John began his new role on Monday 26 July, following ESFA’s former Chief Executive Eileen Milner departing to take up the role of Chief Executive at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

Commenting on John’s appointment, the Permanent Secretary, Susan Acland-Hood, said:

I am delighted that John, who is currently the ESFA’s Director of Funding, has been appointed as Interim Chief Executive.

John brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role from his time in the ESFA; as a Regional Schools Commissioner, and before that, in senior leadership positions across a number of educational settings.

John is a thoughtful and authentic leader and will be an outstanding interim CEO, and member of the DfE’s Leadership Team. I know he will do a remarkable job in leading the excellent staff of the ESFA, and in shaping the future of the Department as a whole.

John Edwards commented:

I am delighted and privileged to be appointed as Interim CEO of the ESFA, and am very much looking forward to leading the Agency through the coming months.

The active travel boom seen throughout the pandemic will continue to thrive thanks to a £338 million package to boost cycling and walking across the country, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced today (30 July 2021).

Infrastructure upgrades, changes to The Highway Code and new requirements to ensure that active travel schemes’ effects are properly assessed are among the raft of measures included in the Summer of Cycling and Walking document published today.

It comes after last year saw cycling rise more than in the previous 20 years put together, with the number of miles cycled on British roads rocketing by 45.7% to 5 billion.

Independent opinion polling and new research also published by the DfT shows that active travel schemes are supported, on average, by a ratio of two-to-one.

As the UK prepares to host COP26 later this year, these initiatives will play a key role in the government’s drive to build back greener from the pandemic and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

Millions of us have found over the past year how cycling and walking are great ways to stay fit, ease congestion on the roads and do your bit for the environment. As we build back greener from the pandemic, we’re determined to keep that trend going by making active travel easier and safer for everyone.

This £338 million package marks the start of what promises to be a great summer of cycling and walking, enabling more people to make those sustainable travel choices that make our air cleaner and cities greener.

This announcement builds on the Prime Minister’s £2 billion Gear Change cycling and walking programme which was announced exactly one year ago.

The £338 million is a 30% increase to the £257 million announced for active travel in last year’s spending review. This funding will help see the construction of hundreds of miles of new high-quality cycle lanes and aid the delivery of new schemes to encourage walking. This will include the delivery of improvements across the National Cycle Network.

And to enhance safety for cyclists and pedestrians, a new version of The Highway Code will be published in the autumn, with updates including:

• a hierarchy of road users that ensures road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they may pose to others
• strengthened pedestrian priority on pavements and when crossing or waiting to cross the road
• guidance on safe passing distances and speeds and ensuring that cyclists have priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead

Sir Dave Brailsford, INEOS Grenadiers Team Principal said:

Cycling has had a real boost during the pandemic as people of all ages have recognised its many benefits and it is a real positive that the government are making cycling such a transport priority for the future. Getting on your bike is great for your health and it’s also great for the environment so there has never been a better time to get pedalling.

As well as improving safety for cyclists, the government is also aiming to make cycling easier and more accessible through a new scheme aiming to increase awareness of e-cycles and tackle barriers to their use. An e-cycle support programme will be launched later this year and comes after the government has already provided funding to help 9 local authorities deliver e-cycle initiatives.

Other key measures included in the Summer of Cycling and Walking include plans to publish a new road safety strategic framework and commitments to help train hundreds of new Bikeability instructors and explore how historic railway structures can be converted into cycle routes.

The government has also announced today that the new Active Travel England (ATE) commissioning body, which will hold the national cycling and walking budget, will begin work later this year.

Xavier Brice, Sustrans Chief Executive, said:

This funding will bring major improvements to the National Cycle Network in England by linking communities together and enhancing valued and well-used cycling and walking routes. Most importantly of all, this vital boost will further enable those who want to cycle or walk to do so.

The pandemic has highlighted the huge benefits of active forms of travel to people’s personal health and wellbeing, to local communities and to the environment. We’ve seen a marked increase in numbers using the cycle network and this commitment to funding underlines its importance.

We welcome the government’s continued focus on cycling and walking. The time is right to ensure we’re able to carry on working with our volunteers and other organisations in our role as a proud custodian of the network, to create and offer a safe, accessible and traffic-free travel environment for everyone’s benefit.

Thank you, Mr President. I would like to start by thanking France, as penholder, for their sterling efforts to achieve this outcome.

The United Kingdom supports this resolution, which renews the targeted sanctions and the arms embargo for a further 12 months. We would once again like to underline that the objective of the arms embargo is to prevent armed groups, who continue to perpetrate violence in the Central African Republic, from accessing weaponry. However, our support to this resolution does not detract from our continued belief that a technical renewal would have been the appropriate course of action at this time. It is disappointing that one or two Council members insisted on the inclusion of exemptions on mortars.

The accurate use of mortars requires significant levels of training and equipment. We urge the government of the Central African Republic and its partners to ensure this training is in place in order to avoid increased risks to civilians and ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.

These risks are not hypothetical. Reports continue of atrocities against civilians in the Central African Republic, including reports which reached us even as negotiations were ongoing on this resolution. We remain deeply troubled by allegations that such atrocities are being committed not only by armed groups but by members of the national armed forces and indeed by private military contractors.

Mr President, the United Kingdom supports the government of the Central African Republic as it pursues security sector reform and the disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and repatriation process. We welcome the progress it has made so far towards delivering on the benchmarks this Council set in April 2019.

However, those benchmarks for the lifting of the arms embargo have not yet been met. Until they are met, further proliferation of arms both within the Central African Republic and the wider region risks potentially disastrous consequences for civilians.

We therefore urge the government of the Central African Republic to accelerate its efforts to meet the benchmarks, and to take full responsibility for ensuring effective storage and management of weapons and ammunition. Such progress is vital to improving security for the people of the Central African Republic, combating the risk of arms proliferation, and helping to ensure a pathway to peace and reconciliation.

Thank you, Mr President.