• Treasury has now committed a total £340m to support the effort in Northern Ireland

• People in Northern Ireland also benefit from a range of UK-wide measures including £330 billion worth of UK Government backed loans, the Job Retention Scheme and the UK-wide PPE strategy announced last week

The Northern Ireland Executive will receive an extra £200m – a total of £340m – as a result of a boost to the Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund, announced today (Monday 13 April 2020) by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

The funding will help the devolved administration at Stormont meet its urgent priorities across public services in Northern Ireland as it works closely with the UK Government to tackle the pandemic.

Welcoming the additional funding, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis MP, said:

“This Government has promised to do everything in its power to help this country defeat coronavirus – protecting people, their jobs and their loved ones.

“This additional funding for the Northern Ireland Executive delivers on that promise by bolstering support for our fantastic public services and their staff – making sure they have the resources they need to meet the exceptional challenges presented by this outbreak.

“We are united in our commitment to tackling coronavirus and working closely with the Northern Ireland Executive as part of our UK-wide effort to fund urgent health priorities at this very challenging time.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:

“Our public services and its incredible staff are bravely working with immense resolve and skill to keep us safe. We depend on them, which is why we’re giving them the extra funds, tools and resources they need to tackle the virus.

“From the start, I’ve been clear our vital public services will get whatever they need to protect this country and its people from Coronavirus. We are delivering on our pledge.”

People in Northern Ireland also benefit from a range of measures that are supporting people across the UK. Businesses in Northern Ireland have access to £330 billion worth of UK Government backed loans and the Job Retention Scheme and on Friday the Health Secretary announced the UK-wide PPE strategy. This means our heroic front-line workers across the country have the protection they need to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

At the Budget on 11 March, the Chancellor said he would do everything in his power to help Britain defeat Coronavirus. He initially set aside a £5 billion fund as a rapid response, and said that whatever extra resources needed by the NHS and public services would be provided.

The Chancellor has today announced an additional funding of nearly £600 million to help public services in Scotland respond to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

“We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to help all corners of the UK through this crisis and this additional £600 million will go a long way in helping public services in Scotland respond to the huge challenge they are facing. This comes on top of the substantial coronavirus funding package for Scotland already in place, meaning that Scotland will receive a total cash boost of £3.3 billion to help tackle Coronavirus.

“The coming weeks may be difficult, but we will do everything we can to save lives, protect jobs, support our public services, and back our businesses so they can thrive in the future.”

Business and individuals in Scotland will also benefit from UK-wide support measures. This includes a £330 billion package of loans and guarantees for businesses, access to the Job Retention Scheme and support for the self-employed. The UK military is providing both the Scottish Government and the NHS with additional specialist skills and expertise and on Friday the Health Secretary announced the UK-wide PPE strategy meaning our heroic front-line workers in Scotland have the protection they need to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Government also expanding testing capacity right across the UK with centres opened recently at Glasgow and Aberdeen airports.

This latest cash boost for Scotland is as a result of the Chancellor further increasing his Budget for the public services fund.

More information on this is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-provides-over-14-billion-for-our-nhs-and-vital-public-services

• additional spending for NHS and local authorities included in new figures
• Chancellor launched initial £5 billion Coronavirus fund at Budget but said public services would get whatever they needed
• share for the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now stands at almost £2 billion

More than £14 billion from the Coronavirus emergency response fund will go towards public services, including the NHS and local authorities involved in the fight against Coronavirus, HM Treasury confirms today (Monday 13 April 2020).

The funding has included more than £6 billion to support our health services, free up hospital beds and deliver urgent priorities including acquiring ventilators, diagnostic tests and protective equipment for NHS staff. HM Treasury support will also enable home delivery of medicines to the most vulnerable people in the country, and it has helped support medical and nursing students and retired doctors and nurses to join the front line.

Alongside £1.6 billion of new funding for Local Authorities, this health service funding means that HM Treasury has provided £2.9 billion to support local services and hospital discharge, reinforcing care for the vulnerable, and meaning that those who are strong enough can leave hospital more quickly, freeing up bed space for patients that need it.

HM Treasury is also working closely with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition to funding urgent health priorities on a UK-wide basis, the Treasury is now providing the devolved administrations with almost £2 billion from this fund through the Barnett formula.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:

Our public services and its incredible workers are working with immense resolve and skill to keep us safe. We depend on them, which is why we are doing everything we can to provide our NHS, local authorities and others, with the resources and tools they need to tackle the virus.

From the start, I’ve been clear our vital public services will get whatever they need to protect this country and its people from Coronavirus. We are delivering on our pledge.

The £14.5 billion of expenditure approved so far includes:

• £6.6 billion of support to our health services
• £1.6 billion for local authorities
• £0.9 billion to cover extra measures such as food packages for extremely clinically vulnerable people who have been advised to shield themselves from the virus at home and do not have a local network of family and friends to drop off provisions
• £3.5 billion to ensure vital rail services continue to operate now and, in the future, for those who rely upon them for essential journeys
• £1.0 billion for the Scottish Government
• £0.6 billion for the Welsh Government
• £0.3 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive

At Budget on 11 March, the Chancellor said he would do everything in his power to help Britain defeat Coronavirus. He initially set aside a £5 billion fund as a rapid response, and said that whatever extra resources needed by the NHS and public services would be provided.

• Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (but only if you cannot work from home)
• If you go out, stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people at all times
• Wash your hands as soon as you get home

Do not meet others, even friends or family.

You can spread the virus even if you don’t have symptoms.

UK aid will protect the British public and help prevent a second wave of coronavirus coming to the UK by slowing its spread in the most vulnerable countries, International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced today.

A package of £200 million will back UK charities and international organisations to help reduce mass infections in developing countries which often lack the healthcare systems to track and halt the virus. Today’s announcement brings the total amount of UK aid committed to the global fight against coronavirus to £744 million, making the UK one of the biggest donors to the international response.

Health experts have identified the weakness of developing countries’ healthcare systems as one of the biggest risks to the global spread of the virus. They have also warned that if coronavirus is left to spread in developing countries, this could lead to the virus re-emerging in the UK later in the year and put further pressure on our NHS.

The new UK aid announced today includes £130 million for UN agencies in response to their urgent appeal for support. Of this, £65 million will go to the World Health Organization (WHO) which is coordinating international efforts to end the pandemic sooner.

UK funding for the WHO will help provide more accurate assessments of how the pandemic is progressing around the world, allowing support to be targeted where it will save the most lives and stop the outbreak sooner, and helping countries respond to the virus.

The pandemic is particularly dangerous for countries with weak health systems who are already struggling to fight preventable diseases. In Yemen, 80 per cent of the population are already in need of humanitarian assistance and only about 50 per cent of health facilities are operational. In Asia, Bangladesh hosts 850,000 Rohingya refugees, many in crowded and unsanitary camps where disease could take hold rapidly.

These countries will be hard hit by lockdowns and disruptions to the supply of goods and services. UK aid will help to mitigate these conditions and support those already living in desperate situations.

The funding will also help developing countries to rapidly identify and care for patients with symptoms in order to limit human-to-human transmission. Our investment will help install new hand-washing stations and isolation and treatment centres in refugee camps, and increase access to clean water for those living in areas of armed conflict.

International Development Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

While our brilliant doctors and nurses fight coronavirus at home, we’re deploying British expertise and funding around the world to prevent a second deadly wave reaching the UK.

Coronavirus does not respect country borders so our ability to protect the British public will only be effective if we strengthen the healthcare systems of vulnerable developing countries too.

Our new UK aid support will help stop the virus from infecting millions of people in the poorest countries, meaning we can end this global pandemic sooner and prevent future waves of infection coming to the UK.

A further £50 million of the £200 million package will support the Red Cross in difficult to reach areas such as those suffering from armed conflict.

A final £20 million will go to NGOs, including UK charities which are using British expertise and experience to deal with coronavirus.

Pioneering British scientists and researchers like those at Oxford University and at Mologic, based in Bedford, are already at the forefront of the global race to find a coronavirus vaccine and stop its spread, including within the UK.

The UK has already committed £250 million of aid to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to rapidly develop a coronavirus vaccine, the biggest donation of any country. Thanks to this investment, future vaccines will be made available at the lowest possible price to the NHS and other countries’ healthcare systems.

The announcement follows the Prime Minister’s call to world leaders to work together to create a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it available to anyone who needs it.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization said:

COVID-19 has demonstrated it has no regard for borders, ethnicities, ideologies or the size of a country’s economy.

The United Kingdom’s generous contribution is a strong statement that this is a global threat that demands a global response. WHO is deeply grateful to the government and people of the United Kingdom for their generous contribution.

We are all in this together, which means protecting health around the world will help to protect the health of people in the UK.

UK aid support for the WHO will not only help developing countries but will also benefit the UK through further research into the virus and improved international coordination.

Alexander Mattheou, Executive Director of International for the British Red Cross, said:

The scale of this grant to the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement (including the IFRC and ICRC) shows the gravity of the challenge ahead of us. The virus may not discriminate, but it hits vulnerable communities – those lacking healthcare, sanitation and food – the hardest.

“The British Red Cross, part of the global Red Cross Movement, is responding right now here in the UK, including supporting our NHS. However at the end of the day, the global response will only be as effective as the weakest health system. We must support the most vulnerable countries now as a part of an effort to keep us all safe.

The pandemic also creates other challenges – from women and girls who become more vulnerable to abuse, to people experiencing chronic hunger who lose access to food support, to camps and hospitals who have critical supplies cut off.

The COVID-19 response must include the immediate and the secondary impacts of the pandemic.

Notes to editors:

The new UK aid funding of £200 million is broken down as follows:

• £130 million for the new UN appeal, including: £65 million for the World Health Organization; £20 million for UNICEF; £20 million for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR); £15 million for the World Food Programme; and £10 million for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).

• £50 million for the new International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement appeals.

• £20 million for international NGOs, including UK charities, to tackle the virus.

Further details of the funding announced today will be made available in due course.

Today’s announcement brings the total amount of UK aid committed to fight coronavirus to £744 million. This includes: support to develop new vaccines, tests and treatments; humanitarian aid, support for the International Monetary Fund to help mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the world’s most vulnerable countries; and a global hygiene programme with Unilever.