Funding has been awarded for over 160 projects across England, which will aim to deliver over 17,000 new homes, 19,000 new jobs and save taxpayers £34 million as the UK government continues on its mission to build back better and level up across the country.

• £30 million of investment will see 160 projects supported across England.

• Plans for better use of public sector land will aim to unlock 17,000 new homes, 19,000 new jobs and save taxpayers £34 million in running costs.

• Funding has been awarded through the Land Release Fund (LRF) and the One Public Estate (OPE) programme, which works with 97% of councils in England.

One Public Estate – a national programme run by the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Local Government Association – has awarded £30m to successful cross-public sector projects as part of its levelling up agenda.

Funding and support from the OPE programme will help with the creation of feasibility studies and design work for potential development sites.

Meanwhile the LRF funding will support councils to regenerate mainly brownfield sites by providing capital funding for the provision of infrastructure work which will enable them to bring these sites forward for much-needed housing.

The Minister for State for Efficiency and Transformation, Lord Agnew, said:

This government is committed to levelling up across the country as we build back better from the pandemic, creating new jobs and homes in our towns and cities.

The latest projects to benefit from £30 million of One Public Estate funding will not only help unlock under-used public sector sites for homes but also help deliver jobs, better public services and save taxpayers’ money.

£20m has been awarded as part of the Land Release Fund, which aims to enable the redevelopment of a large number of local authority brownfield sites for housing. The sites are spread across England and demonstrates how seriously the UK government is taking their commitment to level up across the country. Projects include:

• £1.04m for projects in North Yorkshire for land remediation and infrastructure works to bring forward land for around 140 homes in Harrogate, Skipton and Knaresborough.

• £776,000 for a project in Gloucestershire to redevelop the derelict Brimscombe Port site in Stroud which will deliver around 150 homes as part of wider canal regeneration creating jobs, new enterprise opportunities and a nationally-important destination for canal tourism.

£10m has gone towards projects that support collaboration between local and central government and the wider public sector, aiming to achieve greater levels of efficiency and improve service delivery. Awards include:

• £360,000 for projects in Cumbria, including bringing local authorities, the NHS and other key partners from the leisure sector together to deliver shared leisure and health services that will free up much-needed space in hospitals, reducing running costs by an estimated £390,000 per year.

• £95,000 for a project in Norfolk to redevelop a town centre site in Great Yarmouth. It will deliver a library and lifelong learning hub, while also bringing together library, children’s and advice services, adult and community learning. It will include higher education provision and also release land for up to 89 new homes.

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:

One Public Estate will play a crucial role in supporting the local and national economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. This funding will support local authorities to make better use of their assets, release surplus land for new homes and help join up local services.

It is a unique programme, which for almost a decade has been helping local authorities and public sector bodies to transform and reconfigure their services. This latest news is more proof that One Public Estate is working, it is helping local government to build on innovative work, and it is having a demonstrable impact on our local communities.

Housing Minister, Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP, said:

It is a priority of this government to deliver more new homes and create vibrant communities for people to live and work. Last year alone we delivered more than 240,000 new homes across England, which is more than any point in the last 30 years.

We want to build on this. That’s why I am delighted part of this funding will be used to unlock often unused and derelict land, transforming them into the new homes our country needs.

• Bar is to allow time for a UK gallery or institution to acquire the work
• Statuette is a companion piece to another reliquary, of Saint Sebastian, in the V&A Museum

A German late Gothic statuette of Saint Christopher that dates back to the 15th century is at risk of leaving the country unless a UK buyer can be found to save the work for the nation.

Valued at £10 million, the statuette is a remarkable object from the great age of European masters such as Hans Holbein and Albrecht Durer.

A gift to the Monastery of Kaiserheim in South Germany in 1493, the statuette was paid for in part by Duke Frederick of Saxony and depicts the figure of Saint Christopher in parcel-gilt silver on a hexagonal reliquary base. It shows the Saint wading through a river, holding a staff in his left hand, with the figure of the Christ Child sitting on his right shoulder.

Compared with other pieces from the same period, experts considered the work to be almost unrivalled in its sculptural beauty and delicate detailing.

A companion piece to another reliquary now in the V&A museum, a figure of Saint Sebastian, this magnificent and rare object has very few comparisons in the UK or abroad.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage said:

This breathtaking piece is testament to the outstanding skill of goldsmiths in the 15th century. I hope that a UK buyer can be found so the statuette can stay in the country along with its companion reliquary, the figure of Saint Sebastian.

The Minister’s decision follows the advice of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA). The committee were deeply moved by the piece which they considered to be a wonderfully modelled sculpture.

Committee Member Pippa Shirley said:

This wonderful object, the product of enlightened patronage in one of the preeminent artistic centres north of the Alps combines sculptural brilliance and technical skill with the most touching humanity, tenderness, power and realism. You can feel the water tugging at the Saint’s legs as he strides across the river with his precious burden, his cloak billowing around him in the wind. Silver sculpture of this date is rare, and objects of this quality rarer still, so even though it is well documented, there is much to learn, about how and by whom it was made, the relics it contains and its relationship to its companion, St Sebastian, as well as its later history. All of this means that its departure would be a great loss to the nation.

The RCEWA made its recommendation on the grounds that its departure from the UK would be a misfortune because it was of outstanding artistic quality and was of major importance for the study of 15th century European goldsmiths’ work with associations to several important historical collections, which added to its significance.

The decision on the export licence application for the reliquary will be deferred until 3rd October 2021. This may be extended until 3rd April 2022 if a serious intention to raise funds to purchase it is made at the recommended price of £10,000,000.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Organisations or individuals interested in purchasing the statuette should contact the RCEWA on 0845 300 6200.

2. Details of the statuette are as follows: The object is a German late Gothic parcel-gilt silver statuette of Saint Christopher on a reliquary base, probably made in Augsburg, dated 1493. The figure of St Christopher wore a gilt tunic and a billowing cloak with a gilt lining. He is shown wading through a river, holding a staff in his left hand and with his right hand on his hip. The figure of the Christ Child sat on his right shoulder holding onto the Saint’s hair with his left hand, with his right hand raised in blessing. The figures are standing on a hexagonal reliquary base engraved around the shoulder with a Latin inscription. The base stands on six plinth feet each with an architectural column above with pendant foliage between and scroll bases. The plain band above each is engraved with a name and initial. The relic is contained within three curved glazed panels that were surrounded by applied foliage wreaths and figures of the seated Christ Child. Between the panels are figures of an Abbot, above a coat of arms, and St George in armour, beneath canopies (now missing a third figure and two coats of arms).

3. Provenance: A gift to the Monastery of Kaiserheim in 1493, ordered by the Custodian of the Abbey Treasury, Brother Adam Medelin on behalf of Abbot George Kastner and paid for in part by Duke Frederick of Saxony. Presumably sold following the secularisation of the Monastery of Kaiserheim in 1802. Prince Petr Soltykoff: his sale [Catalogue des Objects d’art et de haute curiosité composant la célèbre collection du Prince Soltykoff], Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 8 April-1 May 1861, lot 173, as: Autre Reliquaire de grand travail et de même forme, par le même artiste, également en argent partie doré. Il représante saint Christoph portant le Christ enfant et s’appuyant sur un arbe ébranché. Inscription et date de 1593 [sic]; purchased by Baron Seillière; Sir Julius Wernher, 1st Bt. (1850-1912), by 1901, Bath House, London, by whom bequeathed, with a life interest to his widow, Alice, Lady Wernher, subsequently Lady Ludlow (1862-1945), to their son Sir Harold Wernher, 3rd Bt., G.C.V.O. (1893-1973), Bath House, London, and from 1948, Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, and by descent; sold Christie’s, Wernher Collection, 5 July 2000, lot 53, hammer price £1,763,750.

4. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest is an independent body, serviced by The Arts Council, which advises the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on whether a cultural object, intended for export, is of national importance under specified criteria.

5. The Arts Council champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections.

Australia, India, the Republic of Korea and South Africa, which share the G7’s open and democratic values, were invited by the Prime Minister to attend the G7 Summit as guests. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock welcomed their involvement and support as he chaired a dedicated meeting on global health security, including helping low and middle-income countries in these areas. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that now, more than ever, it is essential we work together to improve health security for everyone.

This meeting comes as the G7 signs the Health Ministers’ declaration which includes commitments on global health security, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), clinical trials and digital health.

The declaration sets out an ambitious vision for how we can work together to better prepare for and respond to future health threats, including AMR. It also sets out shared principles for delivering clinical trials in the future and collaboration between countries to implement international health data standards and bolster information-sharing. This will also help countries to access innovations in health technology, including artificial intelligence, regardless of where these innovations were developed.

The UK Presidency has welcomed input and support from like-minded partners. Today, the G7 and invited guests enjoyed a positive discussion on the importance of improving horizon scanning and surveillance, including embedding a new international approach to understand how human, animal, plant and environmental health all affect our daily lives, helping to eliminate potential dangers posed by animals and the environment to prevent future pandemics. The meeting highlighted that the world is more connected than ever before and so preparedness and investing ahead of time are crucial to ensure we are able to identify and cope with future health threats early.

UK Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock said:

The UK’s Presidency of the G7 is an opportunity to bring together like-minded, democratic countries to improve global health security right across the world.

The extra support from our partners, including Australia, India, Korea and South Africa, will make sure we strengthen our defences against future pandemics to protect communities and save lives.

Attendees also heard from Dr Keith Sumption, Director of Joint Zoonosis and AMR Centre and CVO of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, who set out the critical importance of considering animal health and the environment alongside human health surveillance and Dr John Nkengasong who provided insights from his experience in strengthening public health systems in his role as Director for the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The next key milestone will be the G7 Leaders’ Summit next week in Cornwall on 11 to 13 June 2021, where many of these important health issues will be discussed further.

• G7 Health Ministers’ declaration published after 2 days of intensive discussions at UK-hosted talks in Oxford
• Commitments lay strong foundation for leaders’ summit in Cornwall next week

Health ministers from some of the world’s largest democracies have committed to a new international agreement making it easier and quicker to share results from vaccine and therapeutic trials to tackle COVID-19 and prevent future health threats.

Following the conclusion of the UK-hosted, in-person G7 Health Ministers’ meeting in Oxford, a Therapeutics and Vaccines Clinical Trials Charter will be rapidly implemented. This will help deliver high-quality, reliable and comparable evidence from international clinical trials to speed up access to approved treatments and vaccines, benefiting people in the UK and globally.

This will include stronger collaboration in large-scale international trials to enable greater diversity of participants, including pregnant people and children. The charter will also help to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts, more quickly eliminate medicines that do not work, and produce robust clinical evidence that can be extrapolated to a larger number of populations and places to save more lives.

The agreement follows news that industry leaders are joining forces to step up collective efforts to save lives from diseases and tackle global pandemics, with a new commitment to protect against future pandemic threats and slash time to develop and deploy new diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to just 100 days.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

It has been a huge pleasure to host the G7 Health Ministers meeting this week and I want to thank everyone who has taken part.

The landmark agreements we’ve reached in Oxford – which has been at the heart of the global response – show our commitment, not just to getting through the COVID-19 crisis, but also to make we’re better prepared for future threats.

It contains a series of measures to make us all safer by improving clinical trials, quicker and wider access to safe vaccines, better use of data, more accurate health surveillance tools and greater collaboration between countries.

We are determined that, working together, we will beat this virus and build back better.

Following G7 ministerial discussions, the sharing of new disease data to agreed standards, focused pandemic surveillance systems and measures to improve the security of antibiotic supply chains will all play central roles in preventing and combatting health emergencies for decades to come.

There will be a thorough assessment of the international health security surveillance operations currently in place to ensure they meet the demands of a highly connected world and keep pace with advances in technology. This collaborative approach will support work to identify potential health threats across human, animal, plant and environmental ecosystems so we can act swiftly to prevent diseases spreading and save lives.

Industry, government and other stakeholders will consider together how best to incentivise the development and supply of new and existing antimicrobial treatment products, including new antibiotics, to ensure modern medicine remains one step ahead of drug resistance

The key agreements that have been made by G7 countries are below.

Clinical trials

Agreement of rapid implementation of a G7 Therapeutics and Vaccines Clinical Trials charter, which sets out shared principles to accelerate the speed with which clinical trials generate robust evidence to enable timely and decisive action on the findings and support public health and clinical decisions.

Stronger collaboration in large-scale international trials to enable greater diversity of participants, including pregnant people and children, avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts and produce clinical evidence that is generalisable to a larger number of populations and places.

Digital health

The need to work together to develop international standards and recommended practices for the creation, use, and mutual recognition of testing and vaccination certificates across countries that rely on safe, effective, and rigorously reviewed vaccines. This includes working to ensure that processes and national certification policies do not disadvantage certain groups of people, including participants in vaccine clinical trials. There is a commitment to work as G7 countries towards a process of mutual acceptance of COVID-19 certificates.

Work to agree standardised minimum datasets for patients’ health information, to enable patients to share their health information with healthcare providers in different countries, where they choose to do so.

Work to develop an internationally agreed process for clinical evaluation of AI algorithms used in health, such as to diagnose health conditions from images. This will help enable healthcare providers to access AI algorithms developed in other G7 countries.

Global health security

The need for better co-ordination and collaboration across complex systems – key drivers of a strengthened One Health approach towards global health security surveillance. The collaboration on One Health intelligence will provide an interim report by the end of 2021 on how the WHO, FAO, OIE and UNEP can collectively deliver consistent, reliable and comprehensive data on emerging human, animal, plant and environmental health treats.

Collaboration to improve global surveillance for COVID-19, including data which can inform the prevention, detection and response to global health threats. This effort will also build capacity to sequence genomes of other health threats to detect them as they emerge.

Affirmation of the central role of the World Health Organization (WHO) for preparation and response to health emergencies and the G7 are committed to strengthening WHO’s role, stressing the importance of ensuring a sustainably financed WHO.

A commitment to share vaccine doses with developing countries through COVAX when domestic situations permit to accelerate and supplement vaccines purchased directly by COVAX to enable the rapid equitable deployment of vaccines across the world.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Development of principles that assess the value of innovation in, access to and good stewardship of novel antibiotics, with a view to these being applied to new incentive mechanisms.

As part of a One Health approach, a commitment to work with environment ministries, industry and regulators to develop and recognise standards to limit levels of antimicrobial manufacturing waste that are released into the environment.

The need to work together with industry and other partners to better understand antimicrobial supply chains, which will enable steps to be taken in the future to reduce drug shortages and supply insecurity.

Recognition of the novel valuation, reimbursement and procurement projects that are emerging in G7 economies, including in the UK, as well as the new international antibiotic pooled procurement scheme being developed by WHO, Unicef, the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

Background information

Read the full G7 Health Ministers’ Communique.

See previous G7 Health Ministers’ meeting agreements: