Gender inequality is one of the great human issues of our time. We simply cannot deliver the 17 Global Goals unless we have proper equality for women.

We know when it comes to work, women across the world face all sorts of issues – such as wage inequality and glass ceilings, and greater levels of sexual harassment.

As African countries pursue economic transformation, it is crucial we do all we can to help them apply lessons from around the world on women’s dignity, rights, and freedom.

The Prime Minister went to Africa and she put job creation firmly at the heart of our new partnership with Africa. Africa is home to some of the fastest growing economies and some of the fastest growing populations and half of those people will be women. That creates an enormous opportunity, but only if there are jobs available to help lift people out of poverty.

Most countries have only transformed and achieved sustained poverty reduction through industrialisation development which enables countries to integrate into global markets, learn vital skills, and progress up the technological ladder, and create jobs.

At DFID we want to support our African partners and support African partner governments to take full advantage of this tool for growth.

Our flagship manufacturing programme, Invest Africa is helping to accelerate industrialisation on the continent. Over ten years, we will help African countries attract £1bn of new foreign manufacturing investment and strengthen sectors such as the garment industry. This will help create jobs and generate much wider economic and social benefit.

The Invest Africa programme has already made a good start, but we need to do more, and do it quicker – which is why I’m now announcing that the programme will expand operations into Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria this Autumn.

But jobs alone are not enough. We cannot forget the unique challenges women face in the workplace – and in particular in the garment industry. We need to make sure these are decent jobs and that they protect people’s rights.

Historically the industry has suffered from low quality jobs – with excessive working hours and weak legal protections. We only need to reflect on the 2013 Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh to know how badly things can go wrong.

I have seen first hand how things can change for the better. In 2017, I went to Bangladesh and visited Urmi Garments in Dhaka, with an organisation called Sudokkho, which means well skilled in Bangla, and that refers to a person who has received training, have developed skills and has earned a reputation for being competent and knowledgeable. DFID funded them in developing in-factory training, ensuring women can gain quality skills in a safe environment leading to better job opportunities and increased income. I spoke to women there, who were proudly making knickers on their production line, they were proud to be Sudokkho and their skills led to a better quality product.

We know the fashion industry is vital to our economy, exports of garments for sub-Saharan Africa alone are worth $1.7 Billion a year and the size of the sector means you really can be a powerful force for change. The garment sector which predominantly employs women will be a huge catalyst for women’s economic empowerment that we all want to see.

That is where many of you in the room come in. It is ultimately you – the private sector – in partnership with both the public and the third sector that will deliver the Goal Goals. One part of our work to help address this is through the Great Partnerships initiative – using our role as Government to convene, connect, and join the dots to make change happen.

Through our Work and Opportunities for Women programme we have already launched our first partnership with Marks & Spencer, who will champion female leadership through its supply chain and aims to reach 85,000 women. Over 5 years we want to use these partnerships with business to reach hundreds of thousands women.

Our support to the United Nations Foundation is also encouraging businesses to make commitments to provide their female workforce with good wellbeing provisions.

Next month the UN Foundation will announce a raft of new pledges at Women Deliver, a global conference on gender equality and women’s health, rights, and well-being.

And, as a prelude, I am pleased to say Hela Clothing, a global garment manufacturer – whose non-executive Director Dominic McVey joins us to tonight and helped shape today’s event – has committed to providing health and empowerment services- such as STI screening and gender-based violence support – to at least 10,000 more of its female workers in Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Ethiopia by 2022.

Shahi, India’s largest apparel manufacturer – also with us tonight – will extend to maternal and reproductive health services to 9,000 more of its female workers and 8,000 in the local community by 2020.

Ethical Apparel Africa, a sourcing agent in West Africa, will provide at least 1,500 female workers access to health and empowerment services by 2023.

These individual commitments are incredibly powerful and when you add them together that will really mean we see proper change to support women’s economic empowerment.

I am also encouraged that these employers, and others, are recognising that women in their workforce have periods – every month – and that this can have an impact on their wellbeing.

I am proud that the government, including my department has decided to accelerate its work on stamping out period poverty and shame – in the UK and overseas. In Ethiopia we are already studying how access to sanitary products improves attendance and productivity in garment factories. And I am excited about what else we may be able to achieve this year.

We can’t stop at securing jobs for women, we want to see women becoming job creators and entrepreneurs.

Our support to the International Trade Centre’s Commonwealth SheTrades programme has helped over 1,000 female-owned textile companies and has generated £2.5 million worth of business leads, when converted to sales.

Finally, lest we forget, women’s rights are human rights.

The Ethical Trade Initiative, which we support, helps improve labour standards for all workers – including through ensuring they benefit from fair wages, reasonable working hours and safe working conditions.

And I also am pleased to announce today Ethical Trading Initiative will deliver our Human Rights Business Integrity Service to help small and medium size businesses overseas to tackle complex ethical challenges overseas.

You’ve worked with ASOS and other companies in Bangladesh to protect and support migrant workers who are at the risk of being trapped in modern slavery.

The work Peter McAllister, Executive Director, and his team do is truly inspiring.

One of the things I’m reflecting on is how we can best deliver economic empowerment for women and all workers in Africa, that is through partnership, through events like this.

I know there are key fashion industry leaders and civil society people in the room discussing how to improve and implement better labour and environmental practices within the garment sector in Africa – including through development of an industry-led Fair Fashion Pact Initiative.

I’m looking forward to seeing this work develops over the next few months and helping it become an example of Great Partnerships in action.

Because that’s the aim of our Great Partnerships initiative.

Through Great jobs in Africa.

Through Great women – and men.

Through Great progress together.

We can achieve the Global Goals

Thank you.

Thanks for welcoming me back. It’s terrific to be here, to feel so much ability crammed under one roof. Expertise. Experience. Passion.

I see these qualities again and again when I visit schools up and down the country. Getting out and about and into classrooms is one of the best bits of my job – because I get to speak to so many teachers, leaders and children. I get a chance to see the fantastic teaching and learning that is your every day.

This morning I made my 92nd school visit, and I have had the chance to meet hundreds of headteachers.

And I find one common trait, time after time, in every school I visit and every leader I speak to. Ambition.

Not a selfish, inward ambition – believe me, I’ve met a lot of politicians, so I know how to spot that! Rather, an outward ambition. An altruistic ambition. An ambition that everyone, no matter who they are, can reach their potential.

Today, I want to tell you that your ambition is my ambition.

World-class schools. Giving every child the best possible start in life. Led by brilliant, motivated teachers and leaders, who are empowered to do what they do best – to teach.

To get there, we will have to continue to tackle the pressures that I know schools are facing. I have been open in acknowledging these. And I’m also committed to working with you to relieve them.

Let me start with funding.

I have heard you loud and clear on this. I know finances are challenging for many schools, that you have had to make, and do have to make hard decisions about resources.

We are approaching a comprehensive Spending Review. There are always competing demands on public funds, but I will be setting out the case, the very strong case, for education. The case for investment in education is a special one, because so much else depends on what you do – so much for our economy and our society.

There is one area of funding that I want to directly address now – the support that we give for children with special educational needs and disabilities.

You and your staff provide high quality support to children with special educational needs and disabilities, every single day.

This isn’t some distraction from teaching. This is teaching. Helping vulnerable children learn is at the centre of the moral purpose that brought you into the profession.

I’ve visited some fantastic mainstream schools and colleges and of course special schools too, and I’ve seen this work for myself.

Each time I have been struck by the dedication of the school and the staff working with these children, tailoring their approach to meet the needs of pupils with a diverse range of additional challenges. Whether this is flexible timetabling, one-to-one support or coaching – the commitment is unwavering and the ambition for these children uncompromised.

So thank you, and in particular thank you to those SENCOs who provide so much valued expertise to other staff and families and to the headteachers who have created environments that enable these pupils to flourish.

I know there are challenges – as your report last year made clear. And I know the challenges are increasing.

The number of school-aged children with a statement or an Education, Health and Care plan rose by more than 13,000 between 2017 and 2018 and we’ve seen a steady increase in those children being educated outside of mainstream schools.

And we know that more specialist provision is more expensive and that we have a capacity issue in the number of places at special school available.

Supporting these children in mainstream schools where possible and where it is right for that child, is the right thing to do, as is increasing the amount of personalised support available in all settings to help them achieve great outcomes. But it is creating budgetary pressures.

It is because of the pressures on Local Authorities’ High Needs budgets that last December I announced an extra £250 million of high needs funding. I also announced that we’ll invest just over £30 million to train more than 200 new educational psychologists a year, from next year, to help you and your teams access the right specialists. And we have allocated additional High Needs capital as well.

That means that this year we have invested over £6 billion in education for children with complex SEND.

But I’m under no illusion – this may not be enough. This is a growing, complex issue, and I want to work with you to solve it. Part of that is of course about funding. And it’s also about changing needs.

When I’ve spoken to teachers recently, they’ve told me that it’s not just the volume of support that has gone up. It’s also that the needs that vulnerable young people have – and the support that they require – is changing. This too is increasing pressures.

So I need your front-line expertise – to properly understand what is driving these pressures, where the funding system is working, and where it is not.

That’s why today I’m announcing a call for evidence, to gather your views and make sure everyone can input. I know schools and teachers can’t do this alone, which is why I’m encouraging others who have a crucial role supporting these vulnerable children, including local authorities and health services, to join the conversation too.

This evidence is important. We need a system that works for these young people. And we should be unequivocal – that our ambition for them is exactly the same as our ambition for every other child. That they achieve their full potential.

Of course, funding challenges aren’t restricted to high needs. The right level of support for all schools, and for every pupil, is also vitally important. And here too, as well as securing the right overall settlement, I want to make sure that money is flowing through the system in the right way – that individual schools’ needs are being properly understood, and that we avoid creating perverse incentives.

The national funding formula has taken a big step forward in addressing some anomalies in funding between different areas and we need to complete the job on this.

But I also want to consider whether we can look more closely at how funding can accurately reflect the way costs operate in reality for individual schools. Of course some costs go up and down in direct proportion to pupil numbers, while others do not.

If I’ve learned one thing it’s that when we talk to one another, when we collaborate, it’s then that we begin to see real progress in tackling the pressures schools face.

One of the best examples of this I can think of, and one this profession can be very proud of is the Recruitment and Retention Strategy.

This has been a huge endeavour and has involved teaching unions, leaders and teachers, all coming together to work out how we boost the profession and develop a more supportive culture in schools. I particularly want to thank NAHT for their constructive engagement on the strategy.

We all want the teaching profession to be one that attracts the best people and offers them a satisfying, sustainable career.

And yet too many teachers are leaving the profession. I know many of you will cover for gaps in your teams; that you have lost teachers, talented and valued members of the team.

A key feature of the strategy is the new Early Career Framework, perhaps the most significant reform of the profession since teaching became a graduate-only profession.

It will provide much more structured support for teachers at the start of their career, when they are most at risk of dropping out. By the time the new framework is fully in place we will fund additional support and training for new teachers up to at least £130 million every year.

But of course the strategy isn’t just about new teachers – it also commits to supporting teachers throughout their careers. I want all those who are called to this vocation to enjoy the same kind of clear career pathways as other leading professionals, like doctors or lawyers.

To do this we will offer more coherent pathways for all teachers, from reformed ITT content to the development of specialist NPQs that support those teachers who don’t necessarily want to go into leadership but who still want to develop, to specialise and to progress.

There are other barriers to recruitment and retention. Last year I told you I had an urgent task – to look at how we can work together to address these barriers – and top of the list is workload.

We know that teachers, and school leaders, work far longer hours than they should and this is one of the main reasons people give for leaving the profession or not moving into leadership roles.

But we also know there is no silver bullet and that workload and the pressure you can sometimes feel can come from different sources – it can come from specific requirements generated within schools and from government. But it can also come indirectly from the accountability system.

Primary school standardised testing in different forms is common around the world. Here in England, it can help inform parents, and it helps inform Ofsted.

And clearly the progress that pupils make at secondary school, and the qualifications they achieve there, are really important to their futures.

But I am clear that data alone do not and cannot give the full rounded picture of a school.

I know that today the fear of the consequences of a single set of bad results can manifest itself in unintended consequences, excessive pressures on headteachers and leaders. Last year I promised we would consult with you on this and how we could make the system better.

And today I am confirming that – after a very strong response to our recent consultation on identifying schools for support – that the ‘floor’ and ‘coasting’ standards will be dropped.

This is in line with one of the key recommendations from NAHT’s commission on accountability. It means you don’t have to worry that one set of results could set off a number of unwelcome consequences.

From September this year we will no longer publish these standards, nor use them for any purpose. Instead, we will use a single, transparent trigger for an offer of support – ‘Ofsted requires improvement’ – to make sure it is totally clear when leaders will be offered support.

And while leaders of “RI” schools will always retain responsibility for their own improvement, we will be proactive in offering support to leadership teams who do want it.

So, from next academic year, all “RI” schools not currently benefitting from this year’s package will be offered funded support from an expert leader to give them bespoke guidance.

A more intensive package of assistance will be available for schools with two consecutive “requires improvement” judgements, to help them improve in a sustainable way. But again, I want to stress – it’s an offer, not an enforced intervention.

I also want to consider what more we could do to address workload issues for school leaders in particular, and will continue to work with you in the coming months to understand the pressures you face on a daily basis, and come up with a plan to reduce these.

Tackling workload is one of the ways we can build a supportive culture in schools and I know from our Workload Reduction Toolkit that headteachers and principals are already doing some fantastic, proactive work in this area – schools like Kensington Primary School in Newham, who have focused on the work-life balance of their staff as part of their whole school ethos and culture. We have published a video about their approach as part of the workload toolkit.

The tools have been collectively downloaded more than 135,000 times since they first came out and I would urge any of you who have not yet had a look at it to do so.

Last summer when we asked school leaders whether they had begun to take action on evaluating and reducing unnecessary staff workload, 96% said that they had, which is tremendous progress.

I’ve already talked to you about some of the particular needs of children with SEND. Health and wellbeing is of course vital for all children. Schools have a particularly important role to play in this respect.

I want all children to leave school prepared for life in a modern, diverse Britain. Part of the way to make sure they are is to learn about respect for each other and that no one is more important than anyone else, right from the earliest age. You’re never too young to learn compassion and kindness.

We have just made the biggest change to health education in 20 years. From 2020 all primary schools will be required to teach children about relationships as well as health – secondary schools will have to teach sex education too – so that all children have the knowledge they need to be healthy and safe, and to manage their lives and relationships in a positive way. I want to thank the NAHT for all of their engagement on these reforms.

I know many of us feel strongly about some of these issues and people hold different views, as they are absolutely entitled to do, but that does not mean we can shy away from them. It is all the more important to keep talking to one another to find a way forward.

But, and I want to be perfectly clear about this, I back you to do your jobs, to make the right professional choices in the best interests of all your pupils and your teachers. And I expect you to be able to do this free from intimidation by others. I am pleased that my department is working with the NAHT to explore what some of the ongoing problems are and how we can solve them.

And I welcome NAHT’s continued help as we put in place the right, sustained support for schools to build high-quality teaching of relationships and health education. We have allocated £6 million to that end this year, and future years will be considered as part of the spending review.

Another area that continues to cause alarm is social media. I know this is something you will be debating over the weekend.

For this generation growing up, technology and new media, including social media, change just about everything.

The internet is a fantastic resource and an integral part of everyday life for many people. Living in a more connected world opens up fantastic opportunities, to share ideas and collaborate. It’s hard to imagine life without it.

However, we know that the internet can also be used to intimidate and bully. This is not acceptable and can have serious consequences for victims of online abuse.

The changes we’ve made to the RSE and health curriculum mean that as well as relationships education, young people will learn about safe and acceptable behaviour online and an awareness of how online actions can affect others, particularly how to protect themselves from possibly harmful content.

This backs up what is already taught in the computing curriculum at all key stages, and covers e-safety and the different and escalating risks that can arise.

We are also taking steps to put in place a new system of accountability and oversight for tech companies through the Online Harms White Paper.

But while attention is mainly focused on protecting young people from possible online danger, they are by no means the only victims. The internet is not selective and I know that teachers and leaders can be vulnerable too.

We will be updating our guidance for heads and school staff accordingly on how to protect themselves from cyberbullying and abuse and what to do if it does take place.

Teachers and leaders should not be subjected to online abuse simply for doing their jobs and I’m 100% behind making sure the entire school workforce can go about their business free from fear or intimidation.

The pressures that schools are facing – that you are facing – are real. Pressures that can erode and distract from the passionate pursuit of excellent teaching. And I am committed to making more progress to tackle these.

But the past 12 months have taught me an important lesson.

That we can summon concrete, positive change, if we work together. The Recruitment and Retention Strategy is showing this right now. We worked together to identify the problems – and to craft the solutions. And I want to recognise your important role in that and other work.

So now, I want to bring together that same sense of collaboration and constructive challenge to other areas, including those we’ve touched on today.

I am optimistic. I can’t help feeling more optimistic every time I visit another fantastic school.

And I can’t help being reminded of what I said at the beginning of this speech. That your ambition is my ambition. And that together we can realise that ambition, for every young person.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid today (Friday 3 May) met with local business leaders in Aberdeen to seek their views on the UK government’s plan to introduce a new skills-based immigration system from 2021.

The Home Office is conducting a year-long engagement programme across the UK to listen to the views of businesses and communities.

Representatives from the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, Aberdeen City and Shire Hotels Association, VisitAberdeenshire, Chrysaor, Thistle Seafoods and other organisations were all present at the talks.

A skills-based immigration system will follow the end to freedom of movement and will favour experience and talent over nationality. It will help employers access the skills they need while ensuring net migration is reduced to sustainable levels.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said:

I want our future immigration system to work in the best interests of the whole of the UK. That’s why I came to Aberdeen today to hear directly from businesses as they take part in this important debate.

Scottish employers are playing a key role in helping us finalise our plans and my meeting with industry representatives was extremely productive.

A skills-based approach will ensure we attract the brightest and best migrants to Scotland and the rest of the UK – boosting our economy and benefiting the British people.

The UK government’s proposals will, in line with the recommendations made by the Migration Advisory Committee:

• remove the annual cap on the number of visas issued for skilled workers
• widen the skills threshold to include people with qualifications equivalent of A levels or Scottish Highers
• ends the requirements for labour market tests by employers wanting to sponsor a highly skilled worker

The Home Secretary was hosted by the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce.

The new immigration and borders system will be implemented in a phased approach from 2021 and full details are available in the UK government’s White Paper.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Karen Bradley, has today announced her intention to recommend the appointment of Mrs Marie Anderson as the new Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

The Secretary of State said:

“My absolute priority is to see the restoration of the Executive at the earliest opportunity.

“In the interim my responsibility is to ensure good governance and stable public services in the best interests of the people of Northern Ireland.

“In the absence of an Executive, it is vital that we ensure stability and continuity for this important public appointment. My intention is to recommend the appointment of Marie Anderson to the role of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.”

Notes to editors:

The appointment of Police Ombudsman is subject to the completion of the formalities of the appointment process.

The Office of the Police Ombudsman was established by the Police (NI) Act 1998 to provide an independent means of handling complaints against the police and a number of other bodies as set out in legislation. The Police Ombudsman is responsible for the investigation of complaints against the police and for the investigation of a range of other matters referred by the Department of Justice, the Policing Board and the Chief Constable. The term of appointment for the Police Ombudsman is seven years and is not renewable. The outgoing Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire was appointed in 2012 and his seven-year tenure will be completed in July 2019.

The Office of the Police Ombudsman currently has a staff of over 150. It is a non-departmental public body financed by a grant-in-aid from the Department of Justice. In the 2019/20 financial year, its budget is £9.288 million. Since the devolution of policing and justice in 2010, the First Minister and deputy First Minister have had the statutory responsibility for jointly recommending the appointment of the Police Ombudsman. In October 2018, the Secretary of State for NI introduced legislation in Parliament; the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 received Royal Assent on 1 November. This legislation provides for the appointment to a number of public offices by the Secretary of State, including that of Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

The position was advertised widely by The Executive Office, with candidates applying nationally and internationally.

Mrs Anderson is currently Northern Ireland’s Public Services Ombudsman, where she has been in post since 1 April 2016. She will step down from this position on taking up office as Police Ombudsman. She also holds two other statutory offices – Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards and Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Ombudsman. She has previously held a number of other high profile public service positions including the Deputy Northern Ireland Ombudsman and the Assistant Information Commissioner for Northern Ireland. Experience from these roles and others have developed important skills that Mrs Anderson will bring to the Police Ombudsman role.

The annual salary for this post is currently £134,841 (under review).

This appointment process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland and the process has been conducted in accordance with the Commissioner’s Code of Practice.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland requires the political activity of appointees to be published. In this case, Mrs Anderson has not declared any political activity.

For media queries please contact NIO communications manager, Rosemary Neill on 07815145577.

Results from the new GAD client feedback report show clients rate our service and work highly. This feedback is a valuable indicator about how effectively we work and as part of the research, clients described GAD as “professional, reliable and trusted”.

Professional

As experts we are trusted to deliver a professional service with integrity. GAD’s people take pride in working in a way that reflects our values of agile, dedicated, expert, partnering and trusted. Clients said our people were “extremely helpful in introducing innovation in the work they perform for us” and “their professionalism, enthusiasm and motivation is very evident”.

Reliable

Overall, clients said teams deliver work on time (with 81% of respondents scoring us at least 8 out of 10) and within scope (86% scoring us at least 8).

Martin Clarke, the Government Actuary commented: “We value the comments and observations from clients. This has been a successful year for GAD. Feedback remained excellent and this has led to further assignments because of our growing reputation and profile.”

Trusted

When we asked clients how we compared to other organisations (eg other government shared service providers and private sector consultancy firms) the consensus was that we compared very favourably.

Clients who were asked if GAD had demonstrated these values in our interaction with them, gave the highest score (92%) for the GAD value of ‘trusted’.