Mr Chair,

Thank you to the Secretary-General for joining us today to introduce his proposed programme budget for 2022. I would also like to thank the ACABQ and the CPC for their work reviewing it and for providing recommendations to the Fifth Committee ahead of its own consideration of the proposed budget.

Member States have a duty to the United Nations and the people it serves to ensure that the Organisation has the right level of resource needed to carry out the mandates given to it by us, in particular in support of the 2030 Agenda.

We will evaluate the budget proposals carefully to ensure that programmes will use resources efficiently and effectively, using innovation, data and continuous improvement to enhance performance and mandate delivery. We will hold the Organisation to account for how it has, and will use resources to deliver actual results. It is crucial that the United Nations can demonstrate how it is using taxpayers’ money to make a difference.

The United Kingdom commends the Organisation on its response to the COVID pandemic, and welcomes how the reforms you implemented helped it do so. Last year, the General Assembly asked the Secretariat to factor the lessons learned from new ways of working into this year’s budget. We look forward to seeing how it has done so for next year, as well as the future – it is important that the United Nations continues to modernise. We welcome that the UN is working actively to build back better, including by identifying more cost-effective ways of implementing mandates. At such a critical time, we encourage it to go further so that every dollar – or pound – the United Nations spends has the greatest impact on the ground.

In his Common Agenda report, the Secretary General argues for the United Nations to have more predictable and sustainable funding for its work. While we support this goal, simply shifting more activity onto the regular budget is not the solution, especially at a time when nearly all member states’ national budgets are under pressure due to COVID and in light of the systemic budgetary shortfalls the Organisation has faced for decades. We reiterate our call on all member states to pay their assessed contributions on time and in full. We would also remind member states of the need to ensure that we focus the work of this Organisation on the areas that need it most – something we have all committed to as part of General Assembly revitalisation. It also requires the Organisation to be allowed to use its resources more flexibly and prioritise more effectively how it deploy its resources to areas where it has greatest impact.

Mr Chair,

This is the third year that we will consider an annual programme budget since adoption of General Assembly resolution 72/266. The United Kingdom remains a firm supporter of the Secretary-General’s reforms, including the move to an annual budget. Next year we will review its implementation. We encourage the Secretary-General to present a robust, evidence-based case for making it permanent: including, where necessary, making proposals that could further improve the process.

Finally Mr Chair, I would like to assure you and the Secretary General of my delegation’s commitment to work constructively with all delegations to reach a good and timely outcome on the 2022 budget.

Thank you.

The Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP, today met Warwick University’s Law, Politics and Philosophy (PPL) Society to discuss his role as one of the UK’s Law Officers and what the Government is doing to tackle hate crime.

Hate crime is when someone is targeted because of their actual or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, or disability, it is a criminal offence and the law provides additional penalties for such crimes.

While there, the Solicitor General heard about the work of the Society, which encourages interdisciplinary debate surrounding issues within the related fields of Law, Politics and Philosophy.

This week is Hate Crime Awareness Week and the Solicitor General spoke about the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) success in tackling hate crime over the last 12 months.

Last year (2020/21) CPS West Midlands prosecuted more than 1400 cases of hate crime. In 87% of cases the defendants pled guilty or were found guilty of one or more crimes. In 85% of those cases the judge increased the offender’s sentence because they agreed that the crime was a hate crime.

When a defendant is convicted of a hate crime the CPS can apply for a sentencing ‘uplift’ which has the effect of increasing the sentence.

The Solicitor General, Alex Chalk QC MP, commented on his visit:

I was pleased to be invited to speak to such an engaged group of students today. I was very grateful for the opportunity to speak on, and answer questions about, the role of the justice system in tackling hate related extremism.

One incident of hate crime is one too many and those responsible must be brought to justice. The UK has a robust legal framework to tackle these crimes, but we need people to come forward and report instances of hate crime in the knowledge that they will be taken seriously.

The President of the University’s Law, Politics and Philosophy Society, Ella McQueen, said:

Warwick’s Politics, Philosophy and Law Society were honoured to host Alex Chalk today in the midst of National Hate Crime Awareness week. To have to opportunity to be further enlightened on the role of the Attorney General in tackling one of the most pressing issues facing the UK today is particularly striking for us and our members, many of whom are aspiring political and legal minds in the making.

Warwick PPL Society was founded in 2018 with the ambition of encouraging interdisciplinary debate surrounding the issues within these related fields. Following our motto ‘Question Everything’, PPL Society extend a warm thank you to Alex Chalk for taking the time to speak with us and engage in a Q&A with our members today on such a critical issue.

Notes to the Editor

• The Attorney General has recently referred the case of Ben John to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme, as she believed it to be unduly lenient.

• Far-right extremist Ben John was convicted of possessing the ‘Anarchist’s Cookbook’ which gives detailed instruction on how to plan and execute terror attacks using explosives and by other means of violence. He was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment’, suspended for 2 years, but the Court of Appeal will now review the sentence.

I’m so glad I get to speak to you all so early in my new role – particularly as I know it’s been an incredibly challenging 18 months for the sector.

If COVID taught us anything, it’s the fundamental role that sport and exercise play in our lives.

It’s crucial for our general wellbeing – and it was a real wrench when parts of it were taken away from us for months at a time last year.

And it was such a relief when gyms reopened; when people were reunited with their five-a-side football teams or their basketball or netball teams; and finally when our stadiums began to fill up with fans again.

That’s why we prioritised sport and physical activity throughout the pandemic. More than £1 billion has gone into supporting the sector through COVID: from the grassroots all the way to the elite level; from South Shields to Penzance.

That was during the height of the pandemic.

Now comes the recovery – and we’ll be putting sport and physical activity at the heart of that, too.

I want to use our experiences over the last eighteen months as the trigger for a new generation of physical activity and exercise. Improving the nation’s health and wellbeing is vital to reducing the pressure on the NHS, and being physically active is central to that.

And I know that this ties in with UKActive’s own mission for growth. We all have a shared goal, which is to get as many people as active as possible.

We launched our strategy to achieve this, Sporting Future, in 2015. And we’ve achieved a huge amount together since then.

Since the launch of the strategy, Sport England has allocated over £1.5 billion to nearly 5,000 organisations within the UK.

Wherever we can, we’ve looked to broaden participation, to get people active and moving, to open up physical activity to underrepresented groups.

But as we come out of this pandemic, now is a prime opportunity to refresh this strategy. So right now, officials in my department are looking at ways we can make sure it continues to be relevant in the coming years.

We’re in the very early stages of this process, and of course our primary focus remains helping the sector recover from the pandemic. We understand the importance of this.

That recovery can mean many things:

It might be tackling barriers that make it harder for people to stay active.

Or making sure sports remain financially sustainable.

Or promoting the uptake of facilities in schools and beyond.

But throughout the whole process, we will constantly be looking for opportunities to work with the sector to level up facilities, infrastructure and the support we provide.

That’s one bit of work going on at DCMS right now.

But there’s something in particular I want to focus on while I’m Secretary of State.

It’s going to be the thread running through everything I do.

And that’s improving access.

I want every person, no matter where they’re from or what stage of life they’re at, to have the chance to participate and to rise to the top of all of the industries DCMS covers – to the top of the arts, of tech, and, of course, sport.

Who among us wasn’t inspired by the success of our athletes at the Olympics and Paralympics this summer in Tokyo? Who among us is not already looking ahead to building on the fantastic opportunities which will be provided by the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year?

Our role models come from all over the UK – they’re not confined to London, or to only wealthy areas. Just look at Tom Daley, Kadeena Cox or Sir Andy Murray.

But while talent is evenly spread, opportunity isn’t.

It can be so much harder for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to make the most of their potential – whether that’s because they can’t afford the equipment, can’t get on the court or pitch they need, or the lessons that other children have.

Children should be competing on a level playing field from day one.

And so we must work together to open up access on every rung of the ladder. And we’re already making interventions in this area.

Earlier this month the government announced an additional £30 million for PE teacher training and opening up school facilities to provide access to the wider community.

And alongside that funding, we announced a £30 million package with the Lawn Tennis Association to renovate 4,500 park tennis courts up and down the country.

You all know that some of the tennis courts which are available now for young people are unusable, but the point of this funding is to refurbish those courts so people do have access to them.

We were all so delighted to watch Emma Raducanu triumph at the US Open.

I don’t want to wait another four decades for us to find our next Emma Raducanu – and I don’t want a budding young sports star from a council estate in Leeds to be held back because they can’t afford a racket, let alone coaching, or because they’re forced to play on a shabby old tennis court.

I want our next tennis champion to be just as likely to come from Burnley as Bromley.

So we’re making sure our new tennis funding can be delivered in the most deprived areas with the most dilapidated courts.

The same was true when we announced a £50 million investment in grassroots pitches over the summer. That money was targeted at left-behind communities.

The same was true when Sport England launched “Studio You” – a new digital resource designed to help teachers engage less active teenage girls with their PE lessons. I was one of those girls.

And this is only the start.

Whatever I’m working on, whatever the department is investing in, I want it to go towards opening doors for people who have been shut out from success.

To me, that’s the true definition of leveling up. It may be about places, it may be about growth or it may be about economics. But most importantly, within my department, it is about people.

And I look forward to working with you all on that mission.

Sport England’s £20 million Tackling Inequalities Fund is a great example of how we can work together to improve access to those most impacted by the pandemic, including people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

So this is my challenge to you today: to use your businesses and your networks and your channels to do all you can to broaden the sector’s reach and lift up those in need.

That way, we can tackle health inequality at its roots, so that everyone has the same chance to live a happy and healthy life, no matter where they come from.

Thank you.