The government has bold spaceflight ambitions that we outlined in the National Space Strategy that we published last September.

The UK has a thriving satellite manufacturing industry and we excel at providing satellite-based communications and high-end navigation services. The space sector directly employs 45,000 people in the UK and satellites support at least £360 billion of UK GDP.

However, the UK is currently reliant on other launch countries to put UK built and UK operated satellites into space – including those critical for our defence and security.

Through the Space Industry Act 2018 (the 2018 Act) and the Space Industry Regulations 2021 (the 2021 Regulations), we have established the regulatory framework and appointed the Civil Aviation Authority as the spaceflight regulator, to enable the licensing of spaceflight activities from UK spaceports.

Space based technologies provide fundamental services to the daily lives of everyone in this country – from supporting defence and security, enabling faster and more efficient travel, enabling our smart phones, the provision television services and receiving better weather forecasts.

Having a UK launch capability will generate and support many additional high skilled jobs up and down the country – and give UK greater control and increased options for getting our satellites into space that can provide benefits for all.

I have therefore today (19 July 2022) laid a departmental minute describing a new contingent liability that the Department for Transport plans to undertake in respect of future launch operator licences granted under the 2018 act.

The liability arises from a combination of the UK being a party to the United Nations Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects 1972, powers and obligations under the 2018 act to indemnify operators and those who sustain injury or damage in the United Kingdom as a result of spaceflight activities and limits placed on a launch operator’s liability by or under the 2018 act and the 2021 regulations.

The circumstances giving rise to the contingent liability are fully explained in the departmental minute.

A potential contingent liability will be created each time a launch activity is conducted under the 2018 act. The liability is unquantifiable – but we anticipate that the likelihood of any liability arising above an operator’s liability limit to be very low.

The Department for Transport will keep Parliament informed of the specific indemnities entered into under this notification by reporting on them in our annual report and accounts which are laid before Parliament.

HM Treasury has approved the contingent liability in principle.

If, during the period of 14 parliamentary sitting days beginning on the date on which this minute was laid before Parliament, a member signifies an objection by giving notice of a parliamentary question or by otherwise raising the matter in Parliament, final approval to proceed with incurring the liability will be withheld pending an examination of the objection.

The action I have taken today is another step towards achieving the first small satellite launch from Europe this year. It reaffirms this government’s bold commitment to establishing the UK as one of the most attractive and innovative space economies in the world and the leading provider of commercial small satellite launch in Europe.

New figures published today (19 July), show the growing impact of the Government’s revolutionary National Tutoring Programme, with almost 1.8 million courses started so far this year across an estimated 80% of schools.

With almost 600,000 course starts in the last two months alone, the boost in tutoring means the programme has now reached just under 2.1 million courses in total, transforming the way young people receive targeted support in school.

The Government set a target of two million courses for this academic year. Final data will be published by the end of the year, with numbers expected to continue growing over the summer.

The 1.8 million courses, started between 1 September 2021 and 26 June 2022, demonstrate the huge value of the programme and the resilience of schools, teachers and young people, in the context of disruption to pupil and staff attendance over the winter, amidst the Omicron wave.

Developed as part of the Government’s ambitious Covid recovery plan, the National Tutoring Programme is supporting pupils across England to get back on track following the disruption caused by the pandemic. It forms part of the Schools White Paper pledge to offer high-quality support to any child that falls behind in English and maths.

Today’s figures also reveal that an estimated 80% of schools are now participating in the programme, highlighting a 14pp increase in take-up since May 2022. The data also highlight the continued success of school-led tutoring, which now accounts for over three quarters of all courses started.

The Department has today announced the appointment of three new delivery partners: Tribal Group, Education Development Trust, and Cognition Education, reflecting the programme’s new operating model for next year which will see funding go directly to schools, making it easier than ever before for pupils to access tutoring sessions. This will replace the previous model, in which Randstad acted as the sole contractor of the programme.

School’s Minister, Will Quince, said:

The National Tutoring Programme is helping to level up opportunities for millions of children across England and these latest figures are further evidence of the programme revolutionising the support available to the children who need it most.

I am determined to provide every pupil with the opportunity to reach their full potential and look forward to working with Tribal Group, Education Development Trust, and Cognition Education to continue growing this vital programme and ensure even more children can benefit from the high-quality tutoring we know makes such a difference.

In total, 1,433,793 courses have been started through the school-led tutoring route this academic year, with a further 200,835 through Tuition Partners, and 147,318 through Academic Mentors.

As schools this week receive confirmation of their funding for the next academic year, with allocations totalling £349 million, the three new organisations that will support the delivery of high-quality tutoring over the next two years have been announced:

• Tribal Group will support schools by quality assuring Tuition Partners. This will ensure schools can have confidence in the quality of tutoring provided by Tuition Partners that are involved in the programme.
• Cognition Education will recruit well-qualified people to work as academic mentors and deploy them to schools that are most in need of additional tutoring resource.
• Education Development Trust will provide high-quality training for new tutors, which will ensure that all tutors employed in schools have the right skills and knowledge for the role.

Kathryn Harris-Gurner, Head of Operations, Tribal Group, said:

We are delighted to be playing a part in the next phase of the National Tutoring Programme. The Government’s investment in tutoring has the potential to be transformational for all schools, but in particular those serving pupils from the poorest backgrounds.

Building on what has already been learned in the first two years of the NTP, we will be working closely with school leaders, the tutoring sector and the DfE to put in place a new system for selecting and monitoring Tuition Partners, which ensures high standards across the country.

Tina Lucas, CEO, Cognition Learning Group, said:

We are extremely pleased to have been awarded the contract to support the National Tutoring Programme. As a company dedicated to transforming the lives of children and young people through learning, we are proud to be selected to support schools with access to high quality Academic Mentors as they seek to address the challenges faced by many our most disadvantaged pupils as a result of pandemic disruptions to their education.

Yalinie Vigneswaran, Programme Director, Education Development Trust, said:

The national catch-up programme is a vital initiative and Education Development Trust is delighted to be carrying on our involvement in ensuring the damage wrought by the pandemic does not undermine school pupils’ life chances.

“The National Tutoring Programme is making a real difference to outcomes for young people across the country. We are excited to continue bringing our decades of experience and expertise to this work.”

Today’s statistics also highlight the continued success of the programme in areas like the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and West Midlands, meaning that the programme is reaching some of the most disadvantaged children in the country.

Data published earlier this year indicates that primary pupils have already recovered around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in reading, and around half of progress lost in maths.

A £5 billion investment into education recovery will continue to help children and young people to recover from the impact of the pandemic, ensuring that no matter where a child lives or what their ability might be, each will be supported to thrive. It will continue to play an important role in supporting the government’s Levelling Up mission for education, for 90% of primary school children to achieve the expected standard in Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths by 2030.

Schools are encouraged to continue using the programme as part of any summer provision they are running.

New figures published today (19 July), show the growing impact of the Government’s revolutionary National Tutoring Programme, with almost 1.8 million courses started so far this year across an estimated 80% of schools.

With almost 600,000 course starts in the last two months alone, the boost in tutoring means the programme has now reached just under 2.1 million courses in total, transforming the way young people receive targeted support in school.

The Government set a target of two million courses for this academic year. Final data will be published by the end of the year, with numbers expected to continue growing over the summer.

The 1.8 million courses, started between 1 September 2021 and 26 June 2022, demonstrate the huge value of the programme and the resilience of schools, teachers and young people, in the context of disruption to pupil and staff attendance over the winter, amidst the Omicron wave.

Developed as part of the Government’s ambitious Covid recovery plan, the National Tutoring Programme is supporting pupils across England to get back on track following the disruption caused by the pandemic. It forms part of the Schools White Paper pledge to offer high-quality support to any child that falls behind in English and maths.

Today’s figures also reveal that an estimated 80% of schools are now participating in the programme, highlighting a 14pp increase in take-up since May 2022. The data also highlight the continued success of school-led tutoring, which now accounts for over three quarters of all courses started.

The Department has today announced the appointment of three new delivery partners: Tribal Group, Education Development Trust, and Cognition Education, reflecting the programme’s new operating model for next year which will see funding go directly to schools, making it easier than ever before for pupils to access tutoring sessions. This will replace the previous model, in which Randstad acted as the sole contractor of the programme.

School’s Minister, Will Quince, said:

The National Tutoring Programme is helping to level up opportunities for millions of children across England and these latest figures are further evidence of the programme revolutionising the support available to the children who need it most.

I am determined to provide every pupil with the opportunity to reach their full potential and look forward to working with Tribal Group, Education Development Trust, and Cognition Education to continue growing this vital programme and ensure even more children can benefit from the high-quality tutoring we know makes such a difference.

In total, 1,433,793 courses have been started through the school-led tutoring route this academic year, with a further 200,835 through Tuition Partners, and 147,318 through Academic Mentors.

As schools this week receive confirmation of their funding for the next academic year, with allocations totalling £349 million, the three new organisations that will support the delivery of high-quality tutoring over the next two years have been announced:

• Tribal Group will support schools by quality assuring Tuition Partners. This will ensure schools can have confidence in the quality of tutoring provided by Tuition Partners that are involved in the programme.
• Cognition Education will recruit well-qualified people to work as academic mentors and deploy them to schools that are most in need of additional tutoring resource.
• Education Development Trust will provide high-quality training for new tutors, which will ensure that all tutors employed in schools have the right skills and knowledge for the role.

Kathryn Harris-Gurner, Head of Operations, Tribal Group, said:

We are delighted to be playing a part in the next phase of the National Tutoring Programme. The Government’s investment in tutoring has the potential to be transformational for all schools, but in particular those serving pupils from the poorest backgrounds.

Building on what has already been learned in the first two years of the NTP, we will be working closely with school leaders, the tutoring sector and the DfE to put in place a new system for selecting and monitoring Tuition Partners, which ensures high standards across the country.

Tina Lucas, CEO, Cognition Learning Group, said:

We are extremely pleased to have been awarded the contract to support the National Tutoring Programme. As a company dedicated to transforming the lives of children and young people through learning, we are proud to be selected to support schools with access to high quality Academic Mentors as they seek to address the challenges faced by many our most disadvantaged pupils as a result of pandemic disruptions to their education.

Yalinie Vigneswaran, Programme Director, Education Development Trust, said:

The national catch-up programme is a vital initiative and Education Development Trust is delighted to be carrying on our involvement in ensuring the damage wrought by the pandemic does not undermine school pupils’ life chances.

“The National Tutoring Programme is making a real difference to outcomes for young people across the country. We are excited to continue bringing our decades of experience and expertise to this work.”

Today’s statistics also highlight the continued success of the programme in areas like the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and West Midlands, meaning that the programme is reaching some of the most disadvantaged children in the country.

Data published earlier this year indicates that primary pupils have already recovered around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in reading, and around half of progress lost in maths.

A £5 billion investment into education recovery will continue to help children and young people to recover from the impact of the pandemic, ensuring that no matter where a child lives or what their ability might be, each will be supported to thrive. It will continue to play an important role in supporting the government’s Levelling Up mission for education, for 90% of primary school children to achieve the expected standard in Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths by 2030.

Schools are encouraged to continue using the programme as part of any summer provision they are running.

The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain have today (19 July 2022) released their Annual Report for 2021 to 2022.

The commissioners provide updates on their strategic objectives to 2023 and evaluate the longer-term impact of the pandemic. The traffic commissioners have worked hard to ensure that service users have been given the support and advice they require so that they continue to provide safe and effective transport services for the benefit of the country.

The report addresses issues such as:

• Entrants to the Road Haulage Industry

• The Decision-Making Process

• Certificates of Professional Competence (CPC)

• Load Security

• Maintenance

• Traction Only Services

• Driver Welfare

These includes some very important current issues such as driver shortages and the incoming legislation on LGVs between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes.

Also discussed in the report are business recovery, legislative change, local bus services, better targeted regulation and helping compliant businesses.

Reflecting on the report, the Senior Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt said:

“It has been a difficult year once more in the goods vehicle and PSV industries, with costs increasing and shortages affecting all operators, so we would like to acknowledge the hard work of our compliant operators in keeping our GB roads as safe as possible.

“Traffic commissioners continue to operate successfully as a team and within the communities, which we have the privilege to serve. We are committed to high-quality decision making against the standards set in legislation and to encouraging robust standards across the regulated industries .”

The Annual Report also contains statistics describing the licensing and regulatory activities. The data recognises the achievements of the commissioners and their support during the year, notably:

15,748 operator licence applications and variations processed

14,551 local bus registrations processed

1392 public inquiries determined

309 preliminary hearings held

57 Senior Team Leader (STL) interviews held

13,654 vocational driver cases closed

The report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-commissioners-annual-report-2021-to-2022

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and Aardman are delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Ideas’ competition.

The competition challenges youngsters to come up with an invention, support the awareness and understanding of IP rights through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects for Key Stages 1 and 2 (ages 4 – 11 years).

Entrants to the 2022 competition were challenged to answer ‘How should we be travelling in the future whilst considering the natural environment?’ Children were encouraged to take inspiration from Wallace & Gromit’s iconic inventions and consider how the design could be both fun and sustainable.

The competition saw a wonderful 1,126 entries, making it especially difficult for the judges to pick the ultimate winners from such a remarkable and inventive array.

The winning entry in the Key Stage 1 category was a design from Emily Benson from Cosby Primary in Leicestershire for the ‘Cheese Mobile’; powered by sustainable resources and constructed from cheese, it’s a cracking invention that caught the eyes of Wallace and Gromit. The runner up in this category with the creation of the ‘Super Springy’ boots was Minnie-Jay Williams from New Invention Junior School in Willenhall; special features of the boots include a cheese and water spray, handy for when you are thirsty or hungry on the go.

In the Key Stage 2 category, the winning entry was ‘The Moon Rider’ from Evie-Moon Cleary at Westcliffe Primary School, Scunthorpe; a litter collecting boat that is powered by the wind, sea, and sun, a great use of renewable natural resources. The runner-up in this category was ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Tea Wagon’ from Jasmine Jayde Chin at Ysgol Nantgwyn, Tonypandy; the wagon has an offering of any type of tea you desire and is powered by used teabags. An inventive way to reuse the teabags that would have gone to waste.

Running alongside this year’s challenge we had ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Tour of Innovation’. Travelling a mile around the UK for each competition entry received, Wallace & Gromit discovered innovations of the past and future. We can announce that the school that sent the duo the furthest is Cosby Primary in Leicestershire, a cracking total of 239 miles, congratulations.

The Intellectual Property Office’s Chief Executive Tim Moss said:

Our Wallace and Gromit Cracking Ideas Competition continues to show how young people have the gift of imagination without limits, as the wealth of inspiring and imaginative entries demonstrate every year.

It’s great to see that the competition is helping the next generation of creators and innovators understand the importance of protecting their original ideas. I would like to thank the teachers, parents, and helpers for encouraging the entrants and helping them grow their understanding of intellectual property as an asset for life. Encouraging and educating young people about the importance of IP will help build on the UK’s proud history of creativity and innovation, helping secure their future and make life better for all.

Emily Jones, Brand Manager at Aardman, said:

It was a joy to see all of the fantastic inventions from more young creative minds this year. We were blown away by the oodles of creativity, ideas and inspiration taken from Wallace & Gromit, from tea powered engines to cheesy vehicles! Well done to all who took part.

The Intellectual Property Office provides a series of education resources, competition and outreach to support innovation, creativity and intellectual property, including ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Ideas’. To find out more, you can get in touch with the IPO via ideas@crackingideas.com.

Notes to Editors:

• the Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Ideas campaign includes curriculum linked teacher resources for Key Stage 1 and 2, plus a competition

• the project will support STEM curriculums as well as areas of English and numeracy at Key Stage 1 and 2

• the campaign is a flagship education programme for the IPO and contributes to ‘creating a world leading IP environment’, helping increase IP’s impact through awareness and education

• Aardman, an employee-owned company, is based in Bristol (UK) and co-founded in 1976 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is an independent and multi-Academy Award® and BAFTA® award winning studio. It produces feature films, series, advertising, games and interactive entertainment

• Wallace and Gromit, Aardman’s most loved and iconic duo, have been delighting family audiences around the world for over 30 years. They are internationally celebrated, winning over 100 awards at festivals – including 3 Academy Awards® and 5 BAFTA® Awards

• the studio runs the Aardman Academy which has a commitment to nurturing talent by delivering excellence in film and animation training and mentoring. The Aardman Academy offers a variety of courses from intensive one-day workshops teaching production skills and storyboarding, to comprehensive twelve-week courses for professionals in craft based subjects from model making to animation

• in November 2018 it became an Employee Owned Organisation, to ensure Aardman remains independent and to secure the creative legacy and culture of the company for many decades to come