We have assessed 11 ancient woodlands, parts of which were due to be affected by preparations to build Britain’s new high speed railway this autumn, during the period of the Oakervee review. Work will now be deferred to Autumn or Winter 2020 on 5 of these sites, and to early 2020 on 6 of the sites. We will also take measures to protect wildlife to ensure they are not affected when work begins in early 2020.

The work affecting 11 ancient woodlands will be deferred as follows:

Five sites to be deferred to Autumn / Winter 2020

• Roughknowles Wood
• North Wood
• Un-named copse off Drayton Lane
• Rookery Wood
• Burnt Firs

Six sites to be deferred to early 2020

In these locations, we will need to carry out measures to protect wildlife. This will involve some localised removal of selected tree branches for essential protected species mitigation works to meet legal requirements ahead of the works in early 2020. However, we will not remove branches from any ‘ancient’ or ‘veteran’ trees within an ancient woodland so as not to affect the integrity of the ancient woodlands.

• Fulfen Wood
• Broadwells Wood
• Birches Wood
• Crackley Wood
• Unnamed Woodland south of Ashow Road
• South Cubbington Wood

Other essential preparatory works will continue including low level vegetation clearance, fencing and preparation of site accesses.

Of the 52,000 ancient woodland sites in England, 43 will be partially affected by HS2’s route between London and Crewe, and over 80% of the total area of these 43 will remain intact and untouched by HS2.

HS2 aims to be one of the most environmentally responsible infrastructure projects ever delivered in the UK. It will be a greener way to travel offering some of the lowest carbon emissions per passenger kilometre, significantly less than cars and domestic air travel.

Seven million new trees and shrubs, including over 40 native species, specific to each location will be planted as part of the HS2 programme. The new native woodlands will cover over 9 square kilometres of land.

Over 33 square kilometres of new and existing wildlife habitat – equating to an area the size of 4,600 football pitches will be created. That’s an increase of around 30% compared to what’s there now.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Latest information and actions from the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, schools, colleges, local authorities and further education providers

The Charity Commission has appointed an interim manager to Albayan Education Foundation Limited (1128083).

The regulator opened a statutory inquiry into the charity, which operates a school in Birmingham and works internationally to prevent and relieve poverty, in December 2018.

The inquiry has been examining the governance, management and administration of the charity by its trustees. Due to continued concerns, it has now exercised its powers under section 76(3)(g) of the Charities Act to appoint Emma Moody of Womble Bond Dickinson as an interim manager at the charity.

Interim managers are appointed as a temporary and protective measure where the Commission has identified misconduct or mismanagement, or there is a need to protect a charity’s property.

Ms Moody has been appointed specifically to evaluate the management and administration of the charity, and will act as manager in respect of the property and affairs of the charity.

She will carry out this role to the exclusion of the trustees, however they retain control of the day to day running of the charity.

The Commission’s inquiry continues; it intends to publish a report setting out its findings on conclusion of the inquiry. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. The appointment was made on 6 September 2019.
2. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work see the about us page on GOV.UK.

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A commitment has been made to prioritise ending preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030.

To achieve this, UK aid will invest in more vaccines for deadly diseases, prioritise access to healthcare for women and girls around the world, and invest in research to diagnose and treat diseases more quickly and effectively.

Every day, over 800 women lose their lives from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth and around 7,000 new-born babies die. The majority of these deaths are in the developing world and are preventable. Significant progress has been made to reduce these unnecessary deaths over the last 30 years. But we still fall short of a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every child lives a healthy life.

International Development Secretary, Alok Sharma, said:

Every 11 seconds, a pregnant woman or new-born baby dies somewhere in the world. These deaths are mostly preventable, and we should not allow this needless loss of life to continue.

We will boost our support for developing countries to ensure everyone has access to healthcare. We will invest more in vaccines and research so developing countries benefit from the very best of British and international expertise. And we will put sexual and reproductive health and rights for all women and girls at the heart of this commitment.

Everyone in the world deserves to be able to access the healthcare they need to live a healthy life.

This follows the announcement of a £600 million aid package to give millions more women and girls living in the world’s poorest countries access to family planning.

Notes to Editors

• In 2017, nearly 295,000 women died from complications relating to pregnancy and childbirth, and in 2018, 5.3 million children under 5 died (mostly from preventable causes) including 2.5 million newborns. The main causes include severe bleeding, infections, delivery complications and unsafe abortion.
• The vast majority of these deaths occurred in low and middle income countries, and amongst the poorest and most vulnerable.
• Maternal mortality worldwide dropped by 38 per cent and the number of new-born deaths halved between 2000 and 2017, but we are off target to end preventable death.
• An estimated 19.9 million children did not receive the vaccines during the first year of life, putting them at serious risk of these potentially fatal diseases. Some of the world’s most vulnerable people are still dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.
• UK aid is committed to delivering Gavi’s new ambition to vaccinate 300 million more people by 2025. In June 2020 the UK will host Gavi’s replenishment conference.
• At the UN General Assembly, we announced £600 million in support to family planning for women and girls.

To achieve this target, UK aid will:

• continue to prioritise access to family planning for women and girls around the world.
• increase funding for research and development into new health technologies designed to meet the specific needs of developing countries, like vaccines for deadly diseases such as meningitis and other severe epidemic diseases. Diseases that cross borders can also cross continents.
• ensure children in the poorest countries have access to the life-saving vaccines that children in the richest countries routinely receive.
• invest in research to develop cheaper and accessible diagnostic tests to make them more affordable for developing countries, so we can diagnose and treat diseases like malaria more quickly and effectively.
• use the best of British and international expertise to provide technical assistance to developing countries to better prioritise their own domestic resources on highly cost-effective health interventions, such as the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.
• will work with the private sector to increase access to affordable, effective, critical health technologies.