Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed business leaders to Downing Street.

Published 2 July 2019 From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon Theresa May MP Delivered on: 1 July 2019 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

I’m delighted to welcome you to Downing Street and to have this opportunity to thank you for all that you have done to work with government during my time as Prime Minister.

I believe that business is a force for good. And that your success is fundamental to our country’s success.

Because it is business that generates wealth and drives innovation.

It is business that pioneers the industries of the future, secures the investment on which that future depends, and creates jobs and livelihoods for families up and down our country.

And it is business that can also play a crucial role in helping to meet some of the greatest social challenges of our time from contributing to the sustainability of our planet to generating new growth and new hope in areas of our country that have been left behind for too long.

That belief in the power of business is why I have sought to do everything possible to make our country one of the most dynamic and business friendly economies in the world.

It is why I have said that post-Brexit Britain must be an unequivocally pro-business Britain.

And it is why throughout the negotiations with the European Union I sought to do everything I could to get a deal that would protect the frictionless trade on which so much of your success depends.

Because your success is not just in your interests. It is in our national interest.

This belief in the power of business is also why I sought to establish a new way of government and business working together.

For as you know better than anyone, the success of our economy will depend on how we adapt to meet the challenges of the future.

And that cannot be done by government or business acting alone. Nor by government trying to tell business what to do.

But rather by government genuinely listening to business and working hand-in-hand with you.

That is why I formed five Business Councils split by sector – where we hear your priorities and work with you to create the conditions for growth and investment that can help post-Brexit British business be the most competitive in the world.

And I would particularly like to thank those of you here who are members of these Business Councils for your time and your contribution to this initiative, which I very much hope will continue in the months and years ahead.

It is why, as the economy and technology changes, we have looked to work with you to introduce reforms to working practice and workers’ rights in the modern economy.

And in response to the independent Taylor Review we are delivering the biggest improvements in UK workers’ rights for twenty years.

We are also working with you to advance changes in corporate governance – because as you know better than anyone, the best of British business is not only about commercial success but about setting the standards globally and bringing wider benefits to the whole of our society too.

You are making these changes every day – and, indeed, just this evening I was delighted to meet the two workers from Capita who have just become the first employee board members of a major UK-listed company for many years.

This commitment to working hand-in-hand is also why we created our Modern Industrial Strategy – a strategic partnership between business and government to make the long-term decisions that will ensure the success of our businesses for generations to come.

This strategy gets the fundamentals right by investing in infrastructure at local and national level. It includes delivering the biggest ever long-term increase in R&D in our history – a 2.4% of GDP target for R&D that is not about a single parliamentary term, but rather a decade-long commitment.

It invests in equipping people with the skills they need – and the skills business needs – to succeed in an ever more competitive global economy.

It has a particular focus on the importance of place: making sure that the benefits of trade and growth reach working people – not just in some parts of the country, but in every part of our country.

And crucially it gets us on the front foot in harnessing the power of the state and the ingenuity of the private sector to solve four Grand Challenges which are enormous areas of potential for growth, jobs and investment across our whole country.

The challenge of Artificial Intelligence and data – where our Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation will make the UK a global leader in helping to ensure the safe, ethical and innovative deployment of this new life changing technology.

And where our recent investment of £150 million towards the development of quantum could transform computing, imaging and communications.

The challenge of Healthy Ageing where our record investment through the NHS Long-term Plan includes a new emphasis on preventing ill-health not just treating it.

And where we are investing nearly £100 million through our Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to support the development of technologies that help people grow old independently.

The challenge of Clean Growth – where we have just become the first major economy in the world to legislate to end our contribution to global warming with a net zero target by 2050.

And the challenge of the Future of Mobility where tomorrow leaders of our great car industry are meeting here in Downing Street to discuss how we secure its long-term future as we transition to electric vehicles.

We are already leaders in the design of battery technology as a result of the £1 billion we have invested in supporting the Faraday Institution and the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

We are also going to build a high speed electric vehicle charging infrastructure nationally. And I have asked the Office for Low Emission Vehicles to lead a review on how we do this – reporting back in the Autumn.

Because electric vehicles are critical to meeting that net zero target – and in turn have the potential to create thousands of new jobs right across the country.

We cannot predict the future or guess what technological and scientific breakthroughs might lie just around the corner.

But we can observe the long-term trends that are shaping change in our world today and we can meet those challenges head on with creativity, innovation and enterprise.

Already we have more billion-dollar tech companies than anyone in Europe and a faster rate of cloud adoption by businesses than any other country.

We have recently taken over from America as the world’s top investment destination.

And I am profoundly optimistic about how much further we can go.

For in all of these areas and more – this strategic partnership between government and business is helping to prepare our economy for the future.

It is writing a new chapter in our national story.

A new chapter where together we are seizing the opportunity to lead the new industries of the future.

And a new chapter where we are ensuring the benefits of economic growth are more fairly felt in all parts of our country.

I believe it is critical that this work is sustained and deepened in the months ahead.

So today is not just about saying thank you for your partnership over these last three years.

It also about asking you to continue with my successor as Prime Minister with the same commitment and the same spirit of collaboration.

So that this unique partnership we have built together can go from strength to strength.

And so together we can harness the power of the state and the ingenuity of the private sector to deliver prosperity and opportunity for all our people – now and for generations to come.

Thank you for all you’re doing. Thank you for this partnership. Let’s continue working together.

Screening programmes will be overhauled and diagnosis made faster and more accurate with new state-of-the-art technology as part of a blueprint for rapidly improving cancer detection and survival announced by Matt Hancock.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Health and Social Care Secretary set out how the NHS will deliver on its commitments to improve early detection of cancer.  

In January, the NHS Long Term Plan set the ambition for three-quarters of all cancers to be detected at an early stage and 55,000 more people surviving cancer for 5 years each year by 2028.

The Implementation Framework, agreed by the NHS and laid in Parliament today, provides a blueprint for how this will be achieved at a local level. The one-year metric will be used to measure progress.

Matt Hancock said:

Early detection and diagnosis are essential to improving a person’s chance of survival from cancer. 

Since 2010, cancer survival has improved year-on-year but, historically, our survival rates have lagged behind the best performing countries in Europe. In our Long Term Plan for the NHS, we set out a clear ambition to resolve this – and this framework sets out a step-by-step blueprint for local leaders to make that a reality.

I am determined that our cancer care will not be just good enough, but truly world-class and today I have set out how we will do just that.

Steps in the framework include:

• a radical overhaul of screening programmes
• new state-of-the-art technology to make diagnosis faster and more accurate
• more investment in research and innovation
• the roll-out of new Rapid Diagnostic Centres across the country, building on the success of a pilot scheme with Cancer Resarch UK
• NHS England extending lung health checks, targeting areas with the lowest survival rates
• Health Education England increasing the cancer workforce, which will lead to 400 clinical endoscopists and 300 reporting radiographers by 2021

The document sets out the framework through which each of the 300 commitments in the Long Term Plan will be delivered – including the 20 headline commitments – as well as how government will monitor and support systems at a local level.

Mental health and workforce are among the other priorities highlighted in the implementation framework, with a record £2.3 billion extra every year for the expansion of mental health services and five-year NHS People Plan.

Based on the implementation framework, local strategic plans are now being developed across England and will be brought together as part of a national strategy by the end of the year.

The Department of Health and Social Care will also review the current functioning and structure of the Better Care Fund, with NHS England contribution to social care via the fund expected to be in line with NHS revenue growth.

This circular letter is to remind building control bodies of considerations relating to assessing compliance with requirement B4 of Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2010 with regard to fire spread over the external walls of a building and, in particular, the application of that requirement to low-rise buildings.

Four local communities are to receive a funding boost of a share of over £100,000 to help make their areas more attractive for business, High Streets Minister Jake Berry MP has today (1 July 2019) confirmed.

The latest round of the British Improvement Districts (BIDs) Loan Fund will support business owners and local leaders to set-up a BID, bringing communities together to deliver additional local services and transform commercial areas.

This will empower local business communities to undertake the projects they believe will deliver lasting economic benefit.

The four successful applicants to the BIDs Loan Fund are: Armley, Leeds; Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire; Christchurch, Dorset; and Digbeth, Birmingham.

High Streets Minister Jake Berry MP said:

Business Improvement Districts in partnership with local authorities, developers and communities, are working hard to champion town centres, by deciding what improvements they want to see, how these will be managed and what it will cost.

Those high streets and town centres performing strongest often have BIDs at their core, driving improvements that boost footfall, encourage consumer spending and ensure our high streets are fit for the future.

Today’s announcement comes during the second Great British High Street Week, a week of activity to celebrate high streets up and down the country and share the work that Government is undertaking to support them. The Great British High Street Awards are part of this work, and entries are due to close shortly.

The Awards not only celebrate the best high streets across the nation, but also champion ‘Rising Stars’ – the most ambitious high streets which are taking a lead and working together to revive, adapt and diversify.

A selection of 40 shortlisted finalists will be chosen by our independent judging panel. Those shortlisted high streets are eligible to win up to £15,000 for their local community.

From Altrincham to Watford, BIDS serve as a tried and tested model of how local business can work together to realise the potential of towns and high streets by engaging strategically with local authorities, developers and communities.

The government is fully committed to supporting high streets and town centres and has implemented a number of measures to address challenges being faced in these areas, including cutting business rates by a third to give high street retailers a boost.

On top of the £13 billion rates relief package since 2016, a £675 million Future High Streets Fund was announced last year to help high streets adapt.

1. The four areas receiving funding are Armley (Leeds), Beverley (East Riding of Yorkshire), Christchurch (Dorset), Digbeth (Birmingham).

2. BIDs have been a key tool in the development of local leadership and growth in high streets and town centres since 2004.

3. In 2013, the government launched a £500,000 recyclable loan fund to support the development of Business Improvement Districts, in the recognition that some prospective Business Improvement Districts encounter prohibitive start-up costs during development. The Business Improvement District sector body, British BIDs, has been contracted to operate the fund.

4. For more information, please visit our BIDs Loan Fund page and the British BIDs website.

5. The Great British High Street Awards 2019, run by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in partnership with Visa and backed by other supporters, recognises and celebrates local achievements on the UK’s high streets and supports the communities in which we live and work. For more information see: Great British High Streets Week.

I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Madam Vice-President,

Together, we take this opportunity to reiterate our commitment to the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

This right remains essential to the protection of all human rights and contributes to the prosperity, stability and resilience of a society. States that limit it do so at their own peril. Regrettably, violations and abuses of this right continue to occur and have shown no sign of abating since we took the floor on this issue during the last session of the Human Rights Council.

Around the world, journalists and media workers face undue restrictions, as well as threats, intimidation or outright murder; female journalists are particularly at risk.

The Global Conference for Media Freedom – which will take place in London on July 10-11 – will contribute to the international community’s efforts to identify practical measures that states can adopt to protect and promote media freedom. It will include the participation of civil society organizations, the private sector and media professionals.

In April 2020, the Netherlands and UNESCO will host the annual conference marking World Press Freedom Day.

The conference celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom and serves as an occasion to evaluate press freedom around the world,

We are confident that these events will serve to strengthen the work already underway in the multilateral system to support freedom of the press, including in this very chamber.

We remain committed to working with all members of the Council to shed light on this issue and ensure that states have the tools they need [to promote and protect freedom of expression and media freedom.

Thank you, Madam Vice-President.