Published 30 January 2019

Defra and the Devolved Administrations have appointed Professor Richard Dawson to the Adaptation Sub-Committee. Existing members Rosalyn Schofield and Ece Ozdemiroglu have been reappointed to their roles for a further three-year term.

The Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC) is comprised of experts in the fields of climate change impacts, science, environmental economics, conservation, public health and business, and provides independent, expert advice on preparing for and adapting to climate change to UK and devolved governments and parliaments.

Whilst these appointments are not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, they have been made in line with the guidance set out in the Ministerial Governance Code for Public Appointments. They will run from 31 January 2019 to 1 February 2022.

Professor Dawson will take on the role held by Professor Jim Hall who recently stood down after 10 years of service. Commenting on his appointment, Professor Dawson said:

Jim Hall taught me as a PhD student and has been a long term mentor. I am truly honoured to be appointed as his replacement on the Adaptation Committee. Over the last decade the Committee has set a very high standard for the rigour and quality of its work, establishing the UK as a world leader in climate change adaptation.

However, there is still important work to be done to monitor and manage the risks of climate change to the UK’s cities, rural communities, infrastructure and businesses.

Professor Richard Dawson

Richard Dawson is Professor of Earth Systems Engineering and Head of Water in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. He holds a MEng degree in Civil Engineering and a PhD in flood risk management. Over the last two decades his research has focused on the analysis and management of climatic risks to civil engineering systems, including the development of systems modelling of risks to cities, catchments and infrastructure networks. Professor Dawson was lead author for the chapter on Infrastructure in the 2017 UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) evidence report.

Professor Dawson is currently a member of the National Infrastructure Commission’s Technical Expert Panel, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKRCIC). He holds editorial roles for the scientific journals Climatic Change, Flood Risk Management and Infrastructure Asset Management, and was a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the IPCC’s 2018 Cities and Climate Change Conference.

Details of ASC members being reappointed:

Ece Ozdemiroglu

Ece Ozdemiroglu is an environmental economist and the founding director of eftec (Economics For the Environment Consultancy). She specialises in interpreting economic value evidence for natural capital, ecosystem services, cultural heritage, charitable sector and value of information. Her other roles include Economics lead of the Valuing Nature Programme, Convener of the British Standards Institute’s Committee on Assessing and Valuing Natural Capital, Member of the Natural Capital Initiative steering group, and Associate Editor of the Journal for Environmental Economics and Policy.

Rosalyn Schofield LLB

Rosalyn Schofield is a solicitor and a Director of Company Secretariat at Associated British Foods plc, where she has global responsibility for the environmental sustainability and impact of the business. Rosalyn also holds positions as Chair of the Audit Committee, and Trustee of Regent’s University London where she chairs the Audit and Risk Committee. She has previously worked as a Legal Director at JD Wetherspoon plc, and as a commercial property lawyer in private practice.

All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. Adaptation Sub-Committee members receive £550 per day based on a time commitment of up to three days per month.

The Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change (ASC) is an advisory Non-Departmental Public Body created under the Climate Change Act (2008). The ASC is jointly sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Northern Ireland Executive, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government. Further information about the CCC is available here. The Board for the ASC comprises a Chairperson and five members.

Good morning everyone, the first thing I want to say is a huge thank you for you all for coming together and for our shared commitment to create an AIDS free for all.

I am just going to go slightly off-script, don’t panic Officials but are Dean Street in the room today? I just wanted to give a shout out to Dean Street, because on my travels I have met so many people that have benefited from your amazing service. What you do is truly phenomenal and I think sometimes when we look at, what my budget is doing and DHSC’s budget is doing; we think about tests, we think about drugs and we think about all those numbers and things we can measure, what we sometimes don’t think about is health care professional time.

The thing that everyone always says about Dean Street is that quite often very vulnerable people with very complex lives are given time with health care professionals that makes a difference to them and gave them something that their GP couldn’t do for them, that other people couldn’t do for them and that I think is absolutely fantastic. At a moment when the Health Secretary and I and other members of the Cabinet are scratching our heads and thinking about Global Britain this is what Global Britain means to me, it’s our technical expertise, it’s our fantastic NHS as well as our budgets and all that we want to lever in and it’s everything that Britain has to offer the rest of the world; but Dean Street you’re wonderful.

I am delighted that the Department of Health and Social Care, is joining with DFID along with the the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Evening Standard as well as the Fast Track Cities Initiative and Johnson&Johnson to achieve this fantastic partnership. And through the partnership we’ve highlighted that – while the world has made great strides in addressing HIV and AIDS – we must step up our efforts if we are to meet the Global Goal 3.3 to end AIDS by 2030.

That battle is far from over especially in poorer countries where stigma, lack of awareness and scarcity of life-saving medicines may persist. AIDS remember, is still the biggest killer of women of reproductive age around the world.

The UK continues to be at the forefront of the global AIDS response. In 2017, UK aid helped the Global Fund provide 17.5 million people with treatment and protect nearly 700,000 babies from infection. And our 20-year agreement with Unitaid and support to the Clinton Health Access Initiative has given the world great advancements in HIV testing and treatment, at affordable costs.

Our task is not easy, while we continue to advance some treatment, we must also address some of the most challenging drivers of HIV infection. Through UK aid supported research we now know that we will not reduce HIV infections if we don’t also address gender inequality and violence against women and girls. That’s why DFID continues to put women and girls at the heart of everything that we do.

In some parts of the world we are also seeing growing stigma and discrimination and a backlash against rights, all of which fuel HIV infections among some of the world’s most vulnerable people. In July last year, we proudly extended our support to the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund by £6m to support populations affected by HIV.

And we are also delivering change at home. In the LGBT Action Plan, with my other hat on, we have committed to ensuring that health and social care services better meet the needs of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and and trans people. From appointing a [National Adviser on LGBT health]99https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-government-action-plan-pledges-to-improve-the-lives-of-lgbt-people–2), to make the changes to gender identity services, and to ensure that LGBT people receive better and more appropriate care.

In London and the UK, we have demonstrated what is possible if the right services and support are in place. We are so proud of London’s success and we are thrilled to be able to share our experiences and inspire other cities to accelerate towards their own 90-90-90 targets.

Through the AIDSfree appeal we are proudly supporting the Elton John AIDS Foundation to expand testing and treatment in Maputo in Mozambique and Nairobi in Kenya, for vulnerable young people. Through UK Aid Match, we are doubling public donations made through the Evening Standard appeal up to £2m, for projects in these two cities.

UK Aid Match means that every time the British public donate to the AIDSfree appeal, we will match this pound for pound and double their generosity. In this case, it will directly change – and in many cases, save – the lives of people living with HIV in those two cities. The appeal is still going so please help us publicise it.

And also through our significant funding to Unitaid, UK aid is supporting further work by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and it’s partners in Kenya to expand HIV testing and treatment for young men. This is the first project within the MenStar Coalition an initiative launched in Amsterdam last year to tackle HIV and AIDS which I was very pleased to endorse.

Today is about celebrating success and driving action – I applaud you for your leadership, your commitment and this partnership. We look forward to a productive day ahead, and to seeing the strides that we are going to take to achieve Global Goal 3.3: to end AIDS by 2030. Starting right here today at the Global Forum.

The scale of our ambition is clear, we all passionately believe that we can create an AIDS free future for the world, and I know that we’re going to.

Schools paying too much for their energy will find it easier to ditch overpriced deals and switch to a cheaper supplier, using a new web-based service launched today by Education Secretary Damian Hinds.

The site allows schools to get instant quotes from a range of gas and electricity firms, similar to price comparison websites available for household energy.

It will help schools avoid fees charged by energy brokers and reduce the more than £10billion a year that goes on non-staffing costs – leaving more money for heads to spend on frontline teaching.

The latest figures from 2016/17 show state-funded schools in England spent more than £584 million on gas and electricity. The average secondary school spends around £90,000 a year on energy. Using the Department for Education’s existing energy deals, schools have already reported savings of up to 14% – the price comparison website will help build on this.

It follows the Department for Education’s recent crackdown on excessive fees charged by supply agencies, with the launch of an online tool to help schools find temporary staff. A free-to-use teacher vacancy service is also being rolled out to cut recruitment costs for schools – currently up to £75 million per year.

Due to the complexity of schools’ energy needs, many currently have to go through brokers, which can incur high fees. These can be as much as 5p per kilowatt hour – which can add up to thousands of pounds per year. The new website will allow schools to bypass brokers’ fees and deal directly with suppliers, inputting information about their energy use to generate tailored, transparent quotes, which they can then compare.

It will also list providers offering renewable energy, giving schools a simple way to reduce their environmental impact.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

Many households shop around for the best deal on their gas and electricity – and I want to help schools do the same.

By saving money on their energy bills and avoiding high broker fees, the more money schools will have to spend on what really matters – getting the best teachers into classrooms and giving their pupils a great education.

This website is the latest step in our efforts to help schools reduce unnecessary costs, building on the School Resource Management Strategy I launched last year to provide practical advice and support.

The website, developed with Crown Commercial Service, follows the Education Secretary’s pledge at the National Association of Head Teachers’ annual conference in May to work with schools to bear down on unnecessary costs so that more money can be spent in the classroom.

It is launching with a limited number of energy suppliers initially, but more will be added over time.

Schools can already use the Government’s benchmarking site to see how their energy spend – among other costs – compares with similar schools across England.

Other support the Department for Education has made available includes:

• An online tool to help schools avoid excessive supply agency fees when employing temporary staff – one school in Merseyside saved £2,500 in three months;
• Rolling out a free-to-use teacher vacancy service – this will help schools recruit effectively and cut recruitment costs, which are currently up to £75 million per year;
• Recommended deals that are helping schools to save money on the things they buy regularly, such as printers and photocopiers – one school in the North West has saved an estimated £40,000 on its printing costs;
• A schools buying advice service, being piloted in the North West and South West, providing hands-on support and advice to schools on complex procurement. One school saved £75,000 across a three-year cleaning contract, while 82 schools in the South West have saved an estimated £137,000 on water;
• A network of advisers providing practical support on resource management, working with those schools that will benefit the most. During the pilot phase of 72 deployments, advisers identified £35 million of potential savings for schools.

Projects working towards preventing HIV across England, which were funded by the Public Health England (PHE) HIV Innovation Fund, reached around 170,000 people at-risk of, or living with HIV – as well as the general public in 2017 to 2018.

The projects provided innovative, community-led interventions, through online campaigns, outreach, testing, support and media and art projects. The news comes as PHE announced the 14 local pioneering projects that have been awarded a share of the £600,000 fund available in 2018 to 2019.

The Fund supports volunteer organisations spearheading new approaches to HIV prevention and focuses on engaging at-risk or under-served communities, with the aim of funded initiatives ultimately being replicated and scaled up.

Previous success stories from the Fund include PROMOTE, a project run by Terrence Higgins Trust and the Bristol Drug Project, which focused on reducing the risk of HIV in male sex workers (MSW) and sex workers of other genders.

The project targeted between 50 to 150 MSW in Bristol, and found that building rapport with community members during online outreach was paramount as a first step, and peer-support groups are vital to MSWs’ health and wellbeing.

Another successful project in 2018, run by National Prison Radio, was a radio and podcast series for prisoners that aimed to dispel myths about HIV and provided support to people living with the virus in prisons.

Sex Talk was presented by BBC Radio 1’s Adele Roberts and talk show host Hilary Ineomo-Marcus. Over 24 episodes, Sex Talk featured over 70 people or organisations who are experts in this field, being medical professionals or those raising awareness, and, most importantly, people living with HIV. A series was available and broadcast to over 80,000 prisoners across England and Wales.

This year’s initiatives will support the UK’s ambition to achieve zero new HIV transmissions by 2030, which will be announced at the Global AIDS Forum today, Wednesday 30 January 2019. Projects that have been awarded funding from PHE this year include two charities collaborating to prevent HIV in women with female genital mutilation (FGM) in Berkshire; and The Grass is Always Grindr, a weekly drama series published on YouTube that focuses on how Londoners are affected by HIV.

Innovative, community-led interventions have a significant role to play in limiting the spread of HIV by targeting at-risk groups, including gay and bisexual men, black and minority ethnic groups (BAME), and prisoners. This is important when HIV remains a public health concern despite major advances in treatment and reductions in diagnosis. In 2017 an estimated 102,000 people were living with HIV and an estimated 7,800 people were undiagnosed.

Luis Guerra, National Programme Manager for HIV, Sexual Health, and Reproductive Health at Public Health England, said:

The HIV Innovation Fund continues to foster new approaches to HIV prevention, with a range of projects offering new and exciting ways to address key issues in HIV prevention, working particularly with high-risk groups. Projects work alongside the great programmes already running, to prevent HIV transmission and support people living with HIV across England.

We have made fantastic headway lowering rates of HIV, and are excited to see how innovative projects around the country will help us eliminate all new cases by 2030.

Health Minister Steve Brine said:

Today we made the bold commitment to end HIV transmission in England by 2030.

With the huge advances in antiretroviral therapy, a person diagnosed with HIV in the UK today can expect a normal life expectancy, but no one needs to contract the virus in the first place.

We have the tools to eliminate HIV transmission – prevention, detection, and treatment. To help those most at risk, we need to support innovative community-led projects – they will target key communities and help end transmission in England.

HIV Innovation Fund projects complement existing work to tackle HIV and poor sexual health. Local authorities, NHS providers and community organisations all work together to improve sexual health and reduce rates of HIV and STIs. HIV Innovation Fund projects receive funding from the DHSC through PHE.

There were 14 HIV Innovation Fund projects in 2018 to 2019.

HIV documentary theatre in prisons:

A programme to develop a documentary theatre piece around HIV prevention and stigma particularly focused on and developed with those in secure settings in England (Prison Radio Association, National).

The Grass is Always Grindr (Season 2):

A weekly drama series published on YouTube that focuses on the lives of a few Londoners and how they are affected by HIV (CW+, National).

Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention for Chemsex:

Developing a mindfulness-based approach for reducing and stopping harmful drug use in gay and bisexual men (Spectra, London).

Preventing HIV in women with FGM:

Linking a longstanding HIV support organisation with a dedicated charity working with survivors of FGM (Thames Valley Positive Support, Berkshire).

Raising Awareness of HIV in the over 50’s:

Developing a local campaign and resources around HIV testing, prevention and stigma directed at adults aged over 50 (Age UK Wiltshire, Wiltshire).

Talking progress – challenging HIV and HIV stigma via spoken word:

Developing 20 spoken word pieces through workshops with black African’s living in mixed HIV status relationships (Positive East, East, and South East London).

MobPrESH – mobilising for PrEP and sexual health:

Building capacity for community responses to HIV by creating between 50 to 70 skilled peer ‘mobilisers’ who can educate and talk about PrEP (The Love Tank CIC PrEPster, London, the South West and North of England).

Catwalks for Power:

Empowering marginalised women living with HIV to accept their HIV diagnosis, establish support networks within local areas and challenge HIV related stigma in local areas through fashion shows (Positively UK, Manchester, Brighton, London).

Increasing awareness of PrEP among black African communities and heterosexual women in Leeds (BHA for Equality, Leeds).

PrEPared:

Working to increase awareness of PrEP among black African communities and heterosexual women in Leeds – BHA for Equality, Leeds.

Online focus groups for young guys into guys (GiG):

Setting up online forums will be a space for young men to discuss their lives and sexuality (METRO, Kent and Medway).

E-PrEP Programme:

Using a community participatory approach to increase awareness of PrEP, increase testing and reduce late diagnosis in BAME communities and Latin American MSM (METRO, National).

Soul Sisters:

Providing training and support for 10 organisations that provide services for survivors of violence against women (NAZ, London).

PrEP & Prejudice:

Influencing how black African communities engage in HIV prevention through targeted outreach in locations such as barber shops and restaurants (Africa Advocacy Foundation, Manchester, Bristol, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and St Albans).

There were 12 Innovation Fund projects in 2017 to 2018, with estimates of the amount of people reached.

Digital anti-stigma campaign:

Developing digital content, videos and social marketing targeting higher risk communities reached at least 22,743 (Martin Fisher Foundation, Brighton and Hove.)

I Am Because We Are:

Challenging HIV issues and stigma within Black African communities a play touring the North West aiming to reach at least 600 people (BHA For Equality, Greater Manchester).

Improving uptake and safe use of PrEP in underserved populations:

Creating online assessment tools for PrEP and facilitating safe usage aimed to reach 4,500 (Terence Higgins Trust, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire).

MAP Tyne and Wear:

Capturing local knowledge about male sex workers to inform and shape other sexual health services reached and supported around 15 men (Gateshead, Sunderland and North Tyneside).

“MIND” The Gap:

Developing an HIV and sexual health training programme for mental health service staff trained 855 health professionals in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire (Herts Aid).

PrEP:

Raising awareness of PrEP amongst MSM, BME and trans communities trained 54 PrEP champions and reached 1,124 people through engagement sessions and provided 12 training sessions for partner agencies (Spectra, South West London).

Prepping for PrEP:

Improving awareness of PrEP amongst at-risk African communities by engaging key community members reached over 63,000 people through social media (Positive East, East London and Hertfordshire).

PROMOTE:

Creating digital outreach and support services for male sex workers and their clients reached 1,120 people through their specialised outreach and support approach (Bristol Drugs Project, Bristol).

Reducing Barriers to Testing:

Facilitating self-testing within Black African communities provided self-test kits to nearly 3,300 people (Terence Higgins Trust, Wolverhampton).

Sex Talk on National Prison Radio:

Creating information for prisoners to address issues of stigma around HIV reaching more than 60,000 people in secure settings that listen to prison radio (Prison Radio Association, England, Wales and Scotland).

Sholay Love:

Raising awareness of HIV and STIs and encouraging testing amongst south Asian gay men testing 275 men and reaching thousands more through outreach, workshops and online resources (NAZ, London, Bradford, Leeds).

The Morning After Project:

Providing education and harm reduction in chemsex via a dedicated project worker reached and supported 75 men participating in chemsex (Summit House Support, Dudley).

PHE HIV Innovation Fund

The National HIV Prevention Innovation Fund is funded by the allocation from the Department of Health to PHE for HIV prevention and sexual health promotion. This is the third year of the innovation fund in which PHE have awarded funding to a total of 32 projects (7 in 2015 to 2016, 13 in 2016 to 2017 and 12 in 2017 to 2018). Projects submitting HIV prevention proposals to the HIV Innovation Fund must have local authority endorsement to be eligible for the fund. The innovation fund is advertised at the HIV Prevention England website where application details are available.

HIV in the UK, 2017 PHE report

PHE’s ‘Progress towards ending the HIV epidemic in the UK: 2018 report’ showed that in 2017:

• 92% of people living with HIV in the UK have been diagnosed, 98% of those diagnosed were on treatment, and 97% of those on treatment were virally suppressed
• an estimated total of 102,000 people were living with HIV in the UK in 2017, with 8% (7,800) unaware of their infection
• as a result of treatment, 87% of all people living with HIV have an undetectable viral load and are unable to pass on their infection to other people (this is widely known as ‘Undetectable equals Untransmissible’ or ‘U=U’)
• new HIV diagnoses continued to decline in the UK, falling 17% from 5,280 in 2016 to 4,363 in 2017
• in 2017, 43% (1,879) of new HIV diagnoses were made at a late stage of HIV infection

HIV: Surveillance, data and management:

The HIV in the UK Health Protection Report and annual HIV data tables comprise the number of HIV diagnoses, late HIV diagnoses and numbers accessing HIV care. Data can be interrogated and analysed at Local Authority level via an online tool allowing a range of outputs to be generated.

The December 2016 edition of Health Matters, PHE’s resource for local authorities and health professionals focuses on increasing HIV testing.

HIV testing

It is easy to get tested for HIV. Testing is freely available through GP surgeries, local hospitals and sexual health clinics as well as on self-sampling and self-testing (see NHS.UK for further information). As well as getting tested, using a condom with new or casual partners protects against HIV and other STIs.