Public Health Minister Seema Kennedy has confirmed the government will be retaining the world-leading expertise of outgoing Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies, as UK special envoy on AMR. Dame Sally will be working across all sectors to deliver a ‘One Health’ response to AMR, which includes health, agriculture and the environment.

Professor Dame Sally played a critical role in putting AMR on the global agenda, driving forward the UK’s world-leading strategy and advising the UN in her role as Co-Convenor for the Interagency Coordination Group on AMR.

Last year the government committed £32 million funding to accelerate the UK’s work in the global fight against AMR. Ten leading research centres across the country will now use the funding to explore new ways to inform prescribing and identify patterns of resistance.

The awarded funding will support the development of a state-of-the-art, virtual ‘open access’ centre that will link health outcomes and prescribing data. This technology, led by Public Health England (PHE), will gather real-time patient data on resistant infections, helping clinicians to make more targeted choices about when to use antibiotics and cutting unnecessary prescriptions.

PHE will use £5 million in funding to develop a fully functional model ward, the first of its kind in the UK, to better understand how hospital facilities can be designed to improve infection control and reduce the transmission of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Other successful funds include £4.4 million to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust to test ‘individualised’ approaches to antibiotic prescribing by bringing together patient care and clinical research, and £3.5 million to the University of Liverpool to apply innovative genome sequencing to enable more personalised antibiotic prescribing.

Today’s announcement follows the government’s 20-year vision and 5-year national action plan published earlier this year, setting out how the UK will contribute to containing and controlling AMR by 2040.

List of programmes funded (PDF, 64.6KB, 2 pages)

Public Health Minister Seema Kennedy said:

Antibiotic resistance poses an enormous risk to our NHS – we are already seeing the harmful effect resistant bugs can have on patient safety in our hospitals. It is vital that we retain the irreplaceable expertise of Professor Dame Sally Davies – an international expert in AMR – and continue to invest in research.

This funding to prop up the facilities for novel ideas and technologies, supported by the continued leadership of Dame Sally, will play a vital role in helping us to tackle this threat.

Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England, said:

Innovation is critical to tackle the growing challenge of antibiotic resistance. With this investment we will be able to create the most sophisticated AMR data set globally, enhancing our ability to monitor AMR and design effective interventions to halt its rise. By increasing our laboratory capacity to study novel agents and the healthcare environment, we’ll be able to take bold steps to preserve antibiotics for when we really need them and improve care and outcomes for patients.

Professor Dame Sally Davies said:

AMR is a complex challenge which needs local, national and global action. The UK should be proud of its world-leading work on AMR. We have made tangible progress but it is essential we maintain momentum. I am honoured to have been asked to continue this vital work on behalf of the UK government.

• £13 billion transport investment and 287,000 more jobs in the North since launch of Northern Powerhouse
• Government is determined to do even more to help communities in the North thrive

Five years on from the launch of the Northern Powerhouse, people across the North have benefitted from economic growth worth billions of pounds, tens of thousands of new jobs and powers and money being transferred away from Westminster.

The Government is now looking ahead to the next five years with an ambitious strategy which will build on the progress made so far and provide more opportunities for people to achieve their ambitions no matter where in the North they live.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

We launched the Northern Powerhouse to support a thriving Northern economy and ensure this country works for everyone.

Five years on, our pledge is stronger than ever.

From kickstarting the biggest transfer of power to local leaders since the Second World War, to driving up exports and spending billions on vital transport links, we’re working to ensure our great Northern cities and communities have the power and resources they need to succeed.

But there is much more to do, which is why it must remain a top priority for government to do all it can to unlock the North’s vast potential, so that both at home and on the international stage the Northern Powerhouse continues to thrive.

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP has today reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to supporting people across the North to reach their full potential.

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP said:

The Northern Powerhouse was created five years ago because communities across the North had been overlooked for too long.

I’m proud that communities across the Northern Powerhouse are so vocal and ambitious for their future. The Government shares their vision and no one is ignoring them anymore.

The Northern Powerhouse is more than a plan for the future, it’s a story of success. From record investment in transport to more than £5 billion in devolution and growth deals across the North we are making progress towards rebalancing our economy but we are determined to do even more to make sure the whole of the North can reach its full potential.

Since its launch in June 2014, government has worked in partnership with businesses and communities to drive productivity and increase opportunities for people all across the North:

• The economy of the North is now worth more than £339 billion – a £10 billion increase in real terms – and supports an additional 287,000 people in employment.
• The Government is spending a record £13 billion investment in transport which includes an upcoming £3 billion investment into the Trans-Pennine route and support for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
• Almost half of people in the North are now represented by elected metro mayors with control over local spending plans and who provide their region with an influential voice on the national and world stage.
• There has been a renewed focus on education and skills with the £70 million Northern Powerhouse school strategy to raise standards while investment in vocational qualifications means that a third of the country’s apprentices are in the North. In addition to this there has been support for schools in the North East with £24 million of funding through the Opportunity North East programme, a bespoke programme of support for schools and communities.  
• The Northern Powerhouse is firmly on the international stage – since 2010 the Government has roughly doubled the number of foreign direct investments to more than 1,000, creating more than 39,400 jobs.
• Businesses in the Northern Powerhouse have been supported through £20 million of new funding for a ‘Made Smarter’ pilot in the North West to support 3000 SME’s to adopt new digital technologies to improve competitiveness and productivity, Growth Hubs have also supported over 44k businesses helping over 8000 people start and grow their own businesses
• The Government has also supported major cultural projects in the North with the £15 million Northern Cultural Investment Fund. In 2018, following a competition, three areas were awarded money: £4 million for the restoration of the Odeon Cinema in Bradford as a 4000 capacity live music venue, £4 million to create a museum in Blackpool that will celebrate the town’s history as the UK’s first mass seaside holiday resort and £3.3 million to enhance the visitor experience at cultural attractions across the Lake District, the UK’s newest World Heritage Site   

In addition, it was announced earlier this month that the Northern Powerhouse Minister is now a joint position shared between the Ministry of Housing Communities & Local Government and Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy which will see the Northern Powerhouse Minister’s oversight and coordination of local economic growth boosted to improve its impact for people and communities across the country.

It will also ensure key policies like the £1.6 billion Stronger Towns Fund and the Northern Powerhouse are at the heart of delivering the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy.

The Northern Powerhouse’s first ambitious Local Industrial Strategy was recently launched for Greater Manchester – where government, business and local leaders have worked closely together as equal partners. The strategy focuses on the region’s strength in advanced manufacturing, digital and healthcare innovation. It demonstrates the power of local people and the government working together to create good jobs, boost productivity and increase people’s earning power.

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Food Minister David Rutley will celebrate the UK’s world leading food and farming sector at the Royal Highland Show today, as new figures show Scottish food and drink exports achieved a record-breaking £1.4 billion of sales in the first quarter of 2019.

Exports grew by 14% over the past year, driven by a surge in sales for Scotch whisky and salmon, the latest figures show.

Through the government’s Food is GREAT campaign, Defra helps drive exports of UK food and drink, opening new international markets and supporting UK companies in their ambition to trade on a global scale. Overall food and drink exports from Scotland reached £6.3 billion last year, with Scotch whisky accounting for three-quarters of this total.

Food Minister David Rutley said:

British food and drink is highly sought after around the world, with Scottish whisky, salmon and gin playing a vital role in this exporting success.

More people worldwide are placing a greater importance on the quality and provenance of food and drink, and Scottish farmers and food producers are in an excellent position to benefit from this.

In the years ahead we can unlock new export markets for our finest British produce and I look forward to discussing these opportunities at the Royal Highland Show.

During the Royal Highland Show, Mr Rutley will meet with local NFU representatives, visit the livestock pens and meet attending food and drink producers to help champion the UK’s food and farming sectors.

Scottish beverage exports were worth £1 billion in the first three months of this year, up 16% on 2018 levels. Fish exports accounted for £210 million, while fruit and vegetables exports increased by 37% to £21 million and dairy & eggs sales rose by 24% to £17 million.

British whisky sales, almost all from Scotland, rose by 19% (£183m) at the start of this year. Salmon exports were up by 41%, the strongest growth of all the top 10 UK food and drink products. This represents a 20% increase in the volume of farmed salmon being exported from Scotland.

International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox said:

It’s no secret that Scotland is renowned for its high quality food and drink, and there is even greater demand out there. Recent HMRC statistics showed that goods exports from Scotland grew faster than any other part of the UK in the last financial year, now worth £32.8 billion.

The Department for International Trade stands ready to help Scottish businesses succeed overseas in ways that never happened before, so I urge more businesses to get in touch and take the first step toward breaking into international markets.

Across the UK food and drink exports were worth more than £22 billion last year, with our food and drink businesses are now selling their products to 217 markets.

The UK has an ongoing diplomatic dialogue with Iran. At this time of increased regional tensions and at a crucial period for the future of the nuclear deal, this visit is an opportunity for further open, frank and constructive engagement with the government of Iran.

Dr Murrison will call for urgent de-escalation in the region and raise UK and international concerns about Iran’s regional conduct and its threat to cease complying with the nuclear deal to which the UK remains fully committed.