Innovative businesses across the UK have received a £15 million boost through our emerging and enabling technologies competition. This is to identify and invest in new technologies with the potential to unlock billions of pounds of value to UK industry and disrupt existing markets.

Eighty high-growth potential projects have been successful in being awarded funding, some of which include:

• Holosphere Ltd will work with Jaguar Land Rover to create an augmented reality car configurator for use in its network of showrooms
• Archangel Aerospace will develop an ultra lightweight laser receiver terminal to bring vast amounts of data from satellites in a low orbit down to earth quickly and reliably. This will vastly improve the scope and quality of services provided by earth observation and scientific satellites
• ‘PlasticARMPit’ a joint project involving ARM, PragmatIC Printing, Unilever and the University of Manchester. This will develop a high-performance energy-efficient processing engine to deliver future flexible electronic devices
• Croda project, which aims to develop advanced antimicrobial coatings to control and prevent biofilm formation that costs the UK economy tens of billions per annum in damage. The project is led by the global market leader in speciality chemicals, Croda, in collaboration with Scanwel and the University of Liverpool, who provide advanced characterisation tools to help optimise the technology and enable its translation to a number of market sectors

Paul Mason, Emerging and Enabling Technologies Director at Innovate UK, said:

The quality and breadth of applications for this competition was excellent. It highlights the appetite and capacity of UK businesses to innovate, and to find new sources of revenue from new products, processes or services.

For a list of winning projects please see the funding competition winners 2017.

A summary (PDF, 98.3KB, 7 pages) of the key results from the Veterinary Medicines Pharmacovigilance Annual Review 2015.

The annual review summarises the 5674 UK adverse events in animals, humans and the environment after use of veterinary medicines and other products reported to VMD in 2015.

Full review

CCS today publishes a statement outlining how it will do more to help public sector bodies to deliver additional social benefits in line with legislation including the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

The legislation requires buyers to consider what additional social, environmental and economic benefits can be delivered through the contract.

Sam Rowbury, Director of Policy at CCS said:

“We recognise that for many of our customers across the public sector, maximising value means both saving money and securing social value for citizens.

“We’re making sure that our customers can use our deals to deliver the specific social value benefits they are looking for.

“Social value benefits could be anything from creating more apprenticeships for young people, to reducing carbon emissions or promoting equality and diversity.”

What we’re doing

CCS will work to increase social value by:

• making sure all relevant new deals offer social value opportunities and give customers the flexibility to specify and evaluate social value at call-off
• reviewing current deals to identify social value opportunities
• providing tools and guidance to help build social value into procurements and measure the social value element of bids received
• listening to customers, understanding their needs and learning from other organisations
• working with suppliers so they are ready to respond to the requirements of public bodies

The most popular 20 frameworks that CCS offers to its customers have already been assessed and are ready to help customers secure social benefits now. This includes the Energy Performance Contracting and Technology Products 2 frameworks.

In future, frameworks will be designed to give customers the flexibility they need to decide their own, specific social value benefits, in keeping with their own social value objectives.

Social value in the communications arena

Social & Local, a micro-enterprise agency with a unique social value model, has been awarded a place on the Communication Services framework (RM3796).

Providing specialist services in areas such as hard to reach audiences, challenging social issues and rapidly changing landscapes, Social & Local is on Lot 1 of the framework for Speciality Consultancy Services.

Stephanie Drakes, CEO, said:

“We were founded as a Community Interest Company (CiC), and re-invest half our profit after tax to enable others to make real socially valuable campaigns, creative businesses and communications projects that promote sustainability, freedom, employment, health and well-being. Many of these projects would otherwise not see the light of day without our funding.”

The government has recruited Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore to co-chair a new Sports Business Council that will bring the government and leading sports figures from the public and private sector together to ensure the sport economy continues to grow and prosper.

The sports economy is already worth billions to the UK’s economy, with around a million people employed in the sport and physical activity sectors, but has traditionally not been supported in the same way as other parts of the economy.

The Sports Business Council will focus on supporting growth for the sports sector, improving access to finance and developing skills. It will look to exploit the UK’s reputation as a global sporting power with expertise in hosting major events and developing international brands like the Premier League, driving exports abroad and seeking opportunities at home.

It will also provide an important channel for representatives from the sports business world to work with government and help to make decisions quickly that have public sector and private sector buy-in.

Membership of the Sports Business Council is being finalised with the first meeting due to take place in the coming weeks, and the Council set to meet every quarter. Industry representatives will lead on specific pieces of work as required between meetings.

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said:

Sport makes a major contribution to the economy with major events, sports equipment and media rights generating billions in spend and the sector employing around a million people in the UK. But there is more that we can do to support the sector and spread jobs, prosperity and opportunity around the whole country. The Sports Business Council will bring together key players in the industry to help us do just that. I am pleased that Richard Scudamore, with his long-standing experience at the very top of sport administration, has agreed to co-chair the Council and help this important piece of work.

Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore said:

Sport has long been recognised for the cultural and social benefits it brings to the country. Increasingly, it is apparent that a strong and vibrant sports economy is making a significant contribution to the overall economy, in terms of development, employment and tax, at both a national and local level.

I am extremely pleased that Government has recognised this and am looking forward to helping shape policies that will cement and further enhance the UK’s reputation for sporting excellence whether hosting events, delivering community facilities and programmes, setting standards in governance as well as attracting the investment that makes this all possible.

The Sports Business Council was a recommendation in the government’s strategy Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation.

Economic development is one of the five outcomes in the government’s sport strategy alongside physical health, mental health, individual development, social and economic development.

For further information contact the Department for Culture, Media and Sport press office on 020 7211 6971

Health is one of the most precious things to us and our families. It is also something we can sometimes take for granted, until we no longer have it. That is why it is important to reflect on the achievements we’ve made as a global community to tackle big health threats and protect ourselves from killer diseases.

The work of World Health Organisation (WHO) impacts on the health and wellbeing of billions of people. When governments want to share their experience of responding to health challenges, they engage with WHO. WHO’s Director–General is responsible for running the organization. It is a complex task. The WHO helps countries work out how best to organize health services for their people and helps countries respond to infectious disease outbreaks. It adapts its responses to the circumstances of each country: this is not an easy task, given that each country has very different needs. It also helps people in conflict and crises providing expertise and information to treat those in need.

The WHO’s Governing Assembly is set to elect a new Director-General at the end of May this year. My name is Dr David Nabarro and I am one of three candidates in the running for this role. It feels to me as though I have been in training to become Director-General of WHO for my entire life. I have a burning ambition to help people in difficulty and to ensure they achieve their full potential. My motivation comes from every patient I’ve ever treated, and from every community that I have served. I want to be sure that whatever I do in life brings benefit to people most in need: this ambition to serve has stayed with me throughout my professional life.

I am a medical doctor with over 40 years experience – I know what it’s like on the front line and at the top table of international health improvement. I have worked in more than 50 countries across the world – in places such as India, Nepal, Indonesia and Bangladesh. I understand the complexity of the UN and multilateral systems and I know how to make them work well. I’ve worked on the sustainable development goals, climate change and food security. I am the only Director-General candidate who has successfully managed complex global challenges and led the world in responding to crises including malaria, avian influenza and Ebola. If another disease outbreak hits I know I have the experience to lead WHO to respond.

I first came to Kazakhstan in 1991 and was involved in work between the UK and Kazakhstan on health improvements. It is a country I have stayed closely associated with over the last few decades, seeing how health services have developed and how public health in particular has advanced. Good progress has been made and the government should be commended. However, challenges remain. Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common causes of death, along with other non-communicable or “lifestyle” diseases. There is also still work to be done to rid the country of tuberculosis.

As Director-General of WHO I will lead an organization that catalyses reductions in widespread suffering caused by diseases such as cancer, obesity and diabetes. I will help member states dealing with these lifestyle illnesses through early intervention and prevention, something that can be achieved at low cost. I will also strive to ensure that the most vulnerable are not forgotten and that women and children get access to the health services they need.

Equally, it is vital that work continues to deal with the impending crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which has seen the emergence of so called “superbugs” that don’t respond to medicines in the way they used to. Tuberculosis in particular is a real source of concern in this regard.

As WHO Director-General I will want to work with Kazakhstan’s leaders, including Health Minister Elzhan Birtanov who I was pleased to meet with on my visit last week, to build on recent success. Whether it is focused on improving people’s health security in the face of infectious disease threats, managing the impacts of air pollution on people’s health, tackling cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes or driving forward work on AMR, WHO has much to offer. The WHO is a vital organization for a healthy world and I am passionate about ensuring it can deliver results for all.

Note for editors:

Dr David Nabarro is one of the three nominees for the post of Director–General of the World Health Organization (WHO). He has worked as a doctor, educator and international public servant, focusing on global health, for over 40 years. He has worked across more than 50 countries. Find out more at www.davidnabarro.info