Author Archives: HM Government

From automating our homes to the way we travel, next month’s Innovate 2017 event will showcase up-and-coming innovations that are new to market or already in production.

The UK’s first Hyperloop prototype pod

As part of the Hello World Showcase we will have HypED, the constructors of the UK’s first prototype pod and a winner of the Hyperloop One Global Challenge. The team of students from the University of Edinburgh’s engineering, informatics, economic and business schools are rethinking the future of transportation.

Hyperloop is Elon Musk’s idea for the future of mass transportation. A hyperloop is a sealed tube or system of tubes where a pod can travel free of air resistance or friction. It will provide a new way of transporting people and goods quickly, safely, efficiently and sustainably.

The HypED team was one of 10 across the world to have been named a winner of the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, which called for proposals to build Hyperloop networks connecting cities and regions. HypED’s proposed route would run from Edinburgh to London, through Manchester and Birmingham.

The Hello World Showcase

The exhibits in the Hello World Showcase will each highlight the impact of innovation on the UK economy. Other exhibitors include:

• OpenTRV – developers of Radbot, a smart thermostatic radiator valve
• Prodrive – a motorsport and technology company
• Robopod – advanced cost-effective plug-and-play robotics

About Innovate 2017

Innovate UK’s annual event will explore themes such as robotics and urban planning and what this means for the individual, business and government. Other topics include artificial intelligence, smart cities, alternative food sources and space exploration.

It provides a chance to hear from pioneering thinkers, network with investors and find out about the type of expertise and government support that’s available to help you innovate and grow your business.

Innovate 2017 takes place from 8 to 9 November 2017 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. A ticket costs £150 for one day or £199 for both days.

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Highways England is marking the end of Tyre Safety Month by revealing a series of initiatives it is developing or already delivering to help drive down the number of people killed and injured on the country’s motorways and major A roads.

The government company is working to slash road casualties by 40 percent by 2020 and believes focusing on tyre safety will have an important contribution over the next few years.

In 2016, tyre-related incidents along Britain’s roads led to 8 fatalities and 120 serious injuries. Working with partners as diverse as the NHS and tyre manufacturers, Highways England is exploring and experimenting with a series of innovative projects to help family drivers, commuters and commercial drivers alike keep tyres in tip-top condition and reduce the number of breakdowns and blow-outs on the road network.

Stuart Lovatt, Highways England’s Road Safety Lead, said:

Tyre failure is often due to incorrect inflation or worn treads. This can lead to everything from frustrating congestion caused by breakdowns to catastrophic collisions and tragic loss of life.

We are committed to dramatically reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on our motorways and major A roads. A focus on tyre safety will be a key activity for us over the next few years with an emphasis on reaching out to particularly vulnerable road users.

Only this week, a video – showing how to make simple 1 minute vehicle fitness checks before taking to the roads– was launched as part of Highways England’s partnership with Baby Box University which provides physical as well as online resources for expectant and new mums and dads.

As part of the launch event in Rotherham, Highways England also provided simple tyre tread checkers in baby boxes delivered to young parents..

Other initiatives being refined or developed include:

• 2 pilot schemes in Lancashire and Yorkshire equipping fire fighters with mobile 3D scanners to give drivers accurate tread depth readings and safety advice at safety events
• equipping Highways England’s own Traffic Officer Service with hundreds of manual tread gauges so they can help drivers make judgements about tyre health at public events
• investigating ways of quickly scanning vehicles, especially lorries, for other issues such as tyre tread depth, overheating brakes or axles which can cause lorries to break down suddenly, leading to congestion
• working with tyre firm Bridgestone to analyse the causes of tyre-related incidents and tyre damage – including promoting better tyre ‘husbandry’ among drivers and commercial fleet operators, with a focus on everything from regular tyre checks to debris-free depot maintenance
• developing a ground-breaking pilot initiative launched 2 years ago with tyre management technology company WheelRight Ltd, where drivers stopping at Keele Motorway Service Area were able to use a drive-through sensor station with an instant print-out facility to check the health of their tyres before heading back onto the motorway

John Walford, Highways England’s Commercial Vehicle Incident Prevention Manager, said:

The primary cause of commercial vehicle tyre failure is under inflation. Tyre-related problems are a major factor behind routine breakdowns and other, more serious incidents on our motorways and major A roads, leading to congestion, injuries and in some cases fatalities.

The associated costs, particularly in terms of congestion, are a brake on economic performance and the project at Keele MSA tackled the issue head on by alerting drivers to issues and allowing them to sort those out before leaving the services and resuming motorway journeys.

Highways England deals with more than 3,500 wheel or tyre-related incidents every month. Government figures suggest 1 in 12 HGV tyres is dangerously underinflated with the figure 1 in 8 for cars.

Many car drivers and commercial van and lorry drivers do not know the correct PSI for their vehicles while commercial drivers often leave tyre maintenance to their depots and do not check pressures themselves – with hard to reach tyres, such on the inside of axles – an issue.

Tyre-related incidents can be caused by under-inflation or over-inflation, bulges, blisters and cracks and other signs of weathering – often seen on towed vehicles which are often only used seasonally.

Highways England is a key supporter of the charity TyreSafe which works with a variety of partners such as police forces and manufacturers to reduce tyre-related incidents. More information on the work of TyreSafe is available on their website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

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Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson today (Friday 27) embarks on a two day visit to Portugal and France.

The Foreign Secretary is this morning in Lisbon, for his first official visit to Portugal. Boris Johnson will meet his opposite number Foreign Minister Santos Silva to discuss negotiations on the UK exit from the EU, and how to intensify the world’s oldest bilateral alliance.

Later today, the Foreign Secretary will travel to Paris where he will hold talks with French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian. The ministers will discuss major global security challenges such as Iran and DPRK.

Ahead of his visit, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

Portugal and the UK have the oldest bilateral Alliance in the world: the Treaty of Windsor, signed on 9 May 1386.

In Lisbon I will discuss how to strengthen our friendship and ensure that after the UK leaves the EU we continue to have a strong, special and modern alliance.

On his visit to Paris, he said:

In Paris, I will discuss with our French partners how we respond together to some of the toughest global security issues we face – Syria, Iran, Ukraine, DPRK.

The UK and France are not only allies, we are the closest of neighbours and friends. Hundreds of thousands of our citizens live in each other’s countries; millions of us cross the Channel every year on visits; and our languages are the most commonly taught in each others’ schools. So as the UK leaves the European Union we are not only preserving a crucial alliance, but writing a new chapter in that story.

Further information

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Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns is to host a roundtable with International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox and leading dairy businesses to discuss future trade opportunities once we leave the EU.

Wales exported £14.6bn worth of goods in 2016, up 10.4% from £13.3bn in 2015, with growing non-EU markets including UAE, Canada, Turkey and China all featuring in its top 15 export destinations.

Wales continues to be a hub for global investment, with latest statistics showing the number of jobs in Wales either created or safeguarded as a result of Foreign Direct Investment projects rising to 11,000 in the last year, up from 7,000 in 2015/16.

Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns said:

Wales is an ambitious outward-looking nation. Our country is home to some of the most innovative and exciting companies and products in Wales are sold right around the globe.

As part of the United Kingdom, Wales benefits from the economic security and international influence that comes from pooling our resources.

The UK Government is ready to support Welsh businesses to take advantage of every opportunity available to them to grow and expand into new markets.

International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox also said:

The Department for International Trade is committed to helping Welsh businesses boost exports, find new markets and showcase their international reputation for excellence, from agriculture to aerospace.

As an international economic department we will also continue to build on the impressive increase in jobs backed by in Foreign Direct Investment, and work closely with the Welsh Government to design a future trade policy in the national interest of the whole UK.

Trade White Paper

The Trade White Paper published by the Department for International Trade establishes the principles that will guide future UK trade policy as well as laying out the practical steps that will support those aims.

These include: * taking steps to enable the UK to maintain the benefits of the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement; * ensuring the UK can support developing economies by continuing to give them preferential access to UK markets; * preparing to bring across into UK law existing trade agreements between EU and non-EU countries, providing certainty to businesses and global investors; and * creating a new, UK trade remedies investigating authority

Feedback from businesses can be sent to stakeholder.engagement@trade.gsi.gov.uk by 6 November.

Further information

• Latest statistics show over the last 12 months the UK secured more foreign direct investment projects than ever before, UK exports have increased 13.1% on the previous 12 months in the year to August 2017 and the current account deficit narrowed to £101.3 billion in the year to 2017 Q2, from £113.8 billion in the year to 2016 Q2.
• In 2016/17 Wales welcomed 85 Foreign Direct Investment projects creating or safeguarding over 11,000 jobs.
• Wales exported £14.6bn worth of goods in 2016.
• While Europe is a key market for Wales, non-EU countries including UAE, Canada, Turkey and China all feature in the top 15 destinations for Welsh exports of goods with the USA remaining Wales’ largest export market for goods.
• The UK Government has developed the Wales Export Guide – a document that sets out the full range of support available to Welsh businesses from the UK Government and contains inspiring stories of companies based in Wales that are successfully exporting.
• You can download a copy of the guide here

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The Environment Secretary Michael Gove will today hail the UK’s forward-thinking food sector for driving innovation and productivity as we prepare to leave the EU.

Ahead of a visit to the Bournville chocolate factory today (Friday 27 October), which recently used a £75 million investment to launch four new production lines and employ thousands more staff, the Environment Secretary praised food producers across the country for creating thousands of new products every year – from craft beers, to chocolate, to healthy snacks.

At the Birmingham based factory, the Environment Secretary will see first-hand how even our most recognisable products are continuing to find new ways to push the boundaries – from new technologies to prolong shelf life to ‘free-from’ ranges that tap into consumer demand. The newest line at Bournville can now produce one million bars of Dairy Milk per day.

During a tour of Bournville’s newest production lines which can make a million bars of Dairy Milk every day, the Environment Secretary will see the company’s new innovation kitchen, where the next generation of Bournville products are dreamt up.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said:

As we leave the EU, we have a great opportunity to make sure our food and farming industry is leading the way in modern, creative thinking.

An innovative industry is a resilient one, and by investing in new technologies and ideas we can make sure we continue to thrive on the global trading stage and build on our renowned reputation as a great food nation.

Last year Defra launched the first ever Food Innovation Network to connect food producers across the country with world-class facilities such as test-kitchens and laboratories to help them create new products and production methods.

The government has also invested £160 million through the Agri-Tech Strategy to improve the flow of ideas and solutions from the laboratory to the farm, as well as £90m to support the creation of four Centres of Agricultural Innovation. These centres will help turn agricultural innovation into commercial opportunities, stimulating inward investment and helping revolutionise future farming practices.

Each year the food chain brings more than £110 billion to the UK economy, with exports hitting a record £20 billion for the first time last year. More than £620 million worth of chocolate was exported around the world, with shipments going as far afield as Australia and the US.

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