The government has awarded more than £4 million to four redistribution organisations across England to help overcome barriers to getting food currently going to waste onto people’s plates.

The successful bids – from Fareshare, Company Shop Group, The Felix Project and Food Works Sheffield – will receive funding through the first tranche of a £15 million scheme launched in January by Environment Secretary Michael Gove.

The projects will enable existing food redistribution companies to take more surplus food from manufacturers and retailers and stop it going to waste. As part of the selection exercise, the projects had to put forward their proposals on how they would do this. Solutions include developing new supply routes from growers and local distributors, funding new lines and additional staff and increasing capacity for repackaging and labelling.

A further round of funding will focus on improving infrastructure for companies to redistribute even more of the estimated 100,000 tonnes of food – equating to 250 million meals a year – which is edible and readily available but goes uneaten. Instead, this food is currently sent away for generating energy from waste, anaerobic digestion or animal feed.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said:

Food waste is unnecessary and morally unforgivable. We must end it, and our £15 million fund is a true game-changer in making that happen.

I am thrilled that this first round of funding will allow these terrific projects to redistribute even more perfectly good food, making sure it ends up where it belongs – on people’s plates and stomachs.

Today’s announcement comes in the run-up to a major event ‘Step up to the Plate’ at London’s prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum, hosted by the Environment Secretary and the government’s Food Surplus and Waste Champion Ben Elliot on Monday 13 May. The event will run alongside the V&A’s FOOD: Bigger than the Plate exhibition, and bring together big players from the worlds of food retail, hospitality, chefs and social media influencers to promote awareness of food waste and help drive it down from all sources.

Earlier this week, the government published the pledge which attendees will be expected to sign up to during the event, committing them to measure and reduce their own food waste and inspire others to follow their lead.

Food Surplus and Waste Champion Ben Elliot said:

Following a competitive bidding process, I am delighted to announce that these four brilliant organisations have been awarded with funding from the £15 million scheme announced back in January.

These organisations are on the frontline, working diligently towards a waste-less future by ensuring that perfectly good food does not end up in the bin. It’s only right that this vital work is recognised accordingly.

Justin Byam Shaw, Founder of The Felix Project, said:

Now, with the government behind us, The Felix Project can help lead the way in getting this mountain of great, surplus food to those who really need it.

Jo Hercberg, founder of Food Works Sheffield, said:

At Food Works Sheffield we believe in building a fairer and more sustainable food system. A big part of this is reducing food waste so being awarded some of the Food Waste Fund will really help us achieve this goal in 2019. As a relatively small and new project we’re delighted to have been considered alongside the large national organisations.

Company Shop Group Managing Director Jane Marren said:

We are delighted to have won Defra’s backing to implement our Harnessing Harder to Reach Surplus project, which will enable Company Shop Group to deploy a specialist team of surplus intervention experts to work with food industry partners to find solutions to complex surplus challenges.

Company Shop Group – with five decades of experience in food redistribution – has the technical infrastructure, capabilities and expertise to unlock more surplus stock and reduce the amount of good food that goes to waste.

This project will achieve long-term environmental benefits; it will help the supply chain to maximise the value of their products, and it will deliver clear and tangible social impact.

The government’s £15 million scheme to tackle food waste builds on its landmark Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how the government will introduce annual reporting of food surplus and waste by food businesses. Should progress be insufficient, we will consult on seeking legal powers to introduce mandatory targets for food waste prevention.

The Resources and Waste Strategy also sets out how the government will ensure weekly collections of food waste, which is often smelly and unpleasant, for every household – restoring weekly collections in some local authorities, subject to consultation.

The government is committed to supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger by 2030.

Further information

• A food redistribution organisation is one that collects surplus food from food businesses and delivers it to those who have a need.
• The redistribution organisations receiving funding are Fareshare, Company Shop Group, The Felix Project and Food Works Sheffield, giving a combined award of £4.2 million.
• Applicants were required to demonstrate how they will help food businesses reduce their surplus in the long term.
• In 2017, 205,000 tonnes of surplus food in the retail and food manufacturing sectors was wasted. Some of the surplus is difficult to minimise, costly in that it would need to be reworked or repackaged, and some surplus would not be edible. It is estimated by WRAP that 100,000 tonnes of this is both accessible and edible with the remaining being more difficult to redistribute.
• Food waste in the UK totals 10.2 million tonnes per year, of which 1.8 million tonnes comes from food manufacture, 1 million from the hospitality sector, and 260,000 from retail, with the remainder from households.
• Food businesses interested in redistributing surplus food can contact their local redistribution organisation to see how they can help.
• The scheme is a pilot which will run in 2019/20, drawing on £15 million of additional funding the Treasury have allocated to Defra to tackle food waste. Any future funding would be subject to the Spending Review.
• FOOD: Bigger than the Plate [18 May – 20 October 2019] will explore how innovative individuals, communities and organisations are radically re-inventing how we grow, distribute and experience food. Taking visitors on a sensory journey through the food cycle, from compost to table, it poses questions about how the collective choices we make can lead to a more sustainable, just and delicious food future in unexpected and playful ways.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:

I am deeply concerned by the escalation in military action by Russia and the Syrian regime in Idlib. This has included horrifying reports of attacks on schools, hospitals and first responders as well as the use of barrel bombs for the first time in seven months. Over 57 civilians have been killed and over 150,000 forced from their homes in recent days.

The latest offensive, a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement that Russia itself agreed with Turkey, is only compounding what was already a dire humanitarian situation in Idlib.

Russia and the Asad regime must respect their obligations under the Sochi agreement and international humanitarian law. They must also remember that any future use of chemical weapons in Syria would be met with a swift and appropriate response.

Thank you very much indeed, Madam Minister and thank you for being back in New York. Very nice to see you again. And I join others in welcoming Indonesia for focussing this debate on this really important issue and also pay tribute to your country for your country’s role in UN Peacekeeping. And thank you obviously to the General and to Dr Holmberg for their briefings.

Madam President, the United Kingdom is proud to be one of the first Member States to endorse a declaration of shared commitments in support of the Secretary-General’s Action for Peacekeeping. Providing peacekeepers with comprehensive and high quality training will help them deliver across all the other pillars of that ambitious – but rightly ambitious – agenda. And as other speakers have said, the better trained the peacekeepers are, the better prepared they would be to perform to the highest standards. And that will also include ensuring their own safety and security. And as you alluded to, many of us attended that moving memorial ceremony yesterday, which was a stark reminder of the dangers that UN peacekeepers face on a daily basis. And of course better training will mean that peacekeepers are better equipped to meet the challenges of unpredictable and complicated, complex, multidimensional mission environments.

I’d like to say a few words about performance. Of course peacekeepers should all meet required standards in basic military or policing skills – the so-called ‘green skills.’ But we believe that the best performing peacekeepers are those who are also well-versed in ‘blue skills’ such as protection of civilians, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse and compliance with international humanitarian law and human rights’ law.

Madam President, the United Kingdom recognises that like all troops and police contributing countries: we bear the responsibility for training and equipping our uniformed personnel. And if we fail to prepare them to perform to the highest standards in the field, we not only failed them but we also failed the civilians who they have been deployed to protect. So if any Member State fails in this respect, we believe it is right that they should be held accountable for failure and should learn all the necessary lessons from it. In this context, my Government reiterates its support for the Secretary-General’s development of an integrated performance policy framework. And I’d like to underline the importance of robust pre-deployment verification visits, to ensure that uniformed personnel are fully prepared for their missions.

Lieutenant General Filho’s briefing mentioned the important issue of reporting of contingent performance issues to UNHQ by field missions. I’d like to just use this occasion, if I may, to urge the Secretariat to provide this Council with regular updates on such issues and what remedial action is to be taken in the interests of transparency and accountability and as set out in Security Council resolution 2436 from last year.

Madam President, I’d like to say a word about partnerships. Each Member State brings invaluable experience and expertise to peacekeeping so more effective and efficient sharing of insights, lessons learned and best practices helps us all. To that end, we support the Secretary-General’s initiative to develop and light coordination mechanism in concert with the UN Strategic Force Generation Cell and a range of Member States, which will match training needs with training offers. And it is why we were very pleased to co-host the preparatory meeting on training and capacity building with Uruguay ahead of 2019’s Peacekeeping Ministerial.

For our part, we will continue our efforts to better align our training and capacity building efforts with the needs of our partners. The United Kingdom trains some 11,000 peacekeepers from around the world each year. We were proud to work with Vietnam ahead of their first contingent deployment to South Sudan in 2018. We supported Vietnam’s efforts to train and prepare their peacekeepers to take over the Level Two field hospital at Bentiu.

Madam President, to conclude, the men, women and children, who we ask our peacekeepers to protect, should be able to trust that anyone in a blue helmet or a blue beret is ready, willing and able to deliver and necessary defend the mandate set by this Council. And our peacekeepers should be able to trust that before they are sent into some of the world’s most difficult conflicts, they will be trained and equipped to the highest possible standard. For the United Kingdom, we remain committed to meeting these standards in our own deployments and to partnering with other Member States to help them achieve these goals.

The Prime Minister Theresa May has led cross-party support for the new Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, planned for Victoria Tower Gardens beside Parliament.

In an unprecedented move, the Prime Minister has been joined by the 4 living former Prime Ministers – Sir John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron – to back the proposal to ensure we never forget one of the darkest chapters in human history.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

By putting our National Holocaust Memorial and Education Centre next to our Parliament, we make a solemn and eternal promise that Britain will never forget what happened in the Holocaust.

Seeing this through is a sacred, national mission. In the face of despicable Holocaust denial, this Memorial will stand to preserve the truth forever.

And this education centre will ensure that every generation understands the responsibility that we all share – to fight against hatred and prejudice in all its forms, wherever it is found.

A further £25 million has also been committed to the new National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, Communities Secretary the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP confirmed today (7 May 2019).

Speaking this afternoon at the Wiener Library, Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said the additional funding will improve the visitor experience and maximise green space on the site, creating an enduring monument to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and a learning centre that will educate generations to come.

The funding will be matched by a newly established charity headed up by member Gerald Ronson CBE and Lord Andrew Feldman to support the landmark proposal.

The further £25 million committed to the new National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, is contingent on the securing of £25 million of match funding and on planning permission being obtained.

Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:

I believe there can be no more powerful symbol of our commitment to remembering the men, women and children who were murdered in the Holocaust and in subsequent genocides than by placing the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre, in the shadow of our Parliament at the heart of our democracy.

Education on the Holocaust and subsequent genocides is one of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against prejudice, intolerance and misinformation.

Located beside our Parliament, this Memorial will deliver this message, and stand as a permanent reminder that political decisions have far-reaching consequences.

The United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial is dedicated to the 6 million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.

The Learning Centre will focus on the Holocaust and subsequent genocides and will educate future generations on the importance of fighting prejudice and persecution in all its forms.

The proposals have been developed with great sensitivity to the existing context and character of Victoria Tower Gardens. The vast majority of the public space will be retained and views over Parliament and the River Thames will be improved with a range of accessible seating and a new boardwalk along the embankment.

In 2015 the government committed £50 million to the project to kick-start a society-wide fundraising effort.

A time capsule will also be buried at the proposed site to remind future generations that survivors fought long and hard for this memorial.

British Heroes of the Holocaust award

Supportive video messages from Mrs May and her 4 predecessors were also played at a special ceremony held to honour 2 British Heroes of the Holocaust at the Wiener Library.

PM Holocaust message

The British Heroes of the Holocaust award is a national award given by the UK Government in recognition of British citizens who assisted in rescuing victims of the Holocaust. It was first awarded on 9 March 2010 following a campaign by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Speaking at the ceremony in the Wiener Library, London, the world’s oldest Holocaust archive, the Communities Secretary praised the courage and humanity of the late Joan Stiebel MBE and the late Lady Rose L. Henriques CBE for their service to Britain. They are 40th and 41st recipients of the British Heroes of the Holocaust award.

Mr Brokenshire said:

We can draw real inspiration from the women awarded British Heroes of the Holocaust medals today.

They refused to turn away and leave it to others to do the right thing. Instead they took on personal responsibility and their courage and human compassion saved many lives.

I hope these medals will ensure their legacy is never forgotten and will inspire us all to confront injustice, bigotry and hatred.

Holocaust Educational Trust Chief Executive, Karen Pollock MBE, commented:

As the Holocaust moves further into history, this Memorial and Learning Centre positioned right next to Parliament will send a clear signal for generations to come of the important place that the Holocaust has in our nation’s history and will stand as a warning of what happens when we let hate and prejudice go unchecked.

To hear from 4 former Prime Ministers and Prime Minister Theresa May together, demonstrates their strong commitment to remembering and will mean so much to Holocaust survivors and their families.

Today, as we honour those who took extraordinary steps to save Jewish lives, going above and beyond what others did, we pledge to redouble our efforts to ensure a long-lasting legacy.

Victoria Tower Gardens was chosen as the home for the new Memorial and Learning Centre because, in the shadow of Parliament, it will encourage visitors to learn about the challenging decisions our leaders had to make in the lead up to, during and in the aftermath of the Holocaust.

The additional £25 million will help to provide further funding for the revised entrance pavilion, the Memorial courtyard and surrounding landscaping and to take account of additional VAT incurred on the overall project costs.

Revised designs for the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre were unveiled, on 1 May 2019. This follows comprehensive consultation and discussion with local residents, Holocaust experts, survivors and other victim groups, Westminster City Council, Historic England, Royal Parks and statutory consultees.

The proposed design changes to the Entrance Pavilion and Memorial Courtyard are considered to enhance the scheme and improve views towards Victoria Tower and the Palace of Westminster, in particular from the southern end of Victoria Tower Gardens where a new view from the playground has been provided.

The proposals involve significant works of landscaping which would act to enhance the wider offer of Victoria Tower Gardens. The proposals will result in almost completely new gardens being provided back to the community with the following significant improvements to Victoria Tower Gardens provided by the proposed development that will deliver better quality open space and enhance the land as public open space.

See the latest images of the new designs

After an international competition, with 92 entries in total and 10 finalists, Adjaye Associates, Ron Arad Architects and Gustafson Porter + Bowman were selected unanimously as the winning team, by a jury including the then Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, the Mayor of London, the Chief Rabbi, experts from architecture, art and design, and both first and second-generation Holocaust survivors. The announcement was made on 24 October 2017.

At Budget 2018, the Chancellor announced £1.7 million funding for educational projects in schools to mark the upcoming 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camps in 2020, as part of our continuing commitment to remember the victims who perished and pay tribute to the survivors of the Holocaust.

The 2 recipients of the British Heroes of the Holocaust award are:

Joan Stiebel MBE (23 April 1911 – 25 January 2007): Joan Stiebel was responsible for making travel arrangements to bring 1,000 underage Jewish Nazi concentration camp orphans to the United Kingdom. The children came to be known in the press as the ‘Boys’, and her involvement with them continued throughout her lifetime.

Lady Rose L. Henriques CBE, née Loewe, (1889-1972): Henriques was the daughter of James Loewe, a community worker and scholar in the Stoke Newington area of London. The couple worked on a number of joint enterprises together. From 1914 until 1948, they were the joint wardens of the St George’s Jewish Settlement in Stepney, later known as the Bernhard Baron St George’s Jewish Settlement. When the war ended, Henriques went to Germany where she worked alongside a number of Jewish welfare groups at the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and then at the nearby displaced persons camp.

I would like to thank the President of the General Assembly, Japan, and Antigua and Barbuda for their leadership on bringing us together for the Political Declaration. This is a moment for us all to collectively step up our commitment to ending tuberculosis (TB).

The UK has been, and will continue to be, a major driver in the development and deployment of the new technologies, diagnostics and treatments we believe are crucial to fight TB and the scourge of Multi Drug-Resistant TB.

But we all know that ending this disease also requires tackling poverty, weak health systems and HIV, particularly in Africa.

Without innovation and fresh approaches, we have little chance of meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal on ending the TB epidemic. On current rates of progress it won’t be for at least another 150 years.

But scientific advances give us hope that we can achieve that goal. And I can today inform you that a global team lead by the University of Oxford has made a major breakthrough in our understanding of TB’s genetic code. This study is being published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, and I can tell you is that it promises a paradigm shift in the way we treat TB.  For the first time we can start to develop tailored therapies to treat TB patients based on their DNA profile. Where at the moment, in many countries we rely on a “best guess” for the right treatment, this breakthrough means we have the potential to give the correct drugs more rapidly to more patients. It presents us with the opportunity to improve cure rates and help stop the spread of resistant strains. And it signals a new era in TB diagnostics after 70 years of relying on slow bacterial culture to determine which drugs are best suited to a patient’s infection.

 This is an excellent example of what the UK, in partnership with global research networks, can offer in the fight against TB.  I can also announce today that £7.5 million of UK aid will go to the TB Alliance to help develop three new TB drugs, which offer the prospect of more effective and quicker-acting treatments for the millions of people affected by drug-sensitive or drug-resistant TB each year. This is in addition to our current, extensive research portfolio.

We were the second largest donor to the last replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria, which provides the bulk of international funding to fight TB in low and lower-middle income countries where the incidence and mortality of TB is highest. Finally, and critically, we are the second largest donor and research leader in this area, behind only the US.

While fresh commitments and additional funding are essential, we must also ensure we draw on the best of what each of us have to offer. And that collaboration and partnership are embedded in everything we do to bring an end to this cruel disease.

Today, we have seen a political declaration that signals a step- change in the international leadership and commitments necessary to drive progress on fighting TB.

We hope that it will lead to increased investment and co-ordination in TB research and development, greater progress in preventing infections, and improved care for patients particularly those in the poorest countries.

These are our priorities. I look forward to hearing yours and how we can work together to end TB once and for all.