The government is taking further steps to help hauliers get tested before they travel to Kent or any port heading to France, in an effort to reduce disruption for drivers as they carry goods across the Channel.

The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, today (2 January 2020) announced the creation of 10 new testing locations across the country, with a further 10 opening tomorrow (3 January 2020), and more being added this week.

In addition, to help hauliers cross the Channel as quickly as possible, the government is offering to help any business to set up a testing centre at its own premises to ensure trucks heading for France depart ‘COVID ready’.

The Department of Health and Social Care will support this, including the provision of testing kits entirely free of charge, and any business able to take advantage of this offer is urged to so to avoid the risk of delays waiting for tests either in Kent or at the public sites.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

As a result of the heroic efforts of hundreds of military and civilian personnel who have worked hard over the past 10 days, we have made incredible progress in clearing the queues of drivers left stranded as a result of the French government’s actions.

If we are to keep traffic flowing in Kent, it is essential drivers are tested before they travel down to the area and that they have a Kent Access Permit before heading to the border, and these new testing centres both at service stations and inside businesses, will help reduce delays.

Tests will be available at the information advice sites the government has set up for hauliers around the country, originally to provide advice about the requirements for travelling to the continent after leaving the EU. Now military personnel will be at 10 of these sites to provide COVID testing for haulage drivers, providing a negative result in the required 72-hour window before arriving in Kent, fast-tracking their access to the ports.

Lateral flow devices are being used to test hauliers that provide results within the hour and provide the necessary negative test result to allow them to continue on their journey into France. The Armed Forces are experienced in using these devices having used them for mass testing in Liverpool, Merthyr Tydfil and Medway.

As well as delivering testing, staff at the sites can also provide guidance on new border processes after EU transition and check whether drivers have all the right paperwork.

Significant progress has been made in ensuring over 25,500 lorries have crossed the Channel since the French government introduced unprecedented restrictions due to the new coronavirus variant.

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said:

The Armed Forces are once again demonstrating their flexibility, redeploying to new testing sites to ensure quicker access and minimal disruption on the approaches to Dover and the Eurotunnel.

As we saw throughout the festive period the Armed Forces are dedicated to help keeping the country moving, healthy and secure in 2021.

A new Institute of Teaching is set to be established in England to provide teachers and school leaders with prestigious training and development throughout their career.

Training will be delivered through at least four regional campuses, launching in September 2022, with the Institute being the first of its kind in the world.

The national initiative will deliver evidence-based approaches to teacher training, and also include mentoring and early career support, alongside leadership courses and continued professional development, building on existing high-quality provision.

It will be funded as part of £22 million for teacher quality agreed at the Spending Review, which also includes funding for mentor time for early career teachers as part of the Early Career Framework reforms.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

When I visit schools around the country, it is clear that the very best combine high standards of pupil behaviour and discipline with a broad knowledge-based and ambitious curriculum, so that every child can learn and flourish.

Our new Institute of Teaching will help equip all teachers to deliver an education like this, by training them in the best, evidence-based practices. The Institute’s cutting-edge approach to teacher training will ensure a new generation of teachers have the expertise they need to level up school standards across the country.

Through adding diversity and innovation to the existing teacher development market, the Institute will revolutionise teacher training and make England the best place in the world to train and become a great teacher.

The Institute will become England’s flagship teacher training and development provider, showcasing exemplary delivery of the Government’s ambitious reforms through the new ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework, and its changes to National Professional Qualifications (NPQs).

The training is likely to be delivered through a blend of online, face-to-face and school-based means. When the Institute is at full capacity, it is expected to deliver training for:

• Around 1,000 ITT trainees annually

• Around 2,000 Early Career Teachers and 2,000 mentors annually

• 1,000 NPQ participants annually

It will continue to build evidence around the most effective approaches to training and developing teachers, and will use this to support other teacher development organisations, including new Teaching School Hubs, to understand and implement best practice.

The Department for Education is also set to resume its review of the ITT market, following a pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The review will focus on how the ITT sector can provide consistently high-quality training in line with the Core Content Framework in a more efficient and effective market. It will be led by Ian Bauckham, CEO of Tenax Schools Trust, acting Chair of Ofqual and Chair of Oak National Academy, with the support of officials and a small expert group.

The group will work with the sector during the review. The Department has committed to improving support and professional development for teachers at all stages of their career, particularly for those in their vital first few years of teaching, through the Early Career Framework reforms.

A reformed suite of NPQs, previously announced in 2019 as part of the Teacher Recruitment & Retention Strategy, will also be launched from September 2021. They will offer valuable professional development for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to improve teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.

Six projects across the UK will today receive a share of £8 million in government funding as part of a drive to create the world’s first net zero emissions industrial zone by 2040. Projects in the West Midlands, Tees Valley, North West, Humber, Scotland and South Wales will see local authorities working with industry to develop plans to reduce carbon emissions, with one scheme alone – across the North West of England and North East Wales – aiming to create over 33,000 new jobs and more than £4 billion of investment as it bids to become the world’s first net zero industrial zone.

A net zero industrial zone will see all industries in a region collectively reducing their carbon dioxide emissions to as close to zero as possible using low-carbon energy sources and new technology like carbon capture.

All 6 areas receiving funding today have high concentrations of industrial activity and will get a share of up to £8 million towards the development of decarbonisation plans.

Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said:

The UK is leading the world’s green industrial revolution, with ambitious targets to decarbonise our economy and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

As we continue to level up the UK economy and build back greener, we must ensure every sector is reducing carbon emissions to help us achieve our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

This funding will help key industrial areas meet the challenge of contributing to our cleaner future while maintaining their productive and competitive strengths.

Decarbonising UK industry is a key part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution, which is laid out in its Ten Point Plan and Energy White Paper and is set to create 220,000 jobs as we build back greener over the next decade.

The Industrial Clusters Mission aims to support the delivery of 4 low-carbon regional zones by 2030 and at least one net zero green hotspot by 2040, kickstarted by the government’s £170 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge.

The 6 winners will now produce detailed plans for reducing emissions across major areas of industrial activity, where related industries have congregated and can benefit from utilising shared clean energy infrastructure, such as carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) and low-carbon hydrogen production and distribution.

All the winners have produced initial plans for reducing emissions across major industrial clusters across the UK and, in subsequent years, will build on these preliminary successes by bringing together industry and public sector bodies in a comprehensive effort to devise a route to net zero emissions.

Bryony Livesey, UKRI Challenge Director, Industrial Decarbonisation, said:

Today’s announcement shows that the industrial clusters campaign is proceeding at pace. This second phase of the competition asks companies and partners to plan for comprehensive changes to industries, products and supply lines.

This is a crucial step in the government’s plans to develop cost-effective decarbonisation in industrial hubs that tackle the emissions challenge UK industry faces. The move to low carbon industry is a huge opportunity, with the chance for the UK to take the lead and seize a large share of a growing global market.

Notes to editors

The Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge will commit £170 million towards deploying technologies like carbon capture and hydrogen networks in industrial clusters, supporting the Industrial Clusters Mission to establish the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040.

The Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge supports co-ordinated research, technology and infrastructure that allows UK industry to reduce carbon emissions across a large scale and in a way that can be easily replicated.

The funding for the £170 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge is being made through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Regional cluster leads

• in the West Midlands, the Black Country Consortium will be the cluster plan lead
• in the Tees Valley, the cluster plan will be overseen by the Tees Valley Combined Authority
• in the North West of England and North East Wales, the cluster plan will be led by Peel Environmental
• in the Humber it will be led by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership
• in Scotland NECCUS, an alliance of industries and experts, will lead
• in South Wales, the cluster plan will be led by CR Plus consultancy

List of IDC Phase 2 Cluster Plan Projects

Project title: South Wales Industry – A Plan for Clean Growth

Region: South Wales
Project Lead: CR Plus consultancy

The South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) is a diverse mix of critical industry that have come together to collaboratively achieve common objectives for decarbonisation and clean growth delivering job security.

Led by CR Plus consultancy the SWIC plans centres around a 5 stepped approach to net zero carbon (NZC), 5 spatial zone types will allow SWIC to take immediate steps toward NZC with a low chance of incurring ‘Regret Capital’. As well as targeting a NZC cluster by 2040, this plan focuses on societal needs, circular economy and clean growth aspirations of the region, tackling the common and unique commercial and operational challenges facing SW industry.

Project title: Repowering the Black Country Phase 2 Cluster Plan

Region: Black Country
Project Lead: The Black Country Consortium

The Black Country is 1 of 7 strategic industrial clusters across the UK being supported by BEIS and Innovate UK to decarbonise by 2040. By 2030, without radical action, Black Country industry will be responsible for 2.3 MtCO2 emissions a year, from an industrial base of more than 3000 energy-intense businesses, many still engaged in the region’s traditional metal processing operations.

This project, led by the Black Country Consortium (a partnership of private, public and voluntary sector organisations), aims to reduce these emissions to zero by 2030 through a co-ordinated programme of transformational projects focused around a new type of industrial estate: the zero carbon hub.

Zero carbon hubs will be based around anchor industrial processes, strategically-selected to match Black Country skills and strengths (for example aluminium reprocessing). Each hub will contain a mix of businesses carefully selected to complement each other by thinking about their energy and waste flows.

Project title: Net Zero Tees Valley: Cluster Plan Stage 2

Region: Teesside
Project Lead: Tees Valley Combined Authority

The Tees Valley is the UK’s most compact and integrated industrial cluster with a radius of 5 miles. The cluster includes several of the UK’s top CO2 emitters and is responsible for 8.8 million tonnes of CO2. The Tees Valley industrial cluster generates £12 billion of exports annually, employs over 12,000 people and currently contributes some £2.5 billion to UK gross value added (GVA).

The cluster plan will be led by the Tees Valley Combined Authority and will identify the most appropriate range of technologies and potential pathways for the various industrial producers and energy generators in the Tees Valley, considering both existing and future new entrants. It is expected that this plan will combine carbon capture at scale, fuel switching to hydrogen, integration of renewables, low carbon energy sources, feedstocks changes, together with improved process and energy efficiencies.

Project title: Scotland’s Net Zero Roadmap (SNZR)

Region: Scotland
Project Lead: Neccus

To achieve net zero by 2045 Scotland needs to decarbonise industry, transport, heat and power. Scotland’s Net Zero Roadmap project (SNZR) will provide the roadmap to enable large-scale industrial CO2 emissions reduction in a way that focuses on ensuring the continued, but evolving, contribution of high-value industry and employment in a future net zero economy.

Led by Neccus, an alliance of industries and experts, the SNZR will provide the roadmap that enables the deployment of options in a way that ensures competitive decarbonisation through continued and growing prosperity across the economy.

Scotland is in a strong position to lead this new large scale CO2 management industry. Offshore Scotland has some of Europe’s best-characterised and largest CO2 storage sites while CCS and hydrogen will create opportunities for jobs and economic activity and help transition staff employed in sectors such as oil and gas.

Project title: The Net Zero NW Cluster Plan

Region: North West
Project Lead: Peel Environmental

The Net Zero NW Cluster Plan, led by Peel Environmental, a development company, will set out the transition to net zero for industry in the North West of England and North East Wales. It will describe the investments, technologies, infrastructure changes and sequencing required to fulfil the UK’s Industrial Clusters Mission.

Industry and public sector bodies, building on the preliminary research completed in Phase 1, will collaboratively promote and engage on plans to decarbonise, ensuring businesses have a strong voice in planning decarbonisation activity in line with current and future business needs whilst leveraging inward investment opportunities.

By enabling multiple industrial facilities to reduce their emissions by the greatest possible extent, with knock-on effects in the reduction of commercial, domestic and transport emissions, the Net Zero NW Cluster Plan hopes to realise over 33,000 new jobs, over £4 billion investment and the world’s first net zero industrial cluster.

Project title: Humber Industrial Cluster Plan

Region: Humber
Project Lead: Humber Local Enterprise Partnership

The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (Humber LEP) and membership organisation CATCH will lead on the project and work with industrial partners across the Humber to develop the Humber Cluster Plan (HCP) that will enable the Humber industrial cluster, the UK’s largest by carbon emissions, to achieve net zero by 2040.

The Humber emits more CO2 than any other industrial cluster (30% more than the next largest), while the area is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. A quarter of the Humber’s GVA and 1 in 10 jobs depend on these industries, making safeguarding their competitiveness imperative for the local economy as well as strategically important for the UK.

A phased approach will prioritise near-term deliverable investments that will see quick results, significantly reducing the Humber’s emissions by 2030, mapping out how carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen infrastructure can be scaled up over time, and identifying the full range of interventions required to achieve net zero by 2040.

HCP will also outline the potential for the Humber’s industrial decarbonisation to support decarbonisation beyond the industrial cluster, including maritime in the UK’s largest ports complex, road/rail transport and decarbonisation of the gas supply (25% of the UK’s supply passes through the Humber). Linked opportunities and implications for renewable energy, especially bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and offshore wind (both of which the Humber leads on and are integral to decarbonising industry), will also be identified.

The Prime Minister today reaffirmed his commitment to boost the numbers of teachers, police officers, nurses and other public sector workers as part of the Government’s drive to build back better from the Covid pandemic in 2021.

In a year which saw the number of nurses grow by more than 13,000, police officers by 6,000, and teachers by 41,000, the Prime Minister will make continuing to recruit the brightest and best into frontline public sector roles a priority in 2021.

Campaigns to hire more NHS staff, teachers, prison officers will be ramped up throughout the year, with ministers ready to redouble efforts to fill frontline roles to further support public services.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

We have the very best public servants and I feel an enormous sense of admiration when I think about the care, fortitude and determination with which our doctors, nurses, teachers, police officers and prison workers have faced up to the challenges of the pandemic.

There is light at the end of the Covid tunnel – the vaccine provides increasing hope of returning to normality by Easter and I am determined that we build back better from the pandemic and take advantage of the opportunities that are ahead. My commitment to recruit more teachers, nurses, police officers and other frontline workers is unwavering. We have made good progress this year, but 2021 will be a year of growth and renewal – and having the very best frontline workers will be a critical part of that.

NHS and Social Care

Figures from the Department of Health and Social Care reveal that the number of nurses in the NHS in England increased by 13,313 last year to a record 299,184. The Government is committed to delivering 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament. The number of doctors also rose, with an additional 6,030 to a record 122,446, latest figures up until September show.

The number of nursing and midwifery students accepting places at university this year increased by a record 26% compared to last year, and professionally qualified clinical staff including paramedics are at record levels, as are scientific, therapeutic, and technical staff.

The starting pay for a newly qualified nurse has risen by over 12% since 2017/18. Most existing nurses have also seen a pay rise of at least 6.5% over the course of the latest pay deal.

The NHS Pension Scheme is also one of the most comprehensive and generous schemes in the UK, where the employer pays a contribution equal to 20.68% of salary towards the cost of the pension.

Teachers

Figures show that 41,000 new trainees were recruited during 2020. This year we announced the biggest pay rise the teaching profession has seen since 2005, with above-inflation rises to the pay ranges for every single teacher in the country.

Police Officers

The Government has already recruited almost 6,000 extra police officers, putting us on track to hit the target of bringing in an additional 20,000 police officers this Parliament. In July, the Government announced that police pay would rise by 2.5% in 2020 to 2021, providing officers with an increase above inflation for the second year running.

Border Force

As part of preparations for Brexit, around 900 additional operational staff were recruited in the 2019/20 financial year and a further 1,100 staff will be recruited by July 2021.

Prison Officers

During 2020, a further 1,760 prison officers were recruited across England and Wales, alongside an additional 443 probation officers. The Ministry of Justice plans to recruit a further 3,200 prison officers and 1,500 probation officers during the financial year 2021/22. In July, the Government announced a pay rise of at least 2.5% for all prison staff – with cumulative awards of up to 7.5% for some staff when progression pay is taken into account.

As part of efforts to recruit key frontline posts across the NHS, police, teaching and prisons, public-facing campaigns will ramp up during 2021.

A new TV advertising drive for police officers will launch on Tuesday (5th January) across England and Wales. The campaign aims to showcase the difference that police officers make to their communities – including those from underrepresented groups.

Meanwhile, targeted campaigns in areas with the highest prison officer vacancies will continue during 2021, as will specific campaigns for further recruitment of teachers, doctors and nurses.

The government has today (1 January) announced that the education contingency framework will be implemented across all London boroughs, following a further review of the transmission rates.

In light of Covid case rates rising rapidly across the capital and ongoing engagement with London leaders and the evidence submitted, the government has reviewed the London boroughs where the contingency framework will apply, with all further boroughs added.

The contingency framework is being implemented across London as a last resort to help supress the spread of the virus in the community, protect public health and save lives. The framework is not being implemented due to safety concerns in education. Schools have well established protective measures in place to maximise safety for pupils and staff and help reduce the risk of transmission.

Decisions on which areas are subject to the contingency framework are taken working closely with Public Health England, Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS. Due to the fast moving situation, and where local conditions are changing rapidly, the review of London boroughs was brought forward for a decision today as part of the contingency framework process.

From Monday 4 January, London primary schools will be required to provide remote learning to all children but vulnerable and critical worker children who will continue to attend school.

Early years will remain open in London, as will alternative provision and special schools.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

Children’s education and wellbeing remains a national priority. Moving further parts of London to remote education really is a last resort and a temporary solution.

As infection rates rise across the country, and particularly in London, we must make this move to protect our country and the NHS. We will continue keep the list of local authorities under review, and reopen classrooms as soon as we possibly can.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

Over the past week we have seen infections and hospitalisations rise sharply across London and hospitals are coming under increased pressure.

While our priority is to keep as many children as possible in school, we have to strike a balance between education and infection rates and pressures on the NHS.

The situation in London continues to worsen and so today we are taking action to protect the public and reduce the spread of this disease in the community.

Everyone across London must take this situation incredibly seriously and act responsibly to minimise the spread of this deadly disease.

Evidence shows the new strain of COVID-19 is increasing across the country. The majority of the cases identified in London, the South East and the East of England are of the new variant. Infection rates have increased faster than expected in these areas where the new strain has been circulating and stronger measures are required to get the virus under control.

To support high quality remote education during this period, the government expects to deliver over 50,000 laptops and tablets to schools across the country on Monday 4 January, and over 100,000 in total during the first week of term. Over 1 million devices will be provided in total.

The current plans for rapid testing in secondary schools and colleges remain in place, with two rapid tests available to all secondary and college students and staff at the start of term to identify asymptomatic cases.

The first starter packs of up to 1,000 test kits will arrive at all secondary schools and colleges on 04 January. The 1,500 military personnel committed to supporting secondary schools and colleges remain in place, providing virtual training advice and guidance on establishing the testing process with teams on standby to provide in-person support if required.

Daily testing of all staff and students that have been a close contact of a confirmed case, reducing the need for self-isolation, will continue to be available to all secondary schools and colleges from the first week of term, along with weekly rapid tests for all staff in secondary schools, colleges, special schools and alternative provision.

All pupils, students and staff are encouraged to consent to testing, as are parents of pupils under 16. Testing for primary school staff will follow in the second half of January.

The rollout of laptops and tablets to schools on this scale follows close collaboration between the government and its partner organisations, which has seen over 560,000 devices delivered to schools and councils since the start of the pandemic. With the further rollout this term, over one million will be provided in total – making the programme one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Notes to editors:

Areas with primary schools subject to the contingency framework from the start of term are: Additional London boroughs added: Camden, City of London, Greenwich, Hackney, Haringey, Harrow, Islington, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham

Original London: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Hammersmith and Fulham, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond-Upon-Thames Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster