Lead Minister for Cyber and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay, visited St Joseph’s RC High School (SJHS) in Newport to learn more about how young people are being taught vital cyber skills.

St Joseph’s RC High school was the first state secondary school in Wales to be awarded the Silver Award for the NCSC’s CyberFirst school’s program. Over the past 5 years they have developed a challenging, engaging and rewarding curriculum that is centred on computer science, applied digital skills and cyber security.

CyberFirst activities are intended to inspire and encourage students from all backgrounds to consider a career in cyber security and apply for a CyberFirst bursary.

The Government is ensuring that all students are taught basic cyber skills as early as possible so that they are more likely to take up further education in this field. Encouraging more young people into cyber careers, and creating a more diverse cyber-security profession is key to the Government’s mission to make the UK a world leader in cyber skills and the global cyber industry in the coming years.

Significant steps have already been taken to make this possible – with £2.6 billion of investment in cyber and IT committed in the Autumn statement – which will both make the UK safer from cyber attacks but also to help boost innovation in the cyber security sector.

In addition to all of this, the UK has already seen over £10 billion of investment the last financial year, a 14 per cent increase on the year before that, leading to the creation of 6,000 new jobs to take the sector’s employment levels above 50,000.

The visit follows Barclay’s keynote address to the Cyber UK Conference in Newport, where he warned of the evolving threat of cyber attacks following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and committed to boost cyber defence skills across the UK.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Lead Cyber Minister, Steve Barclay said:

It was great to spend time talking to pupils at St Joseph’s School in Newport and to hear about their aspirations of working in the cyber industry and the valuable skills they are learning to help them achieve that ambition.

These skills are crucial in helping to boost our individual and collective cyber defences from the threats that we face, so I was delighted to see the enthusiasm and passion of both children and teaching staff at the school.

Rhys Driscoll, Digital Lead at St Joseph’s RC High School said:

The NCSC’s Cyber girl’s competition has enabled us to provide further opportunities for our school community and to inspire us to achieve more in the cyber world.

The NCSC have been fantastic in giving us guidance, a link to real industry experts and professional learning opportunities. The NDEC team, led by Holly Lidbury, have been particularly supportive and encouraging with our journey as a CyberFirst school.

It was great to have Steve Barclay here today to show off what we’ve managed to achieve so far, and we look forward to some of our students helping shape the UK’s cyber future.

The 7 Commissioners have been reappointed for five-year terms:

• Ian Comfort and Johanna Higgins from 7 May 2022
• David Brown from 16 May 2022
• Rachel Ellis, Jill Gramann and Rob Ward from 29 September 2022
• Linda Lee from 20 November 2022

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) was established by the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 (“the Act”) and commenced operation in 1997. The CCRC considers – on application – cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where a miscarriage of justice is alleged or suspected. The CCRC decides if there is any new evidence or new argument which raises a real possibility that an appeal court would quash a conviction or reduce a sentence.

The appointment of CCRC Commissioners are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments and recruitment processes comply with the Cabinet Office Governance Code on Public Appointments, as do the proposed reappointments.

Appointments to CCRC are made by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister who receives advice from the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State.

Biographies

David Brown is an Associate Inspector with HM Inspectorate of Fire and Rescue Services.  David spent 32 years in the London Fire Brigade and in 2016 he was awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal. David is a Lay Panel member on the investigating committee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and is supporting the Boundary Commission for England in reviewing Parliamentary constituencies. He currently serves as a magistrate in the adult criminal court.

Ian Comfort is a barrister of the Inner Temple and chartered legal executive. He is a legally qualified chair for the Medical Practitioners Tribunal and the Taxation Disciplinary Board and chairs panels for the Health and Care Professions Tribunal. He was appointed as a magistrate in 1984 and is a presiding justice in West London sitting in both adult and youth courts.

Rachel Ellis is an Ombudsman with the Financial Ombudsman Service. Alongside this, she chairs Fitness to Practise Committees for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, is an Independent Panel Member on police misconduct committees and is also a Panel Member for the Independent Betting Adjudication Service. Rachel previously practised as a criminal barrister acting for both the prosecution and defence.

Jill Gramann served on the Sentencing Council as the lay judicial member for three years, with specific responsibility for the development of sentencing guidelines for domestic abuse, and theft. Until 2017, Jill was also a Non-Executive Director of Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and has held board positions on both SCOPE and BILD.  Previously she founded and led an attitudinal research consultancy for 30 years. She was a magistrate from 1990 until 2017 and has held a number of posts within the magistracy including three years as a bench chairman and chair of the Judicial Issues Group for West Mercia.

Johanna Higgins is a barrister and Bencher of the Inner Temple, London, who has also been called to the Bar in Northern Ireland and the Bar in Dublin. Johanna gained criminal practice experience as a Senior Public Prosecutor in Northern Ireland. She now sits as a member of the Legal Aid Appeal Board NI and is a member of the Independent Expert Panel, appointed by the House of Commons.

Linda Lee is a solicitor specialising in regulatory and disciplinary law at national law firm Radcliffes Le Brasseur. She is a Past President of the Law Society of England and Wales and has held various key roles at the Law Society. She is currently Chair of the Law Society’s Professional Indemnity Insurance Committee and is a longstanding member of the Access to Justice Committee. A former President of the Medico-Legal Society, she remains an active member of its Council. She lectures and writes on legal and regulatory issues and is a director of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting. Linda holds a number of quasi-judicial roles, predominantly for regulators, and also sits as a Deputy District Judge (Civil).

Rob Ward QC (Hon) is a barrister who has had an extensive career as a Government lawyer specialising in national security law, including counter-terrorism. Rob led the legal branch at the Ministry of Defence during a period of substantial change and expansion. He is the co-author of leading textbooks on sexual offences law and national security law.

The visitor centre, which underwent a £100,000 refurbishment and was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in September 2018, closed for the winter in 2019 and hasn’t reopened since due to coronavirus restrictions.

The centre – which is free to visit – is now officially reopening for the summer on Friday 27 May, in time for the half-term school holiday.

The interactive experience allows visitors to get up close with salmon and critically endangered freshwater pearl mussels and help people understand the fascinating world that lies below the surface of the river. It includes:

• a natural North East river environment aquarium showcasing salmon and other local river species
• videos revealing the behind the scenes work at the centre to protect iconic species
• a prehistoric salmon fossil dig
• a quiz and brass rubbings to unveil interesting information about the salmon
• pearl mussel breeding beds

Rare job opportunity

To support the centre reopening, a rare Environment Agency job opportunity has been created to support Salmon Centre Manager Richard Bond and Pearl Mussel specialist Ben Strachan. The Facilities Management Assistant job includes working with the iconic salmon species and on endangered pearl mussel conservation, as well as the perks of working next to the idyllic Kielder reservoir.

Richard Bond, Salmon Centre Manager for more than 17 years, said:

We’re really looking forward to welcoming people back to the visitor centre. It gives a fascinating insight into our work to protect this incredible, iconic fish, and explain the innovative work to hand rear the endangered freshwater pearl mussel, which is vital to our river systems.

It’s rare that job opportunities at the Salmon Centre arise and we’re looking for a new member of our team to help us keep it a great and safe place to work. This role is a truly unique one, and we are looking for someone who is excellent at Facilities Management as well as relishing the opportunity to get stuck into lots of different activities.

The Facilities Management Assistant advert is live until 24 May

Kielder Salmon Centre reopens at 10am on Friday 27 May. It will be open daily between 10am-4pm until 30 September. It can be found at 3, Rivermead Workshops, Kielder, Hexham, NE48 1HX.

Visit Kielder has more information about the surrounding area.

On an average year, Kielder Salmon Centre rears and releases around 360,000 juvenile salmon into the River Tyne catchment.

It was built in 1978 to compensate for the building of Kielder Reservoir – the biggest man-made lake in Northern Europe – which cut off around 7% of the River Tyne catchment including some of the best spawning streams for salmon.

The world’s largest fleet of zero emission HGVs will take to UK roads through plans to achieve cleaner air and greener jobs, while helping to keep costs down on consumer goods.   Transport Minister Trudy Harrison revealed over £200 million of government funding will be injected into an extensive zero emission road freight demonstrator programme, at Logistics UK’s Future Logistics Conference this morning (12 May 2022).

The 3-year comparative programme will begin later this year to help decarbonise the UK’s freight industry with initial competitions for battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell technology launching shortly.

This could see hundreds more zero-emission HGVs rolled out across the nation and save the industry money, thanks to overall running costs of green vehicles being cheaper than petrol and diesel equivalents. More efficient deliveries will in turn enable haulage companies to keep the price of goods down and protect customers from rising costs.

The transition to zero-emission trucks will also help improve air quality, create greener jobs and deliver on COP26 pledges while reducing reliance on imports of foreign oil. Eliminating fossil fuels from road freight and improving the UK’s energy supply resilience will help to protect drivers and businesses from increasing global energy prices.

The demonstrations will help gather evidence on the future refuelling and recharging infrastructure needed to drive the smooth transition to a zero-emission freight sector by 2050.

Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said:

Our road freight industry is one of the most efficient in the world and contributes over £13 billion to the UK economy each year.

But we must accelerate our journey towards our net zero goals, and we’re committed to leading the way globally on non-zero emission road vehicles.

Our ambitious plans will continue to ensure food is stocked on the shelves and goods are supplied while eliminating fossil fuels from HGVs and making our freight sector green for good.

The demonstrations will help the UK’s freight sector reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by finding which zero emission technologies are best suited to the heaviest road vehicles in the UK.

An open-call competition will be launched for manufacturers, energy providers and fleet and infrastructure operators to showcase their green technology on UK roads. This will begin with demonstrations of battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell HGVs.

The announcement expands the Department for Transport’s (DfT) successful £20 million zero emission road freight trials which ran last year, delivered by Innovate UK.

As part of these trials, commercial vehicle manufacturer Leyland Trucks rolled out 20 DAF battery electric HGVs for use by public sector organisations, including the NHS and local authorities, to support the uptake of battery electric trucks, enabling learning to be gathered from field testing vehicles in a real-world, real-time logistics environment.

This project, along with 6 successful feasibility studies, helped prepare for the demonstrations, which will take place at scale over the coming years.

Michelle Gardner, Acting Deputy Director – Public Policy, Logistics UK, said:

Logistics businesses are committed to decarbonising their operations, but to ensure a smooth transition they need clarity on the path to zero tailpipe emission HGVs. The trials announced today will play a crucial role in identifying the right technological solutions to help enable this.

Given the breadth of the vehicles used across the logistics sector and scale of innovation required to reach net zero Logistics UK is also pleased that government has launched a consultation to identify potential exemptions to the 2035 phase out date.

During the speech in Farnborough, among industry leaders, Minister Harrison articulated plans to deliver on ambitious pledges made at COP26 last year that all new HGVs sold in the UK will be zero emission from 2040. This puts the UK on course to be the fastest G7 country to decarbonise its fleet of road vehicles.

Today, DfT published the full response to a public consultation on phase out dates for the sale of new, non-zero emission HGVs, confirming the scale of our ambition to eliminate carbon emissions from road freight.

Further to this, DfT is fulfilling its commitment to consult with industry to identify potential exemptions to the 2035 phase out date for HGVs, weighing 26 tonnes and under, which may need longer to transition to zero emission technologies. The call for evidence opened today and will last until 22 July 2022.

These announcements and investment reaffirm the government’s commitment to eliminating carbon emissions from road freight while supporting economic growth, improving air quality, and making UK towns and cities healthier places to live.

Thank you, Mr Chair.

Earlier this week, as countries across Europe marked the 77th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, remembering the courageous efforts of those who fought in World War II, Russian hypersonic missiles were being fired at civilian locations in Odesa and the bodies of civilians seeking shelter were being pulled from the rubble of a school in Bilohorivka. I wish to pay respects to all the Ukrainian civilians who have died, and those who continue to suffer because of the Russian government’s unprovoked, unjustified and premeditated war. I want to focus today on two key elements – civilian infrastructure and cultural property.

A little over a year ago, Russia joined with others at the UN Security Council to unanimously adopt Resolution 2573, condemning deliberate attacks against civilians and civilian objects in situations of armed conflict and urging all parties to protect critical civilian infrastructure. This built on prior Resolutions 2286 and 2417. Yet, Russia has repeatedly and remorselessly used targeted and dumb munitions on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including nuclear facilities, government buildings, schools, and transportation, not to mention medical facilities and hospitals, which have unique protections under International Humanitarian Law. 

Working alongside Ukraine, the international community will continue to expose the facts on the ground. The Moscow Mechanism report highlighted clear violations of International Humanitarian Law by Russian forces, including deliberate attacks on the Mariupol Maternity House and Children’s Hospital and the Mariupol Theatre, which was clearly marked as housing children.  As of today, there have been over 200 verified attacks on Ukraine’s health facilities, according to the WHO.  The Ukraine Ministry of Health reports that 21 hospitals have been destroyed. Stretched healthcare facilities in the East are having to respond to gender-based violence, including Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and urgent sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls.  Russia’s actions have triggered a health crisis in Ukraine, and in the surrounding region, which has profound implications for global health.

Alongside schools and hospitals, contrary to its obligations under the 1954 Hague Convention, Russia is targeting cultural property. As verified by UNESCO, 127 cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed since the start of the war.  This includes the Hryhorii Skovoroda National Literacy Memorial Museum in Kharkiv region, as mentioned by my Ukrainian colleague earlier. This is not collateral damage, as some in Russia would have us believe. Russia is deliberately waging a war with no distinction between military and civilian targets, with no regard for the Ukrainian people, their history or their culture, and using an information operation to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty, create false pretexts, and obscure the truth.

Mr Chair – we will not let war crimes go unaccounted for. Obligations under International Humanitarian Law are non-negotiable and perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine will face justice.  The International Criminal Court investigation is underway and the UK Government is working closely to identify and collate evidence of atrocities and crimes so that we, alongside international partners, can assist the investigation.  The UK has also deployed a team of specialist war crimes experts to Poland to support the Ukrainian government in its investigations, and Attorney General Braverman has met with Prosecutor General Venediktova to discuss how British expertise can contribute to bringing war criminals to justice.

We will continue to do everything we can to ensure Ukraine succeeds. G7 partners are tightening the pressure on the Putin regime through severe sanctions.  The UK is providing an overall package of humanitarian, economic and military support worth $2 billion, including a $272 million package for aid agencies on the ground providing vital medical and food supplies. We will continue to work with our Allies to ensure President Putin’s aggression beyond Ukraine is contained.

Mr Chair – since the end of the Second World War, the world has dedicated efforts to peace and stability and the principle that never again should people have to suffer such horrors. The OSCE stands for the principles of the Helsinki Final Act: respect for each other’s sovereignty, individuality, and territorial integrity; non use of force and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. These principles have been breached in the most profound way by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. But these principles remain essential for European security.  We will continue to stand up for those courageous civilians in Kramatorsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Donetsk, Mariupol and other cities who are fleeing intense fighting, struggling without food and water, and tragically losing their lives whilst taking shelter in schools and other buildings.

Ukrainians have shown the world over the course of the last two and a half months that no amount of force can overcome the dauntless strength and courage of a people determined to be free. However long it takes, we are determined to see Ukraine prevail with its sovereignty restored.

Thank you, Mr Chair.