I’d like to thank the Education Policy Institute for the opportunity to join your discussion today, and for keeping their focus on this crucial issue. Of course, I’d also like to thank Apple as well for hosting the event. The Covid pandemic has changed our way of life: we do business differently… we shop differently… and of course we learn and we teach differently.

Technology moves rapidly at the best of times but no one could have foreseen how fast it would have to travel to help us navigate a way through this global health crisis.

Unprecedented problems require unprecedented solutions – and schools, teachers, and leaders have all pulled together to bring about one of the biggest shifts the education sector has ever seen. Our increasing dependence on technology has changed our entire approach to teaching with a switch to remote education.

Because we have become so used to looking at the negative effects of the pandemic we have lost sight of one of the more positive aspects and how it has changed learning for the better.

While some of the consequences of remote learning have been challenging to say the least, some of them have turned out to be an unqualified success.

First I must start by congratulating the teachers and school leaders who have made it so, and who have worked so hard and so fast to transfer their curriculum into a series of lessons and materials that can be applied remotely as well as to the classroom.

Schools are now routinely delivering high-quality teaching for up to five hours a day to children who are learning at home. This is giving them a better chance to keep pace with what they would have been learning if they’d been in school.

This pandemic has certainly brought communities closer…. as teachers and parents have often had to work together. I’m sure both have a far better grasp of what the other has to contend with as a result of this experience. This rapid shift in teaching methods means teachers have built up a wealth of experience to help make remote education smoother and more effective. For instance schools are now delivering recorded or live teaching online as a matter of course, with time given for pupils to work independently to complete assignments.

I know most teachers have probably produced their own materials to support remote education but there is also a wealth of extra resources teachers can call on.

I’m sure you are all familiar with the Oak National Academy lessons. These recorded video lessons were assembled across a broad range of subjects and age ranges by teachers coming together. Oak Academy is one of many examples of the additional help that is out there, from textbook publishers, digital teaching tools and training providers.

This has been another stand-out success in an otherwise grim pandemic landscape but it will be giving an enduring and invaluable legacy that future generations of children will be able to benefit from. I don’t underestimate the extra challenge involved in this immense transformation, which has been nothing less than a total stepchange in how children learn.

I want all school leaders to know that they are not alone in adjusting to this. Any school can get immediate free support at Get Help with Remote Education on the gov.uk website. As well as free access to digital education platforms and devices, this provides an online ‘one-stop-shop’ for all schools and colleges to help them keep up to date with the latest information and guidance on remote education, as well as tips and advice from teachers and leaders.

There are a number of designated EdTech Demonstrator Schools and Colleges that can give friendly support and advice and guidance to help schools with technology issues, including those schools whose pupils have special educational needs.

I said that today I was going to focus on what we have to celebrate in our teaching communities from the past year which brings me to something that I am enormously proud of.

From the start of the pandemic we knew that while many children would have the necessary technology and access to it to enable them to study remotely, there would be a number who did not.

I am acutely aware of the huge responsibility we have for all of our children, but none more so than those who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

For this reason, my department has been engaged in a massive logistical project to deliver hundreds of thousands of extra devices to schools across the country, so that every child, especially those from disadvantaged homes, can keep their learning on track.

Now, thanks to one of the world’s largest hardware shopping expeditions, we have purchased an additional 1.3 million devices. Of these, we’ve already delivered an additional 800,000 laptops and tablets and nearly 240,000 have gone out to schools since the start of this month.

We are also working with the country’s leading mobile network operators, enabling schools to request free data uplifts for disadvantaged families.

And this really signals our vision for the future of technology in education beyond Covid… making sure that digitally agile teaching becomes the standard and not the exception, and that we continue to stretch ourselves to make the most of what technology can offer us.

I know that for EPI, today’s event is just one of a series of conversations that you are having with the sector. But’s it’s an important conversation. Because it’s not just about looking at where we are today, but making sure that we take advantage of what we’ve learnt today to make sure it’s fit for the future.

For us, the future of technology needs to be that continued conversation, and I welcome your insights on how we can work better and together to keep it going but making sure that we are delivering real change, where it is felt in our schools by the pupils who are learning.

When we eventually move on from this pandemic we will be able to look back with huge pride at what we were able to do for our pupils and students despite the extreme challenges posed by the Covid pandemic. Remote education has been a major achievement, not just for children today but for all of those in the years to come. And the revolution in learning that it will bring.

The government has today (26 January 2021) announced that William Shawcross has been appointed as the new Independent Reviewer of Prevent.

William Shawcross was formerly the Chair of the Charity Commission between 2012 and 2018 and became the Special Representative on UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism.

Prevent, which safeguards vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism, is one of the 4 strands of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST.

The independent review will consider the strategy and delivery of the Prevent programme, and will make recommendations for the future. The terms of reference will be published shortly.

Lords Minister Baroness Williams said:

Prevent plays an essential role in stopping vulnerable people being drawn into terrorism and I am grateful to those who work tirelessly, including throughout the pandemic, to turn lives around and keep our communities safe.

It is important that this vital programme continues to improve and I look forward to seeing Mr Shawcross’ recommendations in due course.

Independent Reviewer of Prevent William Shawcross said:

I am delighted to lead this important review to ensure that Britain has the most effective strategy possible for preventing people from becoming terrorists.

As Independent Reviewer, I look forward to assessing how Prevent works, what impact it has, and what further can be done to safeguard individuals from all forms of terrorist influence. I look forward to hearing from a wide range of voices, particularly those who have had experience of Prevent in practice.

I intend to lead a robust and evidence-based examination of the programme, to help ensure that Britain has a clear and effective strategy to protect vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism.

In January 2019, the government announced the creation of the Independent Review of Prevent as part of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act. William Shawcross’ appointment follows the previous Independent Reviewer, Lord Carlile, stepping down in December 2019.

Prevent deals with all forms of terrorism, including Islamist and far right terrorism, and does not focus on any one community.

From 2012 to March 2020, almost 3,000 people have been adopted to Prevent’s voluntary and confidential Channel programme.

As part of Prevent, the Channel programme provides tailored support for a person vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism and works in a similar way to processes designed to protect people from gang activity, drug or sexual abuse – with individuals offered dedicated support and advice.

In the year ending 31 March 2020, there were 6,287 referrals to Prevent. This is an increase of 10% compared to the previous year.

Of those referred to Prevent in 2019 to 2020, 1,487 (24%) were referred for concerns related to Islamist radicalisation and 1,387 (22%) were referred for concerns related to far right radicalisation.

As one part of the CONTEST Strategy, Prevent, alongside Pursue (stopping terrorist attacks happening in the UK and overseas), Protect (strengthening protection against a terrorist attack in the UK or overseas) and Prepare (mitigating the impact of a terrorist incident if it occurs) comprise the 4 strands of the strategy.

In 1832, the London Quarterly Review stated that:

We have witnessed the birth of a new pestilence, which in the short space of 14 years has desolated the fairest portions of the globe, and swept off at least 50 million.

It has mastered every variety of climate, surmounted every natural barrier, and conquered every people.

That was in 1832 and that new pestilence was cholera, which brought devastation across the world.

At first, nations turned inwards, and responded alone but after 3 consecutive cholera pandemics in 30 years, accelerated by growing industrialisation, urbanisation and global trade, countries soon realised that infectious diseases could no longer be handled as a domestic issue alone.

Collaboration and co-operation with your neighbours, in the spirit of mutual benefit, is critical to tackling cholera, just as it is today.

In 1851, 12 nations came together and created the International Sanitary Convention, which is the forerunner of the World Health Organization.

Over time, more countries joined the effort, as they discovered more and more areas where they could work together for the greater good. They put in place, for instance, a legal obligation for countries to notify one another about outbreaks of disease, which in effect the world’s first early warning system.

And thanks to this close co-operation over generations, and the scientific effort, illuminating breakthroughs from pioneers all over the world could be accelerated.

Like Louis Pasteur in France, Robert Koch in Germany, Fillipo Pacini in Italy, Sambhu Nath De in India and John Snow here in Britain. They came together, made huge strides in combatting cholera, although there is of course more still to do.

We must learn from history. The reason I talk about this history is because the issue of how to keep us humans healthy and safe in an interconnected world is even more pressing now than it was in the 19th century.

Especially given the UN forecast that two-thirds of the world are projected to live in dense urban areas by 2050.

For me, the history of 2020 was about nations working to solve pressing challenges immediately in front of them at home.

We’ve all been engaged in essentially the same effort, but too often it’s been individual nations battling alone.

Now is the time to reject protectionism, the narrow nationalism, and the disinformation that can divide us, and can hinder the response to this common threat.

After all, COVID-19 affects every nation. Because we are all human.

So 2021 must be the year in which humanity comes together, even despite the restrictions that keep us physically apart.

As you mention this year, the UK has the honour of holding the presidency of the G7. We take on this mantle at a time when the health of humanity is under great strain. And although this is a time of great global turmoil, it is also a time to learn from our shared experiences and build a stronger international health system.

We must build back better, learn from what went well, and be more prepared for future pandemics and future threats to public health.

I’m proud that the UK has been a consistent voice for global solidarity throughout this crisis. And I’m proud that we’ve put our money behind that commitment.

We’re the biggest donor to the international effort for access to vaccines.

The UK played a leading role in the international effort to raise 2.4 billion dollars for the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, which will distribute at least 1.3 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to 92 developing countries this year.

And I want our stewardship of the G7 to build on this work, and the like-minded work that’s taking place all across the world.

I’m thrilled that the United States announced last week that it has abandoned plans to leave the World Health Organization, and instead has recommitted once more to playing a central leadership role. This is good news for everyone. And we’re all stronger and safer as a result.

I’m excited by the opportunity to work with the G7, the G20, and partners right across the whole world to reinvigorate our global system, according to the values of empathy and shared solidarity that are crucially important in a pandemic.

I was reflecting that in normal times, healthcare in each country is often seen as largely a domestic affair, concerned with improving the health of the nation.

International collaboration is of course important but in normal times the focus is on universal health coverage like obesity and mental health crises. But a pandemic makes it absolutely central, so organisations like the G7 are all the more important.

From a personal point of view, I found the weekly G7 health ministers’ calls at the height of the pandemic like a therapy session at times, frankly.

And given the experience that we’ve had across the west, it’s absolutely vital that G7 members come together to provide the international leadership that people look to us for.

After all, the G7 represents two-thirds of the global pharmaceutical market, the majority of the world’s genomic capability and leads the world in life sciences and clinical trials.

The pandemic has thrust the G7 health agenda to the centre of global affairs. Health policy is the number one economic policy, security policy and social policy of every country. So we must make G7 leadership count.

The agenda I’m setting for the G7 this year is not just about discussion, important as that is. There is significant and substantial work that we have to do and concrete progress that must be made.

This work needs to be based on the enlightenment values of collaboration, transparency and scientific progress.

The G7 has already, for the first time, made a joint statement to the WHO executive board, in support of vital reforms to that vital body.

Today, I want to set out the UK’s G7 agenda for the rest of this year and also some of the actions we’re putting in place immediately to deliver on it.

Health security for all

The first area is health security – for everyone.

We must renew our commitment to the founding ideals of the WHO that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition.”

We must do this, not just because it is morally right.

But when we allow holes to form in our global defences, due to inadequate or unco-ordinated health provision, that is a threat not just to health services around the world, but to our economic prosperity, and to our collective security.

The pandemic has shown that the foundations of so many of the exciting experiences that make life worth living, like the ability to travel, go to the theatre, or to start and grow your own business, are contingent not just on our health, or the health of our near neighbours, but the health of people everywhere.

So we must work to promote health security right across the world, developing transparent ways of preventing, detecting and responding to outbreaks, strengthening the World Health Organization so it is more nimble, delivering effective surveillance and early warning systems for the threats of the future, and looking not just at human health, but animal health, and all parts of our environment.

Now of course, a threat that has been on all of our minds over the past few weeks has been new variants of coronavirus.

New variants can threaten the exceptional progress we’ve made with vaccines, so it’s vital that we react swiftly to identify them and get them under control wherever they are.

Genomic sequencing is pivotal to this.

The UK was one of the first countries in the world to recognise the need for an infrastructure for viral genomic sequencing and we’ve backed it with huge investment, long before COVID-19 emerged.

Since COVID-19 has emerged, the UK has sequenced over half of all the COVID-19 viral genomes that have been submitted to the global database, nearly 10 times more than any other country.

This bolstered capacity isn’t just important for us here at home, combined with progressive transparency, it’s for the whole world.

Thanks to this pioneering work, we identified a variant that was circulating in the UK, and we were then able, quickly, to alert our international partners to its danger through the WHO, and so help aid the response everywhere.

We’ve seen other countries that have a substantial genomic capacity identify new variants locally too, but many countries do not have the capacity they need.

So today we are announcing our New Variant Assessment Platform.

We’ll be working with the WHO to offer our UK genomic capacity to help other countries analyse new variants of the virus, and offer our training and resources to help them build their capacity too.

Our New Variant Assessment Platform will help us better understand this virus and how it spreads, wherever any mutation is found, because as we’ve all learned, a mutation in one part of the world is a threat to people everywhere.

The New Variant Assessment Platform will boost global capacity to understand coronavirus, so we’re all better prepared for whatever lies ahead.

It will form an integral part of the international offer of the new National Institute for Health Protection (NHIP), that will begin life in April.

The NHIP will be a new UK institution focused entirely on fighting external threats to health, principally to pandemics. And crucially, it will reach across borders to play its part in solving problems for the world.

Clinical trials

The second area in the G7 agenda for this year where I am determined we progress, is clinical trials.

This pandemic has shown beyond measure the value of robust clinical trials, in identifying the vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics that work – and, crucially, ruling out the ones that don’t.

While there are many successful trials, there are also too many that aren’t set up in a way that the whole world could benefit.

I’ve been personally frustrated to find clinical trials in different countries not recognised because the data and insights can’t be properly integrated across national boundaries, because of a lack of co-ordination in how they are set up.

There’s absolutely no reason for the differences in trial structure, but they delay findings and so cost lives.

Likewise, in some cases final data isn’t shared with the global community but that lack of transparency has to end. We’re all human, after all.

For example, at the start of the crisis, there were no international assay standards for vaccines. This made it harder to compare results from vaccine trials, and meant that work was sometimes duplicated, or worse, unusable.

One of the reasons the UK was the first country in the world to vaccinate is because our regulator worked so hard to overcome some of these challenges.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

And we need international leadership to change it.

The ingenuity of this research is too precious to let it go to waste. So we must strengthen the frameworks that underpin clinical trials, and create shared standards, so the creation and delivery of clinical trials can be as seamless as possible around the world.

These clinical trials offer hope to us all, showing how human endeavour can overcome a lethal threat to humanity based on scientific ideals of objective analysis and truth. We must do what it takes to standardise and co-ordinate clinical trials to find more insights, more quickly, than the fragmented system that has existed until now.

And it is my personal mission to make this happen.

Antimicrobial resistance

The third area where we must make an impact is antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

This is a matter of driving forward progress that is already being made. The silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance, especially bacterial resistance will have consequences that are just as deadly as COVID-19, over a longer timeframe, if we don’t act now.

I’m very grateful for the work that Lord Jim O’Neill, the Chairman of Chatham House, has done on this issue and for the leadership of Dame Sally Davies, the UK’s Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Lord O’Neill’s report on the risks of AMR paints a stark picture. It predicts that if we do nothing, AMR will lead to 10 million deaths by 2050, at a cumulative financial cost to the global economy of 100 trillion dollars.

Not only that, diseases that we can treat now could become untreatable in the future and modern medicine as we know it could cease to exist.

We’ve seen over the past few months the devastating impact that an initially untreatable infection can have. So even as we fight coronavirus, we must not take our eye off the dangers of AMR.

Antibiotics are a critical global infrastructure that underpins high quality healthcare all across the world but no new class of antibiotics has been brought to market for decades.

We must use innovative approaches to financing and procurement to change this, based on the trinity of science, industry and government working together that is so often so important in the life sciences.

So we will use the UK G7 presidency to push for the better stewardship of existing antibiotics, and reinvigorate the development of new ones too while making sure the antibiotic supply chain is safe, secure and transparent, and has shared standards that we can all rely upon.

Digital

Finally, there are vast opportunities when it comes to digital health.

During our response to this pandemic, we have had a weapon in our armoury that previous generations simply did not possess – the incredible emerging technologies that have spurred so much innovation in healthcare.

In the UK, artificial intelligence (AI) helped us to make sure vital resources, like ventilators and oxygen, were in the right place at the right time.

Digital technologies have allowed us to create a database with scans from COVID patients across the country, to help clinicians better understand the virus, and across the world, telemedicine has advanced like never before.

Now we’ve proven beyond doubt the benefits that healthtech can offer we must go further, and make sure these benefits are shared by people everywhere.

There’s one thing that digital technologies have in common with pandemics. They both grow exponentially.

So we must put in place the guide rails to enable this incredible innovation, and at the same time, make sure these technologies develop according to the values that reflect the best of humanity.

We will work with other G7 member states and others to look at internationally recognised standards for AI, including the ethical underpinnings that are so important.

But it’s not just enough to have the technologies. We need to unlock the power of the data that fuels them.

So it is critical to develop standards of interoperability of health data, especially clinical data. Moving away from the wide range of standards that we currently have across the globe towards a common approach, so data and technologies can be shared quickly and securely across boundaries, building on the work of the Global Digital Health Partnership.

Like new technologies before them, such as vaccines and antibiotics, digital technology saves lives. We must build the international infrastructure to make the most of it. And I know that we can rise to this challenge, just as we have risen to so many before.

Conclusion

Overall this is an ambitious agenda, building on the ‘Five Point Plan’ set out by the Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last year.

I’ll finish by saying this – this should be the moment when we move from nations facing this battle themselves, to us joining arms, even as we have to tighten borders.

The virus attacks us all because we are all human, so we must draw upon what it means to be human as we respond.

Our shared ingenuity, our shared solidarity and our shared determination.

We are in a war against this virus. And the whole of humanity is on the same side.

Now is the time to make that count.

Thank you very much.

• The Environment Agency will carry out the investigations at sites across the town with work expected to last 8 weeks

• Once completed, the scheme will better protect over 150 homes, businesses and key infrastructure in central Padiham as well as manage surface water risk on local highways.

Padiham’s multi-million pound flood risk management scheme is set to move a step closer to construction with ground investigation works commencing this week.

The Environment Agency will carry out the investigations including digging of trial pits and boreholes to identify foundations and underground services at sites across the town.

The work is expected to last for around 8 weeks.

This investigation work is essential to the scheme and will allow the Environment Agency, Burnley Borough Council and other partners to anticipate any issues and plan effectively for the construction phase.

Plans for the scheme itself include new and enhanced flood walls, earth embankments as well as modifications to the local highways. Works are also set to include additional environmental, biodiversity and amenity improvements with the defences closely linked to local growth and regeneration, as part of the Northwest Burnley Growth Corridor, which has received £5.2m for all works in Padiham from Lancashire Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Deal Programme.

Andy Brown, Flood Risk Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

“This is a step closer to constructing the Padiham Flood Risk Management Scheme and will build on the outline work and proposals shared with the community in October 2019.

“By delivering these minor works ahead of constructing the main flood alleviation scheme, we will be able to reduce the risk of unknown issues coming to light and keep any disruption for the local community, whilst this work takes place, to a minimum. All our work will be carried out in line within the Government coronavirus guidelines and activities will continue to be reviewed so that they can be completed safely.”

Steve Fogg, Chair of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership said:

‘’It’s great to hear the investigative works are about to commence for the flood risk management scheme.  Improvements to Padiham’s flood defences will complement the wider growth and regeneration work of the NW Burnley Growth Corridor Scheme, in which the LEP has invested £5.2m from its Growth Deal Funding to boost the vitality of the town centre.  Flooding can have a devastating effect on communities and businesses, and the investigative works starting on site means Padiham is a step closer to having a flood management scheme in place to help mitigate the flood risk for the town.’’

Further site investigations will also be taking place on the ground in Padiham between January and March 2021.  These are the final major investigations and will help the Environment Agency to better understand the condition of existing walls already in place along the riverbanks, the local ground water conditions and any risks posed by old mining works in the area.

Notes to editors

• Image shows Padiham Bridge
• Once completed, the Padiham Flood Risk Management Scheme will better protect over 150 homes, businesses, public buildings and key infrastructure. The scheme will manage flood risk along the River Calder, Green Brook and surface water risk on the highways.
• The detailed designs of the Padiham scheme are currently in progress and are due for completion in spring 2021.  The legally required planning, consents, agreements and approvals will subsequently be submitted and confirmed.
• Up to £170m of government funding was announced in July 2020 to accelerate work on ‘shovel-ready’ flood defence schemes to begin construction in 2020 or 2021. Padiham was one of the beneficiaries, with an investment of £2m, providing an immediate boost to jobs supporting the local economy.
• The government has also recently announced a record £5.2 billion investment in flood and coastal defences – double the previous investment – to protect 336,000 properties, and the EA’s FCRM strategy will prepare us for more extreme weather and build a better prepared and more resilient nation. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flood-and-coastal-erosion-risk-management-strategy-for-england–2.
• People can find out more information on how to make their homes, businesses and communities more resilient to flooding at https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/what-to-do-in-a-flood.
• The climate emergency means we cannot prevent all flooding. We’re working to make communities resilient to future flooding but it is essential that people know their flood risk and sign up for flood warnings in their area. https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/warnings.
• For more information on the Padiham scheme, please visit https://thefloodhub.co.uk/padiham/