• meeting jointly hosted by HMCTS & Society of Editors
• part of wider effort to promote media access to courts
• first in series of meetings to be held across UK

Jointly hosted by HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Society of Editors, the Bristol event was organised as part of a wider effort to promote open justice and media access to court proceedings. It was jointly chaired by HMCTS CEO Susan Acland-Hood and Executive Director of the Society of Editors, Ian Murray.

Further meetings are planned for the coming months across other parts of England and Wales and follows the creation of the national HMCTS media working group in 2018.

HMCTS Chief Executive, Susan Acland-Hood, said:

Open justice is a fundamental part of our legal system and media reporting of court proceedings remains the primary means by which the wider public has access to the vital work of our courts and tribunals.

We are delighted to be working with the Society to engage representatives of the regional media to understand how we can better facilitate and support the work of the media as part of our effort to build and maintain confidence in the justice system.

Mr Murray said:

This was the first of a number of regional events and proved to be very productive and positive.

The importance of open justice cannot be overstated particularly in these times of a fragmenting media landscape.

The HMCTS media working group was established to help promote media access to courts and draft new guidance issued to HMCTS staff on dealing with the media. The group is also helping to ensure the media’s views are heard in the development of HMCTS £1bn court and tribunal reform programme.

Today’s roundtable was attended by representatives from organisations across the South West. These included: the Bristol Post, Gloucestershire Live, Somerset Live the Press Association and Heart Radio.

It’s great to be back in Manchester. I grew up just down the road in Chester, so coming to Manchester always feels like coming to the metropolis.

I went to my very first concert at the Manchester Arena, or the NYNEX Arena as it was then, to see… Meat Loaf. Yes, I really was that cool.

We came past the Manchester Arena this morning, and I was reminded of that, and of that horrific attack 2 years ago. Children. At a concert. A truly dark day for this city, and this country.

But I was also reminded of the incredible spirit, the incredible resilience, the love and compassion that the people of this city showed in that moment.

Not least the paramedics, the nurses, the doctors, every member of the NHS family, going above and beyond any description of duty, healing, uniting, giving us all hope that, together, we can get through this.

I know some of those NHS heroes are here today. And I want to say to all of you, on behalf of this city, and on behalf of our nation, thank you.

As that incredibly moving Tony Walsh poem says about Manchester: “This is a place where we stand strong together.”

And the NHS is a place where we stand strong together. And I tend to think of all of those who work for the NHS as something of a family.

But, truth be told, we haven’t always been there enough for every member of the NHS family. Or helped everyone realise their potential.

Too often, we’ve chosen confrontation when collaboration was the way to settle our differences.

And too often we’ve lost talented people because we haven’t done enough to convince them to stay.

Now, a big part of this is down to numbers and resources: I get that. I fully understand that we need more staff.

We’re putting in the longest and largest cash injection in the history of the NHS.

And we’re doing everything we can to recruit more staff, both in terms of training, and attracting the brightest and the best from abroad – as well as making them feel more at home in the UK.

I’ve listened to you, and tried to listen hard, about what you need to make your jobs easier: technology that frees up your time to focus on patients, not technology that slows you down with multiple log-ins and incompatible systems.

But technology is only a tool. The mission, our mission, is to help you care for people.

And what the whole NHS family needs to do more is care for each other.

Whether you’re a senior consultant, a midwife, a paramedic, a porter or a trainee just joining, I want the NHS to be a rewarding, compassionate, brilliant place to work for everyone.

Baroness Dido Harding is developing the first ever NHS People Plan to create that positive, inclusive, people-centred culture across the NHS.

So we can build the workforce of the future and meet the changing needs and expectations of the public.

Together, I want us to create an NHS working culture that reflects Britain in 2019, and how people expect to work and live now.

Because the most troubling statistic I’ve seen is this: one in 11 of our staff leave the NHS entirely every year. That’s more than 100,000 people each year. It’s something we must urgently address.

And I believe a large number of those people leave because we haven’t done enough to make the NHS a great place to work.

Yes, it’s about resources. Yes, it’s about terms and conditions. But bigger than that: the working culture, and how we treat each other.

So I want to talk to you today about how we modernise the working culture of the NHS and tackle gender, racial and other forms of inequality because those things are linked.

The NHS has 1.3 million employees, 77% of which – more than a million – are women.

So the NHS is one of the largest employers of women in the world.

You would expect one of the biggest employers of women to also be one of the best places for women to work.

Across society, women have transformed the working culture for the better: more collaborative, more compassionate.

Diversity brings diversity of thought. Every time I’m in a room with a more diverse group of people, better decisions are made because there’s a greater diversity of thought.

Some of the best leaders in the NHS are women:

• Sarah-Jane Marsh at Birmingham

• Amanda Pritchard at Guy’s and St Thomas’

• Lesley Watts at Chelsea and Westminster

Just to name 3. Brilliant women doing a brilliant job.

And yet, the NHS gender pay gap is still 23%.

Over half of junior doctors are women, but at consultant level it’s only a third. Women are under-represented as surgeons and over-represented in lower-paid specialties.

The gender gap is a good barometer of the health of the NHS. And it’s clear: things must change and I’m determined to change them.

Gender equality is the only way we can hope to build an NHS team fit for the future.

And it’s not just gender. 40% of hospital doctors and 20% of NHS nurses are from an ethnic minority background, but at board level that figure is only 6%.

Only by embracing equality of opportunity can we address staff shortages and get the people we need to create a sustainable NHS that’ll be there for all of us, for generations to come.

I’m hugely grateful to Professor Dame Jane Dacre and Professor Carol Woodhams for their review of the gender pay gap in medicine.

I agree with them: we need a culture of transparency in pay, promotion and reward if we’re going to close the gender pay gap.

And we need to create a working culture that puts flexible working at its heart, that encourages women to stay in the NHS family, that helps women move up the career ladder even when they have children and caring responsibilities.

So these are the 3 areas I want us to prioritise:

More female leaders in the NHS

At board level, we need to recruit 500 more women to reach gender balance across the NHS.

NHS Improvement and the NHS Leadership Academy are doing some great work to encourage more women into leadership roles.

And we’re going to work with the BMA, the Medical Women’s Federation and Health Education England to build on that, and step up the pace.

Raise the bar on aspiration with:

• tailor-made training programmes
• role models who can inspire and advise
• support networks throughout someone’s career

No specialty, no job should be off-limits to anyone because of who they are, or their background.

More flexible working

Becoming a parent is one of life’s greatest joys.

No mother, or father, should be made to feel their job is incompatible with their family.

I’m extremely pleased, and grateful, that we’ve worked with the NHS Trade Unions and the Junior Doctors Committee at the BMA to extend shared parental leave.

I want us to go much, much further on flexible working. More roles that allow part-time, term-time, home working and job-shares to make it easier for people to balance work and family life.

The NHS has committed to publishing rotas 6 weeks in advance for doctors.

I want to see smart digital rotas for all clinical staff in the NHS. Currently they’re available to only half, and less than one in 10 have access to the most sophisticated digital rotas that should be the norm across the NHS. That simply isn’t good enough.

All trusts must expand digital rotas and develop tech-enabled in-house staff banks. Better tech, across the board in the NHS, can help support more flexible, more modern working, and allow for a better work-life balance.

I know of a radiologist who was forced to leave her NHS job after she became a mother, to go and work for an agency providing the same service to the same NHS trust – so effectively doing the same job – just because that agency had the tech to let her work from home, when she wanted.

Costing the NHS more. Depriving her of job security and pension contributions. Forcing her to make a decision she didn’t want to and losing a valuable doctor in the process.

Of course, the NHS is a 24/7 operation – people don’t only get sick at a convenient time on a Wednesday afternoon – so we must have a 24/7 workforce.

But the reality of modern working is that people want the freedom to manage their own time.

They want greater choice and control over their working lives because their families, their friends, their independence is just as important to them.

Just look at this way: if you’re starting at medical school this September you were probably born in this century.

You’re a digital native. Technology has shaped every facet of your life from the way you shop, travel, eat, bank, socialise and even find love.

So of course, you’re going to expect that same flexibility and autonomy when it comes to your working life. And you’re going to become incredibly frustrated – and perhaps disillusioned – if your employer refuses to move with the times.

So the NHS must recognise and embrace the cultural change in society.

We’ve got to reflect modern Britain and look to the future, not hark back to an imagined past – a past that wasn’t always that rosy if you were a woman, or if you were black, or Asian, or disabled or dyslexic, or gay, or different in some way.

Creating a compassionate culture

And that brings me to my third and final point: ending discrimination, bullying and harassment and creating a compassionate culture.

This really hit home for me recently when Dr Zoe Norris and Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer spoke out about sexism and harassment by male colleagues. And they weren’t alone. Other women have had the courage to speak up.

I’m pleased the BMA is taking these allegations seriously and has promised a full and independent investigation. And for Clare Marx’s leadership on this subject at the General Medical Council.

Frankly, I’m disgusted and angry that anyone should have to experience bullying, harassment, sexism or any other form of discrimination as they try to do their job.

But it’s even more troubling in the NHS because the NHS is built on the principle of caring for people and treating everyone equally – and that absolutely must extend to our staff. And until we do that, we can’t create a more caring and more compassionate culture.

And this point really hit home for me when Dr Joanna Poole, of the Doctors Association, asked fellow doctors to share their stories on social media as part of the #NHSMeToo campaign.

There were stories about doctors who couldn’t get time off to attend a wedding or a funeral. I have doctors in my family who have often missed important family events because the rota says no. And there were stories about doctors who were told they had to work even when they were sick or had gone through a personal trauma.

But there was one story that really affected me, that has really stayed with me.

The doctor wrote:

I needed early pregnancy scans every 48 hours because of a threatened miscarriage. I would go downstairs for my scans, be told they couldn’t see a viable baby and then have to return to the ward distraught and work.

Everyone knew, but no one asked me how I was.

I eventually had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy and ended up in emergency theatre. I was back at work within a week as we were short-staffed, having lost my baby. Still no one thought to ask how I was.

I had to see a lady with a miscarriage when I returned to work. And I cried and cried in the toilets.

Just one story. One woman out of more than a million working in the NHS. So profoundly moving. So heart-breaking. In the NHS of all places.

The NHS: it’s meant to be a caring organisation. That’s what it does. And yet, sometimes it doesn’t care enough about its own.

So yes, we need more staff, more resources, better technology, and on my watch, we will have all of those.

But more than anything we need to create a more caring, a more compassionate culture. The way we talk to each other. The way we treat one another: it really matters.

Work should be something we look forward to, not something we have to endure. Everyone must feel valued and supported in the workplace. We must end bullying, harassment, sexism and discrimination.

Dido’s People Plan will have this at its heart, and our new Chief People Officer, Prerana Issar, will make this her mission. By creating a more diverse leadership that reflects and represents our diverse workforce. By modernising working practices so everyone with the ability to rise to top has the opportunity to rise to the top.

Being compassionate towards each other, whether you’re a trust or a trade union, a royal college or even a Health Secretary. We’re all on the same team. We all have the same goal.

Because I believe the NHS embodies the best of everything this country has to offer. I want us to live and breathe those values all of the time. I want us to care about each and every member of the NHS family.

And I commit to ensuring the NHS is a place where we always stand strong together. So let us make this change together.

It is a pleasure to be with you today for the launch of the recommendations from the Children’s Future Food Inquiry. Thank you so much for inviting me to this event.

I am particularly pleased to be hearing from the Inquiry’s young food ambassadors today and I believe it is critical that young people have a strong voice in shaping provision. I welcome this opportunity to listen to your views on how we can build a healthier future for children.

I also know that this report has been informed by the experiences of teachers, youth workers, carers, GPs and other practitioners, alongside hundreds of children and young people. I welcome the dedication and expertise that has contributed to this report.

The government will reflect carefully on the report over the coming months and will consider how we can best respond to the important issues raised.

This morning, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight several significant actions that the government is currently taking to support healthy eating, particularly among families on lower incomes. I believe that many of these actions relate very closely to the recommendations highlighted in today’s report, and firmly believe that we are working towards a shared overall ambition.

The government is committed to ensuring that children are well nourished and develop healthy eating habits that stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Healthy eating not only supports children’s health but also has an important contribution to make in ensuring children are able to concentrate and learn in schools, and therefore achieve their potential in life.

My department plays a critical role in providing healthy, nutritious food for children, delivered through a range of programmes targeted towards the most disadvantaged children. This is part of our strong commitment to promoting social mobility and ensuring equality of opportunity for every child.

The government is keen to support children during the school holidays, and today’s report highlights the issues that may arise during these breaks.

For most children, holidays should mean fun experiences and a chance to make lasting memories. We want to make these opportunities available to all children, regardless of their background, and we also want to make sure that children are eating healthily during the holidays.

In summer 2018, our new holiday activities and food programme supported more than 18,000 disadvantaged children – giving them access to nutritious meals and fun activities.

Following this successful programme we have now increased funding to £9 million for this summer and aim to improve further on the success of the 2018 programme.

I am exceptionally proud of this programme, and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved – including Lindsay Graham, here for her work with Feeding Britain, one of the seven organisations that received funding last year.

We know that these clubs are located in a range of different types of setting and staffed by a wide range of people, often giving their time for free. We want to help these clubs, and the people who work in them, to improve what they can offer to children. We are particularly interested in establishing what type of provision works best and how provision can be effectively coordinated locally.

I am very proud that also, under the Childhood Obesity Plan, my department is investing up to £26 million in the National Schools Breakfast Programme, as delivered by the charity Family Action in partnership with Magic Breakfast. This programme is setting up or improving more than 1,700 breakfast clubs in schools in the most disadvantaged areas across the country.

A healthy breakfast can play a vital role in ensuring children can concentrate, learn and reach their full potential.

I recently visited a breakfast club in Battersea, and its school leaders, teachers and children were overwhelmingly positive about the whole-school impact of their club.

The government strongly values the importance of providing a free healthy school meal to the most disadvantaged children.

Last year, over a million disadvantaged children were eligible for and claimed a free meal at school. In recent years, the government has expanded free school meals provision in several important ways.

Firstly, from September 2014 free meals were extended to disadvantaged Further Education students for the first time.

We have also given free meals to all infant children in England’s state-funded schools; resulting in 1.5 million more infants receiving a free school lunch.

In addition, under our revised criteria for free school meals – introduced last April – we estimate that more children will benefit from free meals by 2022, compared to the previous benefits system.

We have also introduced generous transitional protections so that all children will keep their free meals during the change to the new criteria.

Through these free meals, the government is making an important and positive contribution for many disadvantaged children.

Today’s report rightly highlights that children should not feel in any way stigmatised in receiving their free school meals. We know that many schools have found positive ways to address this issue, including engaging well with families and making the most of new technologies available.

To support this, my department provides an online Eligibility Checking System – a simple and rapid online portal for determining children’s eligibility for free school meals. We also provide schools with a model registration form and guidance to make it as easy as possible for children to be registered.

Of course, if we are providing free school meals to the most disadvantaged children, we must ensure that those meals meet a high standard of nutrition and quality. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar are restricted by our School Food Standards, and we are now updating them to reduce sugar even further.

This is one of the key ways the Government has committed to improving children’s health under the Childhood Obesity Plan, which involves a number of key departments such as the Department of Health, Ofsted and Department for Culture Media and Sport working together to improve health outcomes for all children of all backgrounds.

As a result, we will continue to ensure that the meals children receive in schools are healthy, nutritious and of the highest quality. And as today’s report highlights, I know that many children are keen to be involved in shaping the menus offered in schools. I would encourage them to make their voices heard by their school leaders.

Today’s report has also highlighted the importance of healthy meals in early years settings.

I would like to take this opportunity to promote the menus and guidance that Public Health England published in November 2017. This guidance supports settings in meeting the Early Years Foundation Stage welfare requirement to provide ‘healthy, balanced and nutritious’ meals for children.

Before I finish, I would briefly like to touch on a couple of other interesting aspects from today’s report.

The report proposes placing a tax on unhealthy foods and using the proceeds to support children. Of course, our government has already taken an important action in this area by introducing the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in 2018.

This incentivises industry to reduce the sugar content of soft drinks. The proceeds from this levy have been used to support important programmes for children’s health, including investing up to £26 million in school breakfast clubs in disadvantaged areas, as well as investing in our £320 million ‘PE and Sport Premium’ for primary schools.

The report also made recommendations around the marketing of unhealthy foods and the availability of these foods near schools. The government is keen to protect children from advertising that encourages demand for unhealthy food, and is currently consulting on proposals to reduce children’s exposure to such advertising.

And finally, I fully understand the importance of listening to the views of children on this issue.

It is vital that government considers children’s views, alongside expertise from practitioners and the best available evidence. In addition, I know that many school leaders and local partners are taking positive steps locally to involve children in shaping provision in their schools and communities.

Overall, the Government is truly committed to delivering a country that works for everyone. We are determined to ensure that we target our support as effectively as possible towards the children that are most in need. I am very keen to hear from you about what we can all do to help address these issues, and we will reflect carefully on the recommendations contained in this report.

Thank you again for inviting me to this launch event today and I hope that we can continue to work together to ensure all children are healthy and well nourished.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns is preparing to run his eighth London Marathon this Sunday (28 April). Mr Cairns’ personal best time of 3:28:02 in 2016 placed him in seventh position on the list of all time fastest MP runners.

This year the Welsh Secretary will raise funds for the Dementia Revolution and Guide Dogs UK, seeking to match the £10,000 he raised for NSPCC Cymru and Atal y Fro women’s aid charity following last year’s race.

Dementia Revolution is a year-long combined effort between Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research to raise funds through the London Marathon.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

I look forward to taking part in this year’s race and sharing memories with runners of all abilities, who each have their own motivations for completing the course.

The charities I’m supporting are close to my heart and I’m inspired by their work to provide vital research and services to thousands of vulnerable people in Wales and all over the UK.

Last year’s marathon was a challenge due to the heat, so I’m hoping for cooler conditions to record a respectable time and raise plenty of money for these two worthy causes this time around.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

During her visit, The Princess Royal delivered a speech to an audience of UKHO staff and over 100 guests who gathered from across the world to celebrate the landmark occasion. In her speech, she commended the UKHO for the vital role it plays in supporting maritime navigation, safety, security, and marine development around the UK and worldwide.

The Rt Hon Earl Howe, Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Minister of State for Defence, was also in attendance. He addressed guests to speak of the UKHO’s long and successful history of supplying navigation services to shipping companies around the world, as well as its continued contribution to defence and the long-term prosperity of the UK and its allies around the world.

The new building is designed to provide an open and dynamic workspace for the UKHO’s 850 staff, whilst fostering a culture of collaboration and smarter ways of working through the use of cutting-edge technologies. These state-of the-art facilities, together with continued investment in new technology and talent, present opportunities for the UKHO to broaden its range of services as a provider of marine geospatial data.

Representatives from 18 countries, spanning five continents, attended the ceremony. Guests at the event included dignitaries from the local community, academics, data suppliers, distributors, and members of the Armed Forces and international hydrographic community.

After the opening speeches, guests were given a tour of the new facilities, which include a high-spec office space, gym, staff restaurant, and an 800 square metre central atrium designed to provide maximum levels of natural daylight throughout the building.

Commenting on the formal opening of the new build, Rear Admiral Tim Lowe CBE, National Hydrographer and Acting Chief Executive, UKHO, said:

It is an honour to welcome Her Royal Highness and guests from around the world here today to share this momentous occasion with us as we officially open our new headquarters here in Taunton.

Today doesn’t simply mark the opening of a new building. For us, it marks the beginning of the next chapter in this organisation’s long and proud history. It is the next step in the transformation that the UKHO has been undertaking in recent years to become a truly modern marine geospatial information agency and hydrographic office.

The UKHO’s new home has been specifically designed to meet our needs as a modern hydrographic office. Its conception, design and construction are just some of the physical reflections of our ambition to drive the advancement of ocean science in the UK and across the globe; strengthening our position as a world-leading marine geospatial agency and completing our transformation into a digital-first, data-centric provider of marine geospatial information services.

Amy Carrillo, Head of People, UKHO, added:

The new building is a huge source of pride for our 850 staff here at the UKHO. With its open and dynamic design, we have created a truly world-leading workspace for our people that cultivates creativity and innovation across the organisation.

From hydrography and oceanography, to software engineering and data science, we employ experts from across a range of disciplines, in a variety of challenging and interesting roles. The new environment celebrates and reinforces our strong links with the local community, and will support us as we continue to invest in our technology and our people.

Our staff are answering some of the most difficult challenges facing our oceans, and we are confident that this new building will underpin our world-leading geospatial expertise for years to come.