PM set to deepen ties with New Zealand as he welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern back to Downing Street

  • Prime Minister set to host Jacinda Ardern at Downing Street today following NATO Summit
  • Leaders will discuss shared geo-political challenges and are expected to agree new measures to boost the close UK-New Zealand alliance 
  • Planned agreements include an extension to the Youth Mobility Scheme and a new science and innovation partnership

The Prime Minister will host the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, at Downing Street today [Friday], rounding off nine days of international engagement with more than 90 nations.

The leaders are expected to discuss the security challenges facing the Indo-Pacific and the situation in Ukraine, as well as new initiatives to build on our shared values and long-standing close ties. The visit comes after both leaders attended the NATO summit in Madrid this week, and follows the agreement of the UK-New Zealand free trade deal in February.

The Prime Ministers will agree new joint schemes to ensure New Zealand and the UK can address global challenges for the next generation. This will include an extension to the Youth Mobility Scheme, which will raise the age limit and increase the length of visas, attracting and allowing highly skilled and ambitious young people to move between the two countries easily, sharing skills and innovative ideas between the two countries.

The leaders are also expected to agree a landmark science and innovation arrangement, building on the Government’s Integrated Review and bringing UK and New Zealand researchers and technology experts together to inspire ground-breaking science.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

Though they may be one of our most distant allies, the United Kingdom counts New Zealand among our closest friends. We share a world view, standing up for democracy and free trade around the world, which is fortified by deep bonds of language and culture.

The partnership between the UK and New Zealand makes both of our countries safer and more prosperous. We are working side-by-side to address new and evolving threats that threaten to undermine stability and sovereignty in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. Our trade deal is slashing red tape, cutting tariffs and opening exciting new opportunities for British businesses and entrepreneurs to travel and trade. And now our scientists are working together to solve humanity’s toughest challenges.

I look forward to welcoming Jacinda Ardern to Downing Street today to take this alliance of old friends forward, and meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

The UK and New Zealand will also underline their commitment to work closely together on online safety, ensuring our countries are two of the safest places to be online. The collaboration will increase information sharing and best practise around online safety, with a focus on disinformation and safeguarding users, and underline the UK and New Zealand’s leading global roles in tackling online harm. This commitment comes after the UK Government introduced the Online Safety Bill to parliament in March.

The agreement will increase information sharing and best practise around online safety, with a focus on disinformation and child safety, and underline the UK and New Zealand’s leading global roles in tackling online harm. The partnership comes after the Government introduced the Online Safety Bill to parliament in March.

Trade ties between the two countries will also be on the agenda, including the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the recently agreed Free Trade Agreement.



More healthcare professionals can certify fit notes from today

  • The change is set to support patients getting advice and fit notes from their healthcare professional – without having to separately see a doctor
  • The reform follows fit notes going fully digital as they no longer need to be signed in ink.

From today (Friday 1 July 2022) nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists can all legally certify fit notes, reducing the pressure on NHS doctors, particularly GPs and scrapping unnecessary bureaucracy.

Updated guidance to health care professionals and their employers on these changes is also being published today, setting out how to support people to remain in work while managing a health condition.

This has been worked up and agreed with health professionals and DHSC to ensure these changes deliver benefits for both patients and clinicians. The existing guidance for employers and patients has also been updated.

This significant change recognises the importance of supporting people to remain in work, while managing a health condition by providing advice to an employer about how to support someone. By leveraging the expertise of a wider range of healthcare professionals, the change also streamlines the process.

The change, which applies across England, Scotland and Wales and is being mirrored in Northern Ireland, will support and empower better conversations about work and health between employers and staff by making it easier to get advice certified by the most relevant healthcare professional.

It will also improve a patient’s experience and reduce pressure on doctors, as people will no longer have to be sent to a doctor to have the fit note signed when seeing and receiving treatment from an alternative professional for their health condition.

The change is being delivered in GP surgeries, hospital and other NHS settings where healthcare professionals delivering NHS services will have access to the new fit note form.

Fit notes provide evidence to employers about a person’s absence and any relevant advice on how to support their employees to remain in or return to work. They also provide evidence for claims to benefits for those who are out of work.

Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work Chloe Smith MP said:

Having a health condition doesn’t have to take you out of a job. This change will make it easier for people and employers to get the advice they need so people can stay in work, whilst also reducing bureaucracy and freeing up doctors’ time.

Too often we see people being faced with unnecessary challenges to get a fit note. More professionals being able to offer this vital service will speed up the process and support people to return to or remain in work.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid MP said:

Slashing unnecessary bureaucracy is key to ensuring more patients can see their GP quickly and get the care they need as we bust the Covid backlogs.

That’s why we have introduced these powers to ensure certifying fit notes can be carried out by other healthcare professionals – helping to relieve pressures on GPs so they can focus on patients and deliver an extra 50 million appointments a year by 2024.

Director of Practice and Development at Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Ashley James said:

Physiotherapists are already at the forefront of patient care but these new powers to certify fit notes will ensure a more efficient process to support patients’ return to work.

Physiotherapist expertise is often key in having health and work conversations and providing effective rehabilitation throughout the return to work journey. Getting treatment and support right can help patients remain in work and manage conditions effectively or return to work in a timely manner.

These new measures remove the need for a separate appointment with a GP. This can only be good news for patients as well as help to take some pressure off primary care services.

Chair of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section for Work Dr Jain Holmes said:

This new opportunity will mean more people can get expert advice from occupational therapists. The profession is keen to show how we identify work and health needs and then provide tailored advice for the people we see.

As Chair of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section for Work, we will be providing support to help the transition to this change which will benefit people’s everyday working lives.

The changes to the fit note deliver on commitments made last year to reduce ill health related job loss in the government’s Health is Everyone’s Business consultation response.

Additional information

  • Regulations were laid on 10 June 2022 to allow more healthcare professionals to certify fit notes in addition to doctors. These professions are nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and physiotherapists. The changes came into effect on 1 July 2022.
  • Updated guidance for healthcare professionals, employers and patients will be published on 1 July 2022 on gov.uk.
  • Fit notes can only be issued following an assessment of a person’s fitness for work.
  • This follows legislation changes in April 2022 which removed the need for fit notes to be signed in ink. This change made it possible for eligible healthcare professionals to certify fit notes digitally and also for patients to receive their fit note via digital channels (where GP IT systems support this).
  • Fit notes provide evidence of an absence of more than 7 days.

Media enquiries for this press release – 0115 965 8781

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New Magnox supply chain strategy

News story

Magnox has launched a new supply chain strategy to support its long-term future, reflecting business model changes and an expansion of the mission to safely decommission 12 nuclear facilities.

Work in progress

The revised business strategy will enable Magnox, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, to seek longer term collaborative arrangements with the supply chain with the aim of encouraging the development of solutions to nuclear decommissioning challenges that deliver value for the taxpayer whilst being innovative, sustainable and providing socio-economic benefits for local communities.

Rob Bellis, Magnox Commercial Director, said: “This is an era of progressive expansion for us at Magnox. We’re proud that the work we do is of national importance and that we continue to be entrusted with the responsibility of managing the UK’s legacy of nuclear power generation and research.

“With our longer-term future secure, we can drive harder to deliver projects that are environmentally sustainable and support local communities. To achieve this, we must continue pushing boundaries in technology and working with supply chain partners who share our core values and are happy to be incentivised to deliver these. We’re keen to work with small and medium enterprises as well as large organisations to reach our goals.

“Safety, people, sustainability and innovation lie at the heart of who we are and what we do, and our new supply chain strategy will support the Government’s levelling-up agenda and ensure the UK remains a centre of excellence for nuclear skills.”

The strategy will be formally launched at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s supply chain conference in Telford on 21 July 2022. You can book your place at the largest event of its kind anywhere in Europe on the event website and read the full Magnox supply chain strategy 2022 here.

Published 30 June 2022



Foreign Secretary statement on the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong

Press release

Today marks 25 years since the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China, and two years since the imposition of the National Security Law.

Today marks 25 years since the handover of Hong Kong. China agreed under the legally-binding Sino-British Joint Declaration to uphold Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms.

However, we have seen a steady erosion of political and civil rights since the imposition of the National Security Law on 30 June 2020. Authorities have stifled opposition, criminalised dissent and driven out anyone who can speak truth to power.

The United Kingdom’s historic commitment to Hong Kong and its people endures. That is why we continue to challenge China for breaching the legally-binding commitments it signed up to under the Joint Declaration. We have called out their conduct on the world stage and stood together with our G7 partners in condemning the steady erosion of political and civil rights and Hong Kong’s autonomy.

The UK has opened its doors to the people of Hong Kong looking for a home where their fundamental rights and freedoms are respected. We offered a new immigration path to British Nationals Overseas, and there have been over 120,000 applications for this route.

Twenty-five years on, the UK continues to stand unwaveringly with Hong Kong. We are working with our allies and partners as part of a global network of liberty to hold China to its international obligations.

Published 30 June 2022



Cornwall man sentenced to longer prison term for historic rape

News story

The offender will spend longer in prison for rape which happened in the late 1970’s and early 80’s

A man who raped a child in the late 70’s and early 80’s has received a lengthier jail sentence after the Solicitor General Alex Chalk QC MP referred his case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

The offender, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raped a child who was between 5 and 8 years old at the time of the offending. The offender was aged between 14 and 16 when the offending took place. He threatened to kill the victim if she told anyone about the offences that had taken place.

On 11 March 2022, the offender was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months’ imprisonment at Truro Crown Court for rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child.

The Solicitor General then referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme because he did not believe it reflected the severity of the offending that had taken place.

On 30 June the Court of Appeal found the original sentence to be unduly lenient and increased it to 8 years’ imprisonment.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General Alex Chalk QC MP said:

Today’s verdict shows that it is never too late for justice to be done, and I wish to commend the victim for her bravery in coming forward. The fact that this offending happened a long time ago makes it no less serious, and I welcome the decision of the Court to impose a longer sentence.

Published 30 June 2022