Aug162017

News story: Tackling drug resistance: UK-China funding competition announced

HM Government

A new competition for 2018 will make up to £10 million available to UK organisations to work with Chinese partners.

Next year will see a collaborative competition launched between the UK and China to develop solutions that address the threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Innovate UK is to invest up to £10 million in UK businesses, on behalf of the Department of Health. The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) will invest up to 60 million RMB to fund the Chinese partners.

The aim is to support novel projects that neither country would be able to conduct within the same timeframe without the other’s expertise. These should develop new products or services against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Where appropriate, they should include clinical evaluation.

Addressing the threat of drug resistance

It has been estimated that failure to tackle drug-resistant infections will lead to at least 10 million extra deaths a year by 2050. This would cost the global economy up to $100 trillion USD.

A substantial research and innovation effort is needed to address the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance, and to speed up the development of new antimicrobials and supporting technologies.

What is in scope

When the call opens we will be looking for projects that:

  • explore opportunities from traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment or prevention of infectious diseases in humans or animals
  • advance the discovery of new agents to prevent or treat drug-resistant bacterial infection in humans or livestock. New agents could include small molecule drugs, vaccines, antibodies or other biological products
  • identify new agents that will increase the feed energy conversion in livestock. This should be done without use of antibiotics or hormones
  • maximise the clinical utility of current antibiotics. The aim is to improve the prognosis of patients with extensively drug-resistant infections
  • improve capabilities for the diagnosis, treatment selection and surveillance of bacterial infections and antibacterial resistance

All projects must comply with Official Development Assistance (ODA) criteria.

Competition information

  • this competition will open in early 2018
  • to lead a project you need to be a UK-based business of any size. There must be at least one partner from the UK and one for China in a project team
  • projects should last no more than 3 years
  • up to £750,000 is on offer for projects on the UK side. On the Chinese side, funding of up to 5 million RMB will be made available
  • you could get up to 70% of your project costs
  • there will be a series of events to help you meet partners and find out more

Contact Gabriela Juarez Martinez, Knowledge Transfer Network, for information on events and to get notified when the competition opens by emailing gabriela.juarezmartinez@ktn-uk.org.

Aug162017

Official Statistics: FCE Corporate Plan Performance Indicators: Headline Performance Indicators Update at 30 June 2017

DEFRA

The document will present Forestry Commission England’s six headline indicators: number of high priority forest pests in the UK Plant Health Risk Register, percentage of known tree felling that is carried out with Forestry Commmission approval, percentage of woodland in active management, area of woodland, cost of managing the Public Forest Estate and number of private sector businesses operating on the Public Forest Estate.

Aug162017

Give headteachers power to ban mobile phones in schools

Scottish Conservatives
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16 Aug 2017

MobilePhonePolicy

Headteachers should have clear guidance allowing them to remove smartphones from school if they deem it necessary, a Scottish Conservative MSP has said today.

It follows academic evidence that restricting access to smartphone use by pupils can boost educational attainment – and reduce educational inequality.

No guidance has been issued to Scottish schools on smartphone technology since 2013, during which time mobile phone usage has increased by more than a third among the population.

Michelle Ballantyne, the party’s spokesman for childcare and early years, said today that a ban should exist in primary schools and restrictions on use should be introduced in secondary school where heads deem it necessary.

It comes after a major paper by the London School of Economics declared “schools that restrict mobile phones subsequently experience an improvement in test scores”.

It also found that “low-achieving students are more likely to be distracted by the presence of mobile phones” meaning that “banning mobile phones could be a low-cost way for schools to reduce educational inequality”.

However, the 2013 guidance issued by the Scottish Government declares that it is “unreasonable and impractical to attempt to impose a ban” on mobile phones in schools.

Now the South Scotland MSP has called for that guidance to change if attainment is to be improved.

Scottish Conservative early years spokeswoman Michelle Ballantyne said:

“We are all becoming more and more reliant on smartphones and we know parents see them as valuable to ensure they can keep in contact with their children before and after school.

“But we do need to get the balance right.

“The evidence suggests that excessive smartphone use in schools can reduce educational attainment, particularly among low-achievers.

“At the same time, we know that online bullying is a growing problem in school.

“Many primary school teachers would like to see a ban on smartphones, something I support.

“And in secondary, headteachers who want to restrict the use of smartphones if they think it is necessary should be supported to do so.

“Given the explosion of smartphone use over the last few years, the Scottish Government should be looking again at its four-year old guidance.

“This may be a cost-free way to help boost standards in classrooms all over Scotland, giving teachers the support they need to deliver the high quality education we all want for pupils.”

A study by the London School of Economics concluded in 2015 that schools which banned mobile phones saw an increase in test scores – with improvements particularly pronounced among low-achievers http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1350.pdf

Aug162017

Labour calls for Universal Credit roll out to be halted: new evidence of the impact on working people

Labour

Labour is calling for the roll out of Universal Credit to be
halted as new data shows that while wages are failing to keep up with
inflation, cuts to in-work social security support have meant most net
incomes of recipients have flat-lined in real terms and in some cases
worsened, with women and people from ethnic minority communities worst
affected.

Analysis from the House of Commons Library, shows real wages
stagnating and in-work support contracting for both private and public sector
workers.

The analysis looked at different types of households and income
groups all working full time. It shows single parents with dependent children
being particularly badly affected, with up to £3,100 a year less than they
received with Tax Credits. 

The analysis also shows that nurses and teachers will be hit
particularly hard by the combination of stagnating wages and cuts to social
security.

A single parent of two working full-time as a teacher who is a
new claimant to Universal Credit will be around £3,700 a year worse off in
2018/19 compared to 2011/12. A single parent of two working in the NHS on
average full time earnings for the public sector who is a new tax credit
claimant will be over £2,000 a year worse off in real-terms in 2018/19 compared
to 2011/12.

Equality analysis published in response to a Freedom of
Information request submitted by Labour, predicts cuts to Universal Credit will
fall most heavily on women and ethnic minorities. This analysis shows that households
with a woman or member of an ethnic minority are more likely to be adversely
affected by cuts to Universal Credit work allowances.

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions, commenting on the newly-published analyses, said:

“It is shocking that most people on low and middle incomes are
no better off than they were five years ago, and in some cases they are worse
off. The Government’s cuts to in-work support of both tax credits and Universal
Credit are having a dramatic effect on people’s lives, on top of stagnating
wages and rising prices. 

“It’s no wonder we are seeing record levels of in-work poverty,
now standing at a shocking 7.4 million people.

“These analyses make clear that the Government’s abject failure
on living standards will get dramatically worse if Universal Credit is rolled
out in its current form.  

“That’s why Labour is calling for the roll out to be stopped
while urgent reform and redesign of Universal Credit is undertaken, making sure
work always pays and that hardworking families are supported, creating a fair
society for the many, not the few.”