Highlighting the benefits of apprenticeships to employers, individuals, local communities and the wider economy, the ‘Blaze a Trail’ themed week, running from 4 to 8 March 2019, will see a range of activities and events being hosted across the country, aimed at challenging the outdated views many people still have about apprenticeships.

The week will also highlight the huge number of high quality apprenticeship opportunities available at all levels around the country, in a huge variety of sectors, including aviation engineering, nursing, finance and policing.

Whether you are an employer, apprentice, parent, school or apprenticeship training provider, there are a number of ways to show your support for the week:

NAW2019 how to get involved

Available on GOV.UK, some of the ‘Asks’ include:

• asking employers to wear a badge of support by uploading their company logo into a social media template – showing their commitment to and support for NAW 2019 and apprenticeships generally
• asking our stakeholders – including parents, schools and apprenticeship training providers – to show their support for apprenticeships on Instagram using a heart shape made of sparks, to convey the vibrancy, passion, and energy of apprentices
• asking apprentices to fire up the next wave of apprentices by joining the Young Apprentice Ambassador Network and giving a talk in their old/local school, sharing their experience to inspire others

Keith Smith, Apprenticeships Director, Education and Skills Funding Agency, said:

The resources being made available today will bring the apprenticeship community together, in a series of ‘Asks’ that can be used to create a movement over the course of National Apprenticeship Week 2019 (NAW2019).

The theme of ‘Blaze a Trail’ links to the new national apprenticeship campaign – ‘Fire It Up’ – so many of the resources use the campaign branding and style – ensuring NAW2019 compliments campaign activity, whilst giving apprentices, employers, and stakeholders unique resources to share and use widely during the week.

With less than four weeks to go, I am delighted to see so many events already on our events map. With your help we can make more of a noise about apprenticeships during NAW2019 and using some of these resources – uniting on social channels, in media opportunities and at events – we can really showcase the benefits apprenticeships have on individuals, employers, communities and the wider economy.

Any events taking place during the week can be shared on the Events Map, increasing exposure to the many events taking place during the week. More information is also available on GOV.UK and you can follow @Apprenticeships on Twitter and National Apprenticeship Service on LinkedIn to keep up to date.

Service leavers and their families will be now be able to access military accommodation for up to a year after they hang up their uniform, giving them more time to look for permanent accommodation as they transition back to civilian life.

Current Service Family Accommodation (SFA) rules, which allow personnel who have left the Armed Forces to stay in military housing for six months, will be extended to 12 months where availability of accommodation allows.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Having a place to call home is an important part of the return to civilian life, but there can sometimes be a lot to think about when hanging up your uniform for the last time.

By extending the service family offer we hope to give families more time to make the transition that much easier. This is another example of how we continue to support the brave men and women who have served our country.

The Government already offers a comprehensive package of housing support to both veterans and service personnel transitioning back into civilian life, including:

• The Joint Service Housing Advice Office, which provides housing advice to all personnel and veterans. Veterans with concerns around housing are supported by MOD’s Veterans UK agency helpline and by the Veterans Welfare Service.

• Under the Armed Forces Covenant, veterans have high priority access to social housing and a five year exemption from proving a local connection to quality for social housing.

• The Forces Help to Buy Scheme allows Service personnel to borrow up to 50% of their gross annual salary (maximum of £25K) to buy their first home.

• Under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, MOD has a “Duty to Refer” personnel leaving the services who are at risk of homelessness to a local housing authority in the UK.

Minister for Defence People and Veterans Tobias Ellwood said:

Behind every person who has served in the Armed Forces is a family, a unit that has been with them every step of the way.

We must make sure that their needs are looked after which is why I am proud to support the new family accommodation extension, which will give families more time to make the transition back to civilian life.

Today’s announcement builds on the huge package of cross-government employment, healthcare and education support available to ex-service personnel to help them and their families transition to civilian life.

The MOD also sub-lets some surplus vacant houses to the general public to generate income through short term lets on the private market. The properties are rented at market rates and are available at 60 sites.

If you’re planning to drive abroad over the coming weeks and months, the driving documents you’ll need may change – here’s what you need to know.

International Driving Permits

Before the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019, holders of UK licences can drive in all EU countries and the European Economic Area (EEA) without the need for any additional documentation.

If the UK leaves the EU on 29 March without a deal, UK licence holders may also need to obtain an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in EU/EEA countries.

There’s more than one type of IDP available and the type of IDP you may need in some countries will change on 28 March.

So, before you travel, make sure you check:

• whether the country or countries you’ll be driving in require an IDP
• which type of IDP you need – if you are travelling through two or more countries, you may need more than one IDP

You can obtain an IDP for £5.50 from 2,500 Post Offices across the UK.

Find out how to obtain an IDP by visiting the Post Office website.

Driving licences

If you’re a UK licence holder living in the UK, there’s no need to change your driving licence after 29 March.

UK residents in the EU

If you are resident in an EU country after the UK leaves the EU, you may not automatically have the right to exchange your UK licence for a driving licence from the country you’re living in and you may need to take a new driving test.

If you are already resident in an EU/EEA country, you can avoid this by exchanging your UK driving licence in the member state you live in before 29 March. UK licence holders who do this will be able to exchange that licence back to a UK licence if they return to live in the UK at a later date.

EU licence holders

Arrangements for EU licence holders who are visiting or living in the UK will not change after 29 March.

The UK does not require visiting motorists to hold a separate IDP to guarantee the recognition of their driving licence. This covers EU licence holders coming to the UK on holiday or driving on business.

EU licence holders visiting the UK can drive here as long as their licence remains valid. EU licence holders who are or become a UK resident can drive here with a valid licence until they reach the age of 70, or until three years after coming to live in the UK, whichever is later.

There are different restrictions in place for those who have a licence to drive lorries and buses.

For EU licence holders who passed their test in the EU or EEA, the UK will continue to exchange their licence as we do currently.

EU licence holders who passed their test outside the EU or EEA may have restrictions on licence exchange. As such, they may need to take a driving test to obtain a UK licence.

Find out more about exchanging a foreign driving licence.

Trailer Registration

Regardless of the outcome of EU negotiations, there are new requirements for the separate registration of commercial trailers from 28 March 2019.

All trailers weighing over 3,500kg will need to be registered. However, if your trailer is used for commercial purposes you’ll need to register it if it weighs over 750kg. This requirement will apply trailer used for journeys to, or through, all EU countries, with the exception of Ireland, Spain, Cyprus and Malta.

Trailers used solely domestically will not need to be registered.

More information on how to register your trailer is available here. The fee for registration is £26 per trailer.

Once a trailer is registered, it will be allocated a unique registration number which must be displayed on the trailer in addition to the existing registration number of the pulling vehicle.

You’ll also be sent a trailer registration certificate in the post which you must show foreign authorities upon request

Motor Insurance Green Cards

Green Cards are an international certificate of motor insurance. The EU is part of a Green Card-free circulation area. Currently, you do not need a motor insurance Green Card (to drive a UK registered vehicle in these countries).

In the event that there is no EU Exit deal and the UK and EU reach no separate agreement, drivers of UK registered vehicles will need to carry a motor insurance Green Card when driving in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Andorra, Serbia and Switzerland.

You can contact your vehicle insurance provider to obtain a motor insurance Green Card.

Need to know more?

Keep track of the latest UK government information and advice on everything to do the UK’s exit from the EU.

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A new code of conduct for artificial intelligence and other data-driven technologies will ensure that only the best and safest systems are used by the NHS.

The code encourages technology companies to meet a gold-standard set of principles to protect patient data to the highest standards. It has been drawn up with the help of industry, academics and patient groups.

The aim is to make it easier for suppliers to develop technologies that tackle some of the biggest issues in healthcare, such as dementia, obesity and cancer. It will also help health and care providers choose safe, effective and secure technology to improve the services they provide.

The code will:

• promote the UK as the best place in the world to invest in healthtech
• provide evidence of what good practice looks like to industry and commissioners
• reassure patients and clinicians that data-driven technology is safe, effective and maintains privacy
• allow the government to work with suppliers to guide the development of new technology so products are suitable to the NHS in the future
• make sure the NHS get a fair deal from the commercialisation of its data resources

The code will also mean the NHS is fairly rewarded for allowing companies access to its data pool to build life-saving artificial intelligence systems.

The code is made up of 10 principles that set out how the government will make it easier for companies to work with the NHS to develop new technologies and what the NHS expects in return.

It will be regularly updated in partnership with industry and stakeholders to ensure it keeps pace with the market.

AI technology is already being used across the NHS to improve the early diagnosis of heart disease and lung cancer, to reduce the number of unnecessary operations performed due to false positives, assist research by better matching patients to clinical trials, and support the planning of care for patients with complex needs. Examples include:

• Moorfields/Deepmind – 1 million anonymised eye scans were shared with Deepmind under a research agreement that began in mid-2016. Deepmind’s algorithm is designed to find early signs of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
• John Radcliffe Hospital – worked with their partner, Ultromics, to use AI to improve detection of heart disease and lung cancer
• Imperial College London – developed a new AI system that can predict the survival rates for patients with ovarian cancer

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

Artificial intelligence has the potential to save lives, but also brings challenges that must be addressed.

We need to create an ecosystem of innovation to allow this type of technology to flourish in the NHS and support our incredible workforce to save lives, by equipping clinicians with the tools to provide personalised treatments.

AI must be used responsibly and our code of conduct sets a gold-standard set of rules to ensure patient data is always protected and the systems we use are some of the safest in the world.

Dr Simon Eccles, Chief Clinical Information Officer for Health and Care, said:

Parts of the NHS have already shown the potential impact AI could have in the future of the NHS in reading scans, for example, to enable clinicians to focus on the most difficult cases.

This new code sets the bar companies will need to meet to bring their products into the NHS so we can ensure patients can benefit from not just the best new technology, but also the safest and most secure.

The plight of the Rohingya refugees must not be forgotten, International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said during her second visit to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

The UK is providing vital humanitarian aid to many of the one million Rohingya refugees and vulnerable local communities in Cox’s Bazar.

Ms Mordaunt, the first UK cabinet minister to visit Bangladesh since the country’s elections, met Rohingya refugees living in Kutupalong camp at a food distribution centre, spoke with women being protected from violence, and saw how children with disabilities were getting the therapy and treatment they need, all supported by UK aid.

Since 25 August 2017, UK aid from British taxpayers has provided £129 million in funding to the refugee crisis and Ms Mordaunt’s visit focused on exploring longer term solutions by supporting education, developing skills and improving access to training opportunities.

In Dhaka, Ms Mordaunt told Bangladeshi ministers she would push for the changes needed in Burma to help the Rohingya return to their homes. But she said now was the time to look beyond short-term live-saving assistance support, to give them the skills they need to create sustainable lives both for themselves and their families.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said:

This major man-made humanitarian crisis has been ethnic cleansing on an industrial scale and I urge the Government of Burma to create the necessary conditions that would allow those Rohingya currently living in Bangladesh to return.

UK aid and donations from the generous British public, are providing life-sustaining humanitarian assistance to many of the almost one million Rohingya refugees and vulnerable host communities in Cox’s Bazar.

The Government and people of Bangladesh have shown great generosity and humanity in hosting the Rohingya. But we recognise that Bangladesh can’t shoulder this responsibility alone and I’m proud of the UK’s leading.

The plight of the Rohingya refugees to return home must not fall off the international agenda and they must be given justice.

In Dhaka Ms Mordaunt also visited the icddr, b, a world-renowned medical research centre which also houses a hospital specialising in cholera and other water-borne diseases.

UK aid supports the hospital’s research and the development of simple life-saving innovations such as breathing apparatus for small babies that was created using an empty shampoo bottle.

Experts at the hospital have also advised humanitarian workers in Yemen on how to treat deadly outbreaks of cholera.

Ms Mordaunt’s visit builds on the 2017 refugee crisis when the British public donated incredibly generously towards the crisis through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeal, raising £30 million, including £5 million matched pound-for-pound by the UK government.

This funding provided:

• 351,500 people receive life-saving food

• 34,000 families receive household essentials, such as sleeping mats, blankets, clothes, and pots and pans

• 124,400 people have safe drinking water and toilets

• 19,500 families receive materials to build a shelter

• 42,300 people receive medical care and some form of health assistance

• 28,200 vulnerable people receive some form of protection, such as safe spaces for women, children and older people

Notes to editors

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt first visited the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in November 2017.

Download photos of the visit