This follows a similar visit by a delegation of Indian government officials to the UK last month.

Representatives from the UK government, together with a mix of private sector organisations, are on a week-long visit to Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad, culminating with a workshop on 19 July in New Delhi focused on state- and city-led initiatives to scale up electric mobility markets in India. The visit is part of a scoping project exploring future partnerships with India on electric mobility. Delegates will discuss how to bolster charging infrastructure development, grid management, renewable energy integration, grid impact assessment, fleet transition programmes, pilots, vehicle to grid systems and city level planning.

Increasing the uptake of electric vehicles will require a transformational change to the transport and mobility sectors. The UK and India are helping to drive that transformation through continued knowledge exchange and joint development of innovative solutions for sustainable and zero emission mobility.

The British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith, said:

Pioneering work on e-mobility is taking place in both India and the UK. Whilst local needs may vary, the challenges we face are similar. Innovative technologies, practices and ideas bridge the gap and bring us closer.

India is already demonstrating global leadership on electric mobility – the UK is the right partner for that work, together helping to drive progress through innovation. Another example of the UK and India working as a force for good.

The UK is taking significant strides towards making electric mobility an integral part of its domestic transportation policy. The 2018 Road to Zero Strategy to reduce emissions from road transport is one of the most comprehensive plans globally – mapping out how the UK will make all new cars and vans zero-emission by 2040.

Last year, one in five electric cars sold in Europe was made in the UK and it was the second largest market for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) in the EU. The Faraday Institute is investing £246 million is working with premier UK universities and battery and electric vehicle manufacturers in the UK to address challenges around battery manufacturing.

India is working towards a ‘shared, connected and electric’ mobility system and is exploring innovative ways to increase the share of low carbon vehicles across the country. It recently announced a set of incentives in the Union budget, including tax incentives, to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. The two countries are already working together across a number of areas related to the development of clean energy.

Further information

The UK delegation includes senior representatives from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, Department of International Trade, Eo Charging, Go Ultra Low, Amte Power, Moixa, Saietta Group, and Arrival.

Transport for London and the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways signed an memorandum of understanding last year to help improve the overall public transport system in India, improve passenger services and promote the use of high capacity buses in the country.

In June, Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency – announced a programme to support the development of electric vehicle integration and clean air innovations together with partners in the city of Bengaluru. The programme will be carried out by the UK’s Energy Systems, Connected Places and Satellite Applications Catapults, and will link expertise, activities and innovation communities in the UK and Bengaluru.

The Road to Zero Strategy and the UK’s Industrial Strategy are available online. The UK has also launched a Future Mobility Strategy, outlining the Government’s approach to dramatically reducing carbon emissions and other pollutants.

The UK is the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law. Last month, the UK announced its bid to host COP26 climate negotiations in partnership with Italy.

Pure electric cars have a strong environmental benefit, but also a financial one. Studies in the UK have shown that pure electric cars can helps users save approximately £650 a year in tax and fuel over petrol or diesel cars.

For media queries, please contact:

Mail to: Ashwamegh banerjee

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIN, Youtube, Flickr, Eventbrite and Blogs

Nine air ambulance charities across England will receive a share of £10 million funding. The 9 charities that will receive funding are:

• East Anglian Air Ambulance
• Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
• London’s Air Ambulance
• Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust
• Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust
• Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
• Devon Air Ambulance Trust
• MAGPAS Air Ambulance
• Midlands Air Ambulance Charity

The funding means air ambulance charities will benefit from new equipment and improved facilities, including:

• modernised operational facilities at 7 airbases
• a new state-of-the-art helicopter for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust
• 7 critical care cars with medical equipment
• immersive interactive training suites to better prepare crews for challenging conditions

The new and improved facilities will include immersive simulator suites, allowing paramedics to train with other emergency services, along with a dedicated wellbeing area for staff to debrief after serious incidents, offering a place to recuperate and sleep after challenging missions.

A call for bids for charities to apply for funding was launched by the department in February. This invited the 18 air ambulance charities across England to submit bids of up to £2 million for projects to improve their facilities.

Fourteen applications were received and 9 were successful. The applications went through several stages of assessment to select bids which were deliverable and offered the best value for money.

Air ambulance critical emergency services are not funded by the NHS. Although they receive some support from NHS ambulance services which provide them with clinical staff and equipment, vital charitable donations from the public cover the costs of keeping services running.

Air ambulance crews provide life-saving support to NHS emergency response teams on the ground in cases where critical care is needed in a short space of time.

Helicopters can carry more equipment than a standard ambulance, meaning expert paramedics can deliver lifesaving treatment at the scene of an incident that would typically be provided in a hospital setting, such as open chest surgery or a blood transfusion.

This funding supports the NHS Long Term Plan to improve emergency care for all patients.

Health Minister Stephen Hammond said:

Air ambulance crews work under extreme pressure in situations where every second counts.

This one-off funding to help provide world-class facilities and equipment recognises the integral role they play in our health service.

Air ambulance charities rely heavily on generous donations from members of the public and typical fundraising activities for their life-saving work and they deserve our enormous gratitude.

Paula Martin, Chairman of the Association of Air Ambulances, said:

The air ambulance charities welcome this support from the Department of Health and Social Care. The £10 million which was announced in the Autumn Budget statement has been extremely well received and has enabled charities to bring forward capital projects to further enhance the level of care they deliver to patients.

Whilst hugely grateful of the support received from the DHSC and government, air ambulance charities rely primarily on the fantastic support from the public to ensure the long-term stability of the care they provide.

As independent charities, each has the flexibility to deliver tailored services which best suits the locations and patients they serve. The opportunity to access grants such as this plays an invaluable role in assisting these pioneering services, allowing for funding which is additional to the incredible generosity of the public.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Liqui-Box’s proposed takeover of DS Smith’s rigid and flexible packaging business.

As part of its initial, Phase 1, investigation the CMA found that Liqui-Box and DS Smith are 2 of the 4 main companies in the UK, offering a specialist type of packaging called Bag-in Box to food, wine, dairy and drink suppliers.

If the deal is allowed to go ahead as planned, the CMA is concerned it could create insufficient competition in the supply of these products, leading to their customers potentially having less choice and paying higher prices, especially as there are very few large suppliers in the UK.

The CMA is also concerned that the reduction in competition could lead to lower quality products and/or a poorer service.

If the merging businesses are unable to address the CMA’s concerns, the deal will be referred for an in-depth Phase 2 investigation to be carried out by a group of independent CMA panel members.

All information relating to the merger is available on Liqui-Box/DS Smith inquiry page.

How to apply for research and development funding from the UK Seafood Innovation Fund (SIF) scheme.

Children from the wealthiest backgrounds are 3 times more likely to take up music classes out of school hours than children from the poorest backgrounds. There is also a 20%participation gap in sport, a new report by the Social Mobility Commission reveals today (Friday 19 July).

The report, ‘An Unequal Playing Field’, shows huge disparities in children’s participation rates across a wide range of extra-curricular activities depending on their social background. Children aged 10 to 15 from wealthier families are much more likely to take part in every type of activity especially music and sport.

The report looks at activities such as arts, music, sport, dance, voluntary work, and youth clubs. It shows that children’s participation in extra-curricular activities depends on the schools they attend; the area they are growing up and their socio-economic background.

As household income rises so does increased participation. Those from better-off families are also more likely to engage in a greater number of out of school activities. Children from the poorest families are 3 times more likely to not participate in any extra-curricular activities compared to those from wealthier families.

Some classes are expensive but there are other barriers for the less affluent. In some areas there are access difficulties – schools don’t provide the activities and local councils have cut back on their provisions for children and young people. Sometimes, however, children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not take part because they lack confidence or fear they will not fit in.

The University of Bath, who conducted the research, found that children who do participate in extra-curricular activities gain confidence and build up their social skills which is much sought after by employers. They are also more likely to aspire to go on to higher or further education.

Dame Martina Milburn, Chair of the Social Mobility Commission said:

It is shocking that so many children from poorer backgrounds never get the chance to join a football team, learn to dance or play music. The activity either costs too much, isn’t available or children just feel they won’t fit in. As a result they miss out on important benefits – a sense of belonging, increased confidence and social skills which are invaluable to employers. It is high time to level the playing field.

The commission sets out 4 key recommendations for the government, voluntary groups and schools. These are:

1. Introduce of a national extra-curricular bursary scheme for disadvantaged families
2. Provide of funding to develop and extend voluntary sector initiatives that allow access to activities
3. Increase the capacity of schools to provide extra-curricular activities and provision of extra information
4. Improve data collection and carrying out further research into soft skills development

The research, commissioned by Damian Hinds, the Secretary of State for Education, also discloses wide geographical differences in extra-curricular provision and participation rates. Children in Northern Ireland for example, joined in most activities such as attending youth clubs whilst the North East has the lowest participation in music classes. There are also big variations in activity take-up by ethnicity. Around 4% of British Pakistani youth take music classes compared to 28% of British Indian and 20% of White British youth.

The main findings:

• nearly 3 times as many children from the highest income households take part in music activities (32%) compared to the lowest income households (11%)
• 64% of young people from the highest income households take part in sport compared to 46% of young people from the lowest incomes
• around 4% of British Pakistani youth take music classes, compared to 28% of British Indian and 20% of White British youth
• fewer young people in the North East of England take music classes than anywhere else – 9%, compared to 22% in the South East
• sport is by far the most popular extra-curricular activity with nearly 50% of youth taking part compared to only 8% doing art
• children from the poorest backgrounds are 3 times more likely to not take part in any of the extra-curricular activities examined compared to those from the wealthiest backgrounds

John Herriman, Chief Executive of Greenhouse Sports, a charity helping disadvantaged children through sport, said:

Extra-curricular activity is so important for young people, and can be especially advantageous in helping to improve the life-chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is the basis of our entire approach at Greenhouse Sports, where we deliver intensive sports coaching and mentoring.

Charlotte Hill, Chief Executive, #iwill Campaign said:

Great education leaders know that education is about more than grades. Taking part in volunteering and other activities is a great way for young people to develop their character, confidence and vital skills for the future.

The Social Mobility Commission is an advisory, non-departmental public body established under the Life Chances Act 2010, as modified by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.

It has a duty to assess progress in improving social mobility in the UK and to promote social mobility in England.

The commission includes:

• Dame Martina Milburn, Chair
• Alastair da Costa, Chair of Capital City College Group
• Farrah Storr, Editor-in-chief, Elle
• Harvey Matthewson, Aviation Activity Officer, Aerobility
• Jessica Oghenegweke, Broadcast and Digital Co-ordinator, The Roundhouse
• Jody Walker, Senior Vice President at TJX Europe (TK Maxx and Home Sense in the UK)
• Liz Williams, Group Director of Digital Society at BT
• Pippa Dunn, Founder of Broody, helping entrepreneurs and start ups
• Saeed Atcha, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Xplode magazine
• Sam Friedman, Associate Professor in Sociology at London School of Economics
• Sammy Wright, Vice Principal of Southmoor Academy, Sunderland
• Sandra Wallace, Partner and Joint Managing Director UK and Europe, DLA Piper
• Steven Cooper, Chief Executive Officer C.Hoare & Co

The functions of the commission includes:

• monitoring progress on improving social mobility
• providing published advice to ministers on matters relating to social mobility
• undertaking social mobility advocacy