• The fund has traditionally supported conservation of internationally important cultural heritage sites threatened by conflict
• 2020 will see a new focus on protecting international heritage from natural disasters and climate change

UK Heritage Minister Helen Whately has announced a further £10 million for the UK’s work to protect overseas cultural heritage.

The investment builds on the £30 million ploughed into the Cultural Protection Fund since it was established in 2016. It provides funding to safeguard heritage of international importance threatened by conflict in countries across the Middle East and North Africa.

The Fund will now be extended to help heritage sites overseas to prepare for and respond to the potential risk of natural disasters and climate change. A new pilot will be trialled, providing local organisations with the skills to protect ancient sites and cultural heritage.

The new focus has been prompted by the tragic loss of iconic buildings and collections in Brazil following the fire at the Museu Nacional in 2018 where more than 20 million objects are thought to have been lost.

The new funding will also support existing Cultural Protection Fund projects to enhance the long-term sustainability of their work and new funding is available for organisations working on projects in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

Heritage Minister Helen Whately said:

The UK’s Cultural Protection Fund helps to protect sites and objects of local and international cultural importance across the world.

In recent years we have seen some of the world’s great cultural treasures destroyed by conflict or natural disasters. These are losses for the whole of humanity.

This additional funding will help communities around the world preserve art, culture and heritage of global significance.

More than 50 grants have been awarded since 2016 to projects working across 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

It is estimated that by 2020 more than 3,000 people will have developed new skills in heritage protection thanks to the Cultural Protection Fund. So far, 10,000 people have taken part in activities to increase understanding of and engagement with their cultural heritage.

Current projects include:

• Working with the Yazidi people in displacement camps in Iraq to record and share their music and cultural heritage
• Preserving unique archaeological sites in Iraqi Kurdistan that date to 10,000 years old that were damaged by the Saddam Hussein regime
• Working with Syrian refugees to give them the skills to rebuild their country’s stone-built heritage
• Collecting linguistic data to develop a multilingual dictionary to help preserve the endangered Pamiri languages in Afghanistan
• Creating a database of Egyptian and Nubian artefacts in a bid to counteract looting and illegal trafficking of antiquities in Egypt

Notes to editors

• The new £2 million Disaster and Climate Change Mitigation Fund pilot will be managed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and will focus on ODA-eligible countries.
• The British Council will receive £8 million to build on the long term sustainability and impact of existing Cultural Protection Fund projects in 12 locations and to support projects working in Syria, Libya and Yemen.
• The Cultural Protection Fund is managed by the British Council – the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations – in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
• About UK aid: The UK government uses aid to tackle the global challenges of our time including poverty and disease, mass migration, insecurity and conflict to make the world – and ultimately the UK – a better, safer and more prosperous place.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has today (5 November) published the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlement values and greening rates.

This follows the confirmation of the BPS exchange rate for this year’s payments, which will start landing in bank accounts in December.

Under BPS, farmers need to hold an entitlement for every hectare of eligible land they are claiming on. The size of farmers’ payments will depend on how many entitlements they use, supported by eligible land and the value of those entitlements.

The greening part of payments has been calculated by taking the number of entitlements farmers have used with eligible land to claim payment, and multiplying it by the greening value.

Now that the rates are set, the RPA is focusing on preparing payments so these are ready to land in bank accounts when the payment window opens.

BPS, greening and the young farmer payment will continue to operate for the 2020 scheme year.

Entitlement values

Region	2019	2018	2017
Non-SDA	€182.70	€181.39	€180.46
Upland SDA, other than moorland	€181.34	€180.00	€178.90
Upland SDA moorland	€49.76	€49.09	€49.63

Greening rates

Region	2019	2018	2017
Non-SDA	€78.69	€78.13	€77.69
Upland SDA, other than moorland	€78.11	€77.53	€76.92
Upland SDA moorland	€21.43	€21.14	€21.32

Published 5 November 2019

Yvonne will hold the role until 31 October 2023, having started on 1 November 2019 following her appointment by Business and Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom MP.

Yvonne is Chief Executive at NEL Fund Managers Limited, an MBA Advisory Board Member at Durham University Business School and an Advisory and Decision Committee Member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund.

Yvonne joins Heidy Rehman (corporate services) and Laurence Milsted (audit and risk) on the advisory board, playing a key role in providing leadership and direction to the organisation, working closely with the Small Business Commissioner’s Office.

The Small Business Commissioner’s Office was set up by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in December 2017 to help the UK’s 5.7 million small businesses struggling with late payments.

The Small Business Commissioner supports small businesses to resolve their payment disputes with larger businesses, providing advice and helping bring about a culture change in payment practices and how businesses deal with each other.

Published 5 November 2019

Alan will take up his role from November 2019 for 3 years. He will work with the Met Office Board and executive team to ensure the organisation continues to offer global leadership in the fields of weather and climate science.

Alan said:

It is a privilege to be selected as a non-executive director of the Met Office. The scientific research and operational forecasts from the Met Office have an international reputation for quality, accuracy and reliability. I look forward to working with board colleagues, the executive team and staff to help the Met Office build on its successes whilst continuing to transform to face the challenges of the future.

About Professor Alan Thorpe

Alan is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Reading following on from being the Director-General of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts between 2011 and 2015.

Alan has wide-ranging public sector and private sector experience which he will bring to the role. He is a former Chief Executive Officer of the Natural Environment Research Council, the founding Director of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and a Professor of Meteorology at the University of Reading.

Alan was appointed as an OBE in 2016, has honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from the universities of Warwick, Birmingham, and Reading and was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Meteorological Society in 2018.

He is also involved with the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery of the World Bank and the Global Weather Enterprise Forum. He provides scientific advice to Spire Global.

About the Met Office

The Met Office is the UK’s National Meteorological Service and home to the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Science and Services, consistently rated among the top climate research institutes in the world. Through its weather and climate services it is expected to make a £30 billion contribution to the UK economy over this decade, protecting lives and supporting productivity and growth across the country.

The purpose of the Public Weather Service (PWS) is to help protect lives, property and infrastructure from the impacts of severe weather and through the exploitation of weather information and services contribute to economic growth in the UK. The PWS Customer Group (PWSCG) is the body which acts as the customer for the PWS on behalf of the public and the public sector. It is independent of government and has an independent Chair who is responsible to a minister.

Duncan Potts said:

I am delighted to have been appointed by the Minister to take on this important role as Chair of the PWSCG. The weather touches all our lives every day and accurate, timely and trusted weather forecasts provide a significant benefit to people and businesses across the UK.

In my role, I will ensure that the delivery of the Public Weather Service meets the needs of all who benefit from these crucial Met Office services.

This includes the important work of our responder community keeping citizens safe in times of need, to services that underpin safe aviation and the operations of our armed forces. I very much look forward to working closely with a range of government stakeholders, representatives of the general public and members of the PWSCG.

About Duncan Potts

Vice Admiral Duncan Laurence Potts CB is a retired senior Royal Navy officer, most recently working as Director of Universal Defence and Security Solutions Ltd.

Duncan was educated at Wellington School, Somerset before joining the Navy in 1979. After initial training at Britannia Royal Naval College, and at sea, he studied Systems and Management at the City University, London.

Duncan went on to be Captain Navy Plans and then military assistant to the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff at the Ministry of Defence. He was appointed Commander of the United Kingdom Task Group in 2007 and Assistant Chief of Staff at Permanent Joint Headquarters in 2009. He became Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces in January 2011 and Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Capability) and Controller of the Navy in April 2013.

Duncan was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 2014 Birthday Honours, and made director general of Joint Force Development and director general of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, with the rank of vice admiral.

He is a graduate of the Higher Command and Staff Course and Royal College of Defence Studies, a fellow of the Windsor Leadership Trust and a Younger Brother of Trinity House.

About the PWSCG

The PWSCG provides independent advice to government ministers to enable the formal agreement of the PWS Customer-Supplier Agreement (CSA) between government and the Met Office. Its objectives are:

• setting the requirements and outputs of the PWS
• consulting widely with the public and other stakeholders to ensure these requirements meet current and future needs
• setting performance measures and monitoring performance of PWS outputs
• assessing the value for money for the PWS
• agreeing provision of funding for the PWS

Terms of reference

The role of Chair

The Chair is responsible for ensuring the effective operation of the PWSCG, which includes:

• setting out the delivery and performance levels
• representing the interests of the group in government initiatives
• ensuring PWS funds are spent with due regard to economy, efficiency and value for money
• raising the profile of the PWS and maximising its impact across the UK