Update on the Vaccine Taskforce: 1 March 2021

Now the national vaccine rollout is well underway, cabinet-level ministerial responsibility will move from the Business Secretary to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, allowing for end-to-end oversight of the programme to sit with a single minister. The change will further strengthen relationships with the therapeutics taskforce and with other vaccination policies and programmes.

Nadhim Zahawi will remain in his role across the 2 departments, having been appointed Vaccines Minister in December.

Established within BEIS last April, the Vaccine Taskforce prepared the way for the UK’s hugely successful start to its vaccination rollout. Last month the government hit its target of offering a vaccine to everyone in the top 4 priority groups by mid-February, with more than 20 million people now having had their first jab.

The taskforce’s role will remain unchanged, supporting efforts to develop and procure COVID-19 vaccines by providing industry and research institutions with the resources and support needed.

Through the Vaccine Taskforce, the UK moved quickly to secure early access to 457 million doses of 8 of the world’s most promising vaccines so far. To date, the UK government has invested over £300 million into manufacturing a successful vaccine, with facilities across the UK working at pace to supply the biggest vaccination programme in NHS history.

The UK was the first country in the world to procure, authorise and then deploy both the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. The deals in place with vaccine developers will ensure that supply continues to grow so the rollout can expand in the weeks ahead.

The new structure is similar to that in place for the Office for Life Sciences, which is also a joint BEIS–DHSC unit. Arrangements for staff in the taskforce will remain in place.

Media queries related to vaccine supply, as well as deployment, will now be led by the Department of Health and Social Care: pressofficenewsdesk@dhsc.gov.uk.

Welsh Secretary’s St David’s Day message

Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart has paid tribute to the people of Wales in his St David’s Day message.

Highlighting the sacrifices made during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Welsh Secretary thanks front-line workers. Mr Hart also looks ahead to the year to come, highlighting the progress of the vaccine rollout and the UK Government’s plans for growth and recovery in Wales.

These past 12 months have been without precedent. Last St David’s Day we could not have predicted the year to come or even that just weeks later we would be heading into the first lockdown across the UK and the disruption to normal life that has ensued.

The year since has been one of tragedy and I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of more than 5,000 people in Wales who have died or are suffering as a result of this dreadful virus.

It has been the most challenging time since the Second World War – in Wales, across the UK and across the globe. There has been a huge effort from people working on the front line of the pandemic across Wales. Some were deservedly recognised in the New Year Honours, but many thousands more were not and I would like to pay tribute to every one of them and thank them for their selfless work. And I also thank every single person in Wales for the sacrifices they have made in the past 12 months.

The UK Government has also worked to provide support for people and businesses through the disruption the pandemic has caused. We have provided more than £2.7 billion in direct support to businesses in Wales through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back loans as well as schemes like Furlough and support for the self-employed which have supported half a million people in Wales alone – one in three of the workforce.

The UK Treasury has also provided the Welsh Government with £6.6bn in additional funding this year for its response to the pandemic.

We have also set up more than 50 test centres across Wales, supplied millions of items of PPE and ensured almost 300 personnel from the UK’s Armed Forces are in Wales to support the Welsh NHS.

But we can now see the way out of the pandemic as a result of the ongoing vaccination programme. The speed of its development and its rollout across the UK has been astonishing. It is world leading and Wales is playing a major part via Wrexham’s Wockhardt facility where the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is being produced.

With the ongoing vaccine roll-out we can begin to look to the year to come. Later this week the Chancellor will deliver his Budget, setting the fiscal course for recovery, prosperity, jobs, growth and a green industrial revolution. We have a huge job to do and we are focused as a government on getting the UK back on course and levelling up the whole of the UK. In Wales this means building on the excellent progress of our City and Growth Deals, investing in renewable industries and infrastructure and delivering funding to the communities which most need it.

Ahead of what I believe will be a year of recovery and growth for all our communities, I wish everyone in Wales and all Welsh people around the world a happy St David’s Day.

Foreign Secretary statement on Myanmar violence: 1 March 2021

Press release

Following the increase in violence from the military against peaceful protesters over the weekend, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has made the below statement.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

One month on and the military in Myanmar continues to escalate its use of violence to support its coup, including the killing of peaceful protesters over the weekend. The people of Myanmar want their voices heard and are showing huge bravery in response to this brutality.

And today, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s elected leader, again faced politically motivated charges. The international community must do everything it can to bring pressure to bare to halt the violence, release those detained arbitrarily and restore the elected government.

Published 1 March 2021

New Registrar General for England and Wales announced

News story

Abi Tierney will take up the role.

Abi Tierney, who is Director General for Her Majesty’s Passport Office and UK Visas and Immigration, has been appointed as the new Registrar General for England and Wales.

Her appointment to become the head of the General Register Office (GRO) has been formally made by the Queen and takes effect from 1 March 2021. She succeeds the previous Registrar General, Myrtle Lloyd, who will be moving to HMRC as Director General for Customer Services.

Abi Tierney said:

I am delighted to have been appointed 23rd Registrar General for England and Wales, and am looking forward to supporting local authorities and registrars in delivering the local registration service. I am proud to serve as the head of the General Register Office, and to lead its continued development of new ways of working that put the customer at the heart.

The GRO oversees registration services to the public, including the registration of marriages, civil partnerships, births, deaths, stillbirths and adoptions.

It is the Registrar General’s responsibility to make the regulations that govern the duties of registrars and the registration processes. They are also required by law to create and make publicly available a free index of registration records for searching purposes and to issue certificates.

Find out more information about the Registrar General and the GRO.

Published 1 March 2021

Interim Office for Environmental Protection to be launched

News story

The new environmental watchdog for England will be launched on an interim basis ahead of its formal establishment as part of the Environment Bill.

The new environmental watchdog for England will be launched on an interim basis ahead of its formal establishment as part of the Environment Bill, under plans set out today.

From July, the new Interim Office for Environmental Protection will be set up in non-statutory form to provide independent oversight of the government’s environmental progress and to accelerate the foundation of the full body.

The interim body will be steered the Chair, Dame Glenys Stacey, and Interim Chief Executive, Natalie Prosser, together with other non-executive directors to be appointed in the coming weeks. Following Royal Assent of the Environment Bill, this group will formally become the Board of the Office for Environmental Protection as an independent legal entity.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

The Environment Bill will establish the world-class Office for Environmental Protection. Protecting and improving our environment is an important priority and that is why we are taking immediate action to ensure that the body can start its vital work at the earliest possible opportunity.

Dame Glenys Stacey said:

I am delighted at this decision. It means we can make rapid progress now, in establishing the organisation. The sooner we are up and running, the sooner we can deliver as intended, and so begin to make those tangible and positive differences to the environment that we so wish to see. It is excellent news.

The new Interim Office for Environmental Protection will be able to:

Produce and publish an independent assessment of progress in relation to the implementation of the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan
- Develop the Office for Environmental Protection’s strategy including its enforcement policy
- Receive complaints from members of the public about failures of public authorities to comply with environmental law
- Take decisions on operational matters such as staff recruitment, accommodation and facilities
- Determine approaches for how the Office for Environment Protection will form and operate, establishing its character, ways of working and voice.

This is a move from the current interim environmental governance arrangements in place since the start of January and ahead of the Environment Bill creating the Office for Environmental Protection as a legal body.

The Government remains fully committed to the Environment Bill and The Office for Environmental Protection will be formally established shortly after Royal Assent of the Environment Bill which is now expected in the autumn.

Published 1 March 2021