Author Archives: HM Government

The ministerial team is as follows:

Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport:

The Secretary of State has overall responsibility for strategy and policy across the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The Department’s main policy areas are:

• arts and culture
• broadcasting
• creative industries
• cultural property, heritage and the historic environment
• digital economy
• gambling and racing
• libraries
• media ownership and mergers
• museums and galleries
• The National Lottery
• Office for Civil Society
• sport
• telecommunications and online
• tourism

• broadband and mobile connectivity
• broadcasting
• creative industries
• cyber security
• data
• Digital Charter
• digital economy
• digital skills and engagement
• digital technology
• internet governance
• media
• online safety
• spectrum
• telecoms markets and resilience

Tracey Crouch MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society:

• gambling
• horse racing
• Office for Civil Society
• sport
• The National Lottery and society lotteries

John Glen MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism:

• arts
• culture
• heritage
• public libraries
• museums
• National Archives
• tourism

Lord Ashton of Hyde, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State:

• ceremonials
• DCMS business in the Lords
• First World War commemorations

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Innovate UK will invest in projects that stimulate innovation in infrastructure systems that provide critical services for the economy, environment and society, and create growth for UK businesses.

There is up to £5 million for projects that last between 3 and 12 months. Up to £10 million is available for projects that last up to 3 years, with costs between £100,000 and £5 million inclusive.

You can also apply into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership in infrastructure systems if you’d like to work with a recent graduate.

The opportunity

Infrastructure systems are the backbone of:

• economic stability
• growth
• competitiveness
• productivity

They are vital for social wellbeing and environmental sustainability; especially so when you consider the growing number of people, particularly in urban areas, who rely on these systems.

There is £425 billion of planned public and private infrastructure investment in the UK to meet the challenges and make the most of our world-leading capabilities in this area.

This includes infrastructure solutions in:

• planning
• engineering
• architecture
• energy
• the intelligent mobility of people and freight
• communications

We also have a strong base of creative start-ups in the digital economy and excellent academic research to support this aim.

Our priority areas

We’re particularly interested in projects in our priority areas for infrastructure systems. These are:

• smart infrastructure that improves whole-life performance and/or cost and resilience
• energy, including:
  • energy systems that flexibly match changing energy supply and demand profiles at local, regional or national scale
  • nuclear fission innovations that lead to major cost reductions, improved asset integrity and develop the supply chain
  • offshore wind innovations that result in significant reductions in the cost of energy
• connected transport that encourages more efficient transportation of goods and people across more than one mode
• urban living, addressing the challenges people face in urban areas

Competition information

• the competition opens on 10 July 2017, and the deadline for registration is 13 September 2017
• projects must be led by a UK business or research and technology organisation
• you may work alone if you are an SME and your project is under one year with costs of less than £100,000. Otherwise, you must work with partners, including at least one SME
• total project costs can range between £25,000 and £5 million, and last up to 3 years
• businesses can attract up to 70% of their eligible costs, depending on their size and the project type

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been looking at the impact on the quality of healthcare services from the planned merger between Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) and University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM).

UHSM operates Wythenshawe Hospital and Withington Community Hospital, and CMFT operates Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Altrincham Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, The University Dental Hospital and Trafford General Hospital.

In its provisional findings report today, the group of independent CMA panel members investigating the merger has found it could have some effect on competition and patient choice in the supply of elective services and some specialised services. The group will now look in detail at patient benefits the trusts claim will result from the merger to see if these outweigh any concerns.

The provisional findings report has found that significant financial pressures in the NHS along with local plans (in response to policies from commissioners and national regulators) which focus on greater collaboration and integration between healthcare providers, have dampened the role of competition between the trusts.

John Wotton, Chair of the Manchester hospitals merger inquiry group, said:

If we see convincing evidence of how this merger can benefit patients then we will look to clear it. We will now examine carefully the case put forward by the trusts before we come to a final decision on whether those benefits to patients will outweigh any loss of competition or choice.

Although the merger could reduce choice for patients and commissioners, we think the effects are likely to be limited. Recent developments both nationally – and in Manchester following devolution of health and social care – mean that in practice NHS providers are less able to act independently, which limits the extent to which they look to compete with each other.

In assessing the effect on patient choice, the CMA has been looking in detail at the elective (that is, non-emergency) procedures across a number of clinical specialties and maternity services provided by both trusts. It has also looked at certain specialised services commissioned by regional and national bodies, non-elective care and community services, all of which are also provided by the trusts.

The CMA has heard from local commissioners, the devolved health body in Manchester, NHS England and NHS Improvement, all of whom have expressed strong support for the merger. In particular, NHS Improvement has told the CMA that it will help deliver improvements for patients more quickly and at less cost than would be the case without the merger.

The provisional findings report has been published on the case page where all other information relating to this investigation is also available. The CMA must publish its final decision by 13 August 2017.

Patients and their representative groups, commissioning groups, other health providers, regulators, local authorities and any interested bodies are invited to give their views on the provisional findings (by 7 July 2017) and notice of possible remedies (by 29 June 2017), by email to cmft.uhsm.nhs@cma.gsi.gov.uk, or by post to:

Notes for editors

1. The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. For more information see the CMA’s homepage on GOV.UK.

2. On 25 February 2015, the 37 NHS organisations and local authorities in Greater Manchester signed an agreement with the government to devolve health and social care expenditure in Greater Manchester. This followed the agreement between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) devolving new powers and responsibilities to Greater Manchester on 3 November 2014. As a result, the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership assumed control over the region’s health and social care budget, which amounts to approximately £6 billion per year.
3. The test the group of CMA panel members is required to consider is whether the proposed merger may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to the services the hospital provide. They provisionally found that, in relation to certain elective (including maternity) and specialist services, it would.
4. For CMA updates, follow us on Facebook, Twitter @CMAgovuk, Youtube and LinkedIn.
5. Enquiries should be directed to press@cma.gsi.gov.uk or 020 3738 6798.

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