the field, nor can we identify examples of outstanding performance and best practice, which can be replicated more widely. So we look forward to rigorous implementation of the 2436 performance agenda in the coming year, including through more extensive and detailed performance reporting. We owe it to our peacekeepers and the civilians whom they protect to pick up the pace and focus our efforts on those reforms which will deliver maximum impact on the ground.

Thank you, Mr President.