Ministers have confirmed that the Better Care Fund will be renewed for 2019 to 2020, bringing the pooled funding to over £6.4 billion.

The planning requirements published on 18 July will reduce the overall reporting burden on local partnerships while improving the measurement and effectiveness of the Better Care Fund.

The fund provides financial support for councils and NHS organisations to jointly plan and deliver local services. It enables people to leave hospital sooner to get the care they need at home.

Social care related delays to patients being sent home from hospital have been nearly halved since February 2017 following multi-billion government investment in integrating health and social care, the equivalent to freeing up almost 1,200 NHS beds.

The fund has been effective in:

• helping to keep people living independently at home
• providing joined-up reablement services
• reducing delayed discharges across the system
• achieving closer working between the NHS and social care services

This builds on the NHS Long Term Plan’s aims to create a more integrated and collaborative health and care system.

Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage said:

No one should be stuck in hospital when their treatment has ended – it’s not fair to patients or their families and places huge pressure on our hardworking NHS staff. The Better Care Fund is an important part of ending these unnecessary waits in hospital, joining up councils and the health service for the benefit of patients. 

Thanks to this government’s multi-billion pound investment the fund has significantly reduced delays to discharging patients. We must continue to work together to improve services and give people the best possible experiences of care, a crucial part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Local Government Minister, Rishi Sunak MP, said:

We’re determined to improve the way social care services and the NHS work together to help society’s most vulnerable people.

The Better Care Fund has made a real difference by enabling more people to be cared for at home sooner after treatment, freeing up much-needed hospital beds. This is testament to the hard work of local authorities, the NHS and social care providers working together.

We remain committed to supporting local collaboration so that health and care services continue to improve.

Based at Portsdown West, Hampshire, the ground station will use its 6.3m diameter antenna to direct satellites in both low-Earth and geosynchronous orbits, and will form a core part of the Dstl Space Science & Technology (S&T) programme.

Scientists from Dstl’s Space Group will develop and test software for satellite operations, and train civilian and military personnel in satellite mission operations. Towards the end of 2019, the ground station will task its first satellites, before progressing to control multiple satellite missions and other ground assets by 2021.

This ground station represents the first of a number of significant steps in conducting in-orbit research and concept demonstrator missions for the benefit of the MOD to better understand the space domain to enable freedom of action for future UK operations. This includes the protection of UK operations against emerging space-based threats.

Dstl Chief Executive, Gary Aitkenhead, said:

Dstl is building world-class expertise in developing systems for the space environment. Creating a ground infrastructure for future Space S&T missions is a key milestone in the continued rapid growth in our Space programme, supporting both Dstl, our colleagues across the MOD, and our other national and international partners.

This follows a similar visit by a delegation of Indian government officials to the UK last month.

Representatives from the UK government, together with a mix of private sector organisations, are on a week-long visit to Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, culminating with a workshop on 19 July in New Delhi focused on state- and city-led initiatives to scale up electric mobility markets in India. The visit is part of a scoping project exploring future partnerships with India on electric mobility. Delegates will discuss how to bolster charging infrastructure development, grid management, renewable energy integration, grid impact assessment, fleet transition programmes, pilots, vehicle to grid systems and city level planning.

Increasing the uptake of electric vehicles will require a transformational change to the transport and mobility sectors. The UK and India are helping to drive that transformation through continued knowledge exchange and joint development of innovative solutions for sustainable and zero emission mobility.

The British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith, said:

Pioneering work on e-mobility is taking place in both India and the UK. Whilst local needs may vary, the challenges we face are similar. Innovative technologies, practices and ideas bridge the gap and bring us closer.

India is already demonstrating global leadership on electric mobility – the UK is the right partner for that work, together helping to drive progress through innovation. Another example of the UK and India working as a force for good.

The UK is taking significant strides towards making electric mobility an integral part of its domestic transportation policy. The 2018 Road to Zero Strategy to reduce emissions from road transport is one of the most comprehensive plans globally – mapping out how the UK will make all new cars and vans zero-emission by 2040.

Last year, one in five electric cars sold in Europe was made in the UK and it was the second largest market for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) in the EU. The Faraday Institute is investing £246 million is working with premier UK universities and battery and electric vehicle manufacturers in the UK to address challenges around battery manufacturing.

India is working towards a ‘shared, connected and electric’ mobility system and is exploring innovative ways to increase the share of low carbon vehicles across the country. It recently announced a set of incentives in the Union budget, including tax incentives, to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. The two countries are already working together across a number of areas related to the development of clean energy.

Further information

The UK delegation includes senior representatives from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, Department of International Trade, Eo Charging, Go Ultra Low, Amte Power, Moixa, Saietta Group, and Arrival.

Transport for London and the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways signed an memorandum of understanding last year to help improve the overall public transport system in India, improve passenger services and promote the use of high capacity buses in the country.

In June, Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency – announced a programme to support the development of electric vehicle integration and clean air innovations together with partners in the city of Bengaluru. The programme will be carried out by the UK’s Energy Systems, Connected Places and Satellite Applications Catapults, and will link expertise, activities and innovation communities in the UK and Bengaluru.

The Road to Zero Strategy and the UK’s Industrial Strategy are available online. The UK has also launched a Future Mobility Strategy, outlining the Government’s approach to dramatically reducing carbon emissions and other pollutants.

The UK is the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law. Last month, the UK announced its bid to host COP26 climate negotiations in partnership with Italy.

Pure electric cars have a strong environmental benefit, but also a financial one. Studies in the UK have shown that pure electric cars can helps users save approximately £650 a year in tax and fuel over petrol or diesel cars.

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Nine air ambulance charities across England will receive a share of £10 million funding. The 9 charities that will receive funding are:

• East Anglian Air Ambulance
• Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
• London’s Air Ambulance
• Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust
• Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust
• Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
• Devon Air Ambulance Trust
• MAGPAS Air Ambulance
• Midlands Air Ambulance Charity

The funding means air ambulance charities will benefit from new equipment and improved facilities, including:

• modernised operational facilities at 7 airbases
• a new state-of-the-art helicopter for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
• 7 critical care cars with medical equipment
• immersive interactive training suites to better prepare crews for challenging conditions

The new and improved facilities will include immersive simulator suites, allowing paramedics to train with other emergency services, along with a dedicated wellbeing area for staff to debrief after serious incidents, offering a place to recuperate and sleep after challenging missions.

A call for bids for charities to apply for funding was launched by the department in February. This invited the 18 air ambulance charities across England to submit bids of up to £2 million for projects to improve their facilities.

Fourteen applications were received and 9 were successful. The applications went through several stages of assessment to select bids which were deliverable and offered the best value for money.

Air ambulance critical emergency services are not funded by the NHS. Although they receive some support from NHS ambulance services which provide them with clinical staff and equipment, vital charitable donations from the public cover the costs of keeping services running.

Air ambulance crews provide life-saving support to NHS emergency response teams on the ground in cases where critical care is needed in a short space of time.

Helicopters can carry more equipment than a standard ambulance, meaning expert paramedics can deliver lifesaving treatment at the scene of an incident that would typically be provided in a hospital setting, such as open chest surgery or a blood transfusion.

This funding supports the NHS Long Term Plan to improve emergency care for all patients.

Health Minister Stephen Hammond said:

Air ambulance crews work under extreme pressure in situations where every second counts.

This one-off funding to help provide world-class facilities and equipment recognises the integral role they play in our health service.

Air ambulance charities rely heavily on generous donations from members of the public and typical fundraising activities for their life-saving work and they deserve our enormous gratitude.

Paula Martin, Chairman of the Association of Air Ambulances, said:

The air ambulance charities welcome this support from the Department of Health and Social Care. The £10 million which was announced in the Autumn Budget statement has been extremely well received and has enabled charities to bring forward capital projects to further enhance the level of care they deliver to patients.

Whilst hugely grateful of the support received from the DHSC and government, air ambulance charities rely primarily on the fantastic support from the public to ensure the long-term stability of the care they provide.

As independent charities, each has the flexibility to deliver tailored services which best suits the locations and patients they serve. The opportunity to access grants such as this plays an invaluable role in assisting these pioneering services, allowing for funding which is additional to the incredible generosity of the public.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Liqui-Box’s proposed takeover of DS Smith’s rigid and flexible packaging business.

As part of its initial, Phase 1, investigation the CMA found that Liqui-Box and DS Smith are 2 of the 4 main companies in the UK, offering a specialist type of packaging called Bag-in Box to food, wine, dairy and drink suppliers.

If the deal is allowed to go ahead as planned, the CMA is concerned it could create insufficient competition in the supply of these products, leading to their customers potentially having less choice and paying higher prices, especially as there are very few large suppliers in the UK.

The CMA is also concerned that the reduction in competition could lead to lower quality products and/or a poorer service.

If the merging businesses are unable to address the CMA’s concerns, the deal will be referred for an in-depth Phase 2 investigation to be carried out by a group of independent CMA panel members.

All information relating to the merger is available on Liqui-Box/DS Smith inquiry page.