Deals between British and Chinese companies worth more than £500 million were announced today, during a visit to the UK by Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua.

The exams regulator has responded to the update from Pearson on the A level maths exam paper breach with the following statement:

An Ofqual spokesperson said: “Students, parents and teachers have been understandably upset by the rare, irresponsible actions of one centre which breached the security of Pearson’s maths exam taken on Friday. This is completely unacceptable. The integrity of the exam system relies on the trust and diligence of exams officers, teachers, students, exam boards and their suppliers and social media companies – the vast majority of whom take seriously their responsibilities. When that trust is breached our priority, and that of exam boards, is to protect the interests of hard working students.

“We have a team closely monitoring Pearson’s investigation and its approach to awarding the qualification. Our aim is that the outcomes are fair to students. We have been assured by Pearson’s prompt action on Friday to identify the source of the breach and the involvement of the police. As a result of risks identified during its investigation, Pearson has taken the precautionary decision to protect students by replacing the paper for Thursday’s A level further maths exam.

“We will continue to work with the exam boards to make sure the remaining exams of the summer are safely taken. Once results are issued, we will review the summer, including this incident, and consider what more can be done to protect the integrity of the exam system.”

Kevin Cunnington became Director General of the Government Digital Service in 2016.

Under his leadership, GDS has helped government realise more than £1 billion of benefits through scrutinising technology spending. Other achievements include the introduction of machine learning and speech recognition technologies to government services, and overseeing a substantial increase in traffic to the GOV.UK website, which now attracts more than 15 million unique visitors a week. Since 2016, the UK Government has also consistently ranked in the Top 5 of the UN E-Participation Index and E-Government Development Index.

His new position will see him take on the role of Director General in the newly created International Government Service (IGS).

The move tasks him with promoting the work of UK Government services, including the digital sector, across the world. He said:

I’m thrilled to be taking up this new role and see it as a fantastic opportunity to build on our achievements at GDS. I’m looking forward to promoting the work of the UK Government and exploring how the UK can provide government-to-government services, including digital, on a global stage.

John Manzoni, Chief Executive of the Civil Service and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary said:

Kevin is well-qualified to take on his new role as head of IGS. Under his leadership, GDS has matured into an established function, responsible for accelerating digital transformation right across government and the wider public sector. The Civil Service now has more technical capability than ever before, while the UK is consistently ranked among the world’s most digitally enabled governments.

Kevin leaves GDS in a strong place, ready for his successor to take digital government to the next level.

Alison Pritchard, who is currently GDS’s Director for EU Exit and Transformation, will take over as Director General of GDS on an interim basis, while a recruitment exercise takes place to fill the role on a permanent basis.

A toolkit to help local authorities make informed decisions on whether to implement, vary or terminate a water fluoridation scheme.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster David Lidington addressed the Women in Security Network at the National Cyber Security Centre.