• Today’s funding will support better diagnosis for UK patients through AI and new tech at new regional centres of excellence
• 500,000 Biobank volunteers will see their genome sequenced providing data that will help the UK lead the world in development of tools for early diagnosis and new pioneering therapies
• Extra £40 million invested in new hub for UK Dementia Research Institute
• New funding will develop new products and services which will help people live in their homes longer, tackle loneliness, and increase independence

As part of the government’s plan to build a Britain fit for the future, the Business Secretary Greg Clark has today (Monday 12 March) announced a £300 million competitive fund to develop the innovations and new technologies of tomorrow.

Through the ambitious Industrial Strategy, government is investing over £300 million from its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to bring together the UK’s world-class research expertise with business investment to develop technologies and industries that can help the UK prepare for the challenge of an ageing society.

To ensure taxpayer money is being invested in the right areas, the government set out four Grand Challenges in its Industrial Strategy – priority areas and industries the UK is determined to be at the forefront of in the future where we can lead the global technological revolution, creating more skilled jobs to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. Through its Ageing Society Grand Challenge the government has committed to invest in harnessing the power of innovation to help meet the diverse needs of an ageing society.

More than 10 million people in the UK today can expect to see their 100th birthday, compared to the 15,000 centurions today. Ageing populations are a global phenomenon that are creating new demands for technologies, products and services, including new care technologies, different housing models and innovative savings products for retirement.

Today’s new allocation of funding will see the government invest over £300 million to ensure the UK is able to meet these demands, with £98 million for a ‘healthy ageing programme’ and £210 million for a ‘data to early diagnosis and precision medicine programme’ to improve diagnosis of disease and develop new medical treatments and technologies.

Welcoming today’s announcement, Business Secretary Greg Clark said:

Through our Industrial Strategy we will not only boost innovation and productivity across the UK, but we will also ensure that this government changes people’s lives for the better.

We are investing over £300 million into developing the treatments of the future, in new technologies that will revolutionise the way we age and provide everyone with the best possible chance to grow old with dignity in their own home.

By 2020 we want to be the best country in the world for dementia care and research and today’s announcement of £40 million for the Dementia Research Institute is a vitally important step on that journey.

Caroline Dinenage, Minister of State for Care said:

As a society we are living longer – a child born today can expect to live to 100 years – but now we must seize the opportunity to improve the quality of lives lived longer. With an increasingly ageing population we must transform the way we think about our work, our housing, our health, our finances and our communities.

These investments will not only help in our aims to make this the best country in the world to live with dementia but provide a revolutionary vital boost to develop and scale up products and services of the future, ensuring everyone can age well and live more independently throughout their lives.

Healthy ageing programme

The £98 million ‘healthy ageing programme’ will drive the development of new products and services which will help people to live in their homes for longer, tackle loneliness, and increase independence and wellbeing.

The programme will be investing in tackling one of the toughest medical challenges facing society today, dementia. With an estimated 850,000 people in the UK living with the disease, the government will be investing in the creation of innovative new treatments of the future to help tackle it.

An extra £40 million will be going into the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI) to create a new hub in partnership with University College London (UCL) that will host 350 leading scientists, researching new treatments to improve the lives of millions.

Dr Rob Buckle, Chief Science Officer at the Medical Research Council, added:

Developing the UK Dementia Research Institute hub in partnership with UCL will bring tremendous benefits for science and for health.

The new building will provide state-of-the-art facilities for research and the development of new dementia therapies, and will be located alongside neurology clinics and have a dedicated space for engaging dementia patients and their families and carers.

Data to early diagnosis and precision medicine programme

The £210 million investment in the ‘data to early diagnosis and precision medicine’ challenge will see the UK lead the world in the development of innovative new diagnostic tools, medical products and treatments.

As part of the funding announced today, the government will be investing in genomics, ensuring the UK continues to lead the world in large scale whole genome sequencing. Genome sequencing can help those with rare diseases receive faster diagnoses and cancer patients gain better access to personalised treatment programmes.

Through the new investment, the UK will sequence the genomes of 500,000 Biobank volunteers. The data from each of these volunteers will provide a rich resource of data that UK researchers will use to build a greater understanding of disease processes and enable the development of tools for early diagnosis and a new wave of therapies.

Regional centres of excellence

Over £70 million is going to be invested in creating regional centres across the UK to offer UK patients better diagnosis using new technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI).

This investment, as well as future funding from industry, in new centres of excellence will support industry collaboration with the NHS to help the UK lead the world in digital pathology and radiology, including using AI to analyse medical images.

Applying AI to medical images has the potential to diagnose disease more accurately and therefore provide more targeted treatment, and increase efficiency in the health system.

Each centre will enable companies, including SMEs, to rapidly develop, test and implement products and systems in partnership with doctors and academics, improving patient care and gaining early evidence of real-world product value.

Investing in these programmes will enable research that could result in globally significant advances in healthcare such as cures for some cancers. The different strands of the ISCF programme will create the data needed to enable research into better diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.

Notes to editors:

What is the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund?

1. In the Industrial Strategy White Paper the Government committed to invest a further £725m in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) over the next four years. The Government, through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), will invest in challenges through the ISCF. Through focusing on the big innovation challenges facing the UK, the ISCF will maximise the value of the new ideas being developed and capture the value of innovation in the UK.

2. The ISCF is a new mission orientated funding approach providing an opportunity to build on our competitive advantage in key areas of research and business sectors, and develop innovative ideas that will transform industries and create whole new ones. It will bring together the UK’s world leading research with business around a major industrial and societal challenge. Challenges have been aligned to the four ‘Grand Challenges’ set out in the Industrial Strategy White Paper.

3. The ISCF will borrow from the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) model by placing the responsibility for delivering a challenge in the hands of a ‘Challenge Director’. Challenge Directors will be leading experts in the area and will coordinate across different delivery organisations to make the challenge a success.

Expressions of interest are now open for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Wave 3.

I’m delighted to have this opportunity to speak directly to school and college leaders here at ASCL – two months into the job.

Secretary of State for Education is a hugely exciting role to be taking on. But I also feel the weight of responsibility, the enormous responsibility of working with this whole sector – the lecturers, the social workers, and, of course, with teachers and with school leaders like yourselves.

What you and your teams do is one of the highest callings, the noblest of roles, with an impact on our society, far, far into the future.

In my first couple of months, I have had the opportunity to visit some of our nurseries, schools and colleges in different parts of the country.

And, everywhere I’ve visited, I have been so struck by the hard work, the care, the imagination shown by teachers and leaders – their dedication to doing the best for their pupils.

So, I’m going to begin today with a thank you.

We have, together, been striving harder than ever to make sure every child in this country gets the very best education – so that when they finish their formal education they have the knowledge, the skills and the qualifications that set them up for life, whatever path they take.

A core part of our approach has been to hand power back to headteachers, because we know you are the ones best placed to make the right decisions for your schools.

And thanks to your efforts, and to the dedication of teachers across the country, our schools are improving.

Since 2010, there are now 1.9million more children attending good or outstanding schools. More children are studying the key subjects that can keep their options most open. And the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers has shrunk by 10% since 2011.

Our national curriculum and the new rigorous GCSEs have put England’s system on a par with high performing countries.

And we will look to keep raising our game, investing in the vital subjects of the future like maths, coding and modern languages; making sure that the next generation is best prepared to face the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

I know that education is, above all, a people business. Syllabus, technology, structures – these things all matter. But ultimately it is about people: the teacher, the head teacher, the lecturer, the support staff.

There can be no great schools without great teachers. To motivate children, to make knowledge meaningful, to inspire curiosity. The quality of teaching matters more than anything else; and it matters even more for disadvantaged pupils.

Right now, we have so many brilliant teachers in our schools – the best generation of teachers yet. And my top priority is to make sure this does remain an attractive and fulfilling profession.

But, with rising pupil numbers, and a competitive employment market, I do recognise that employment and retention are difficult for schools – and it is not getting easier.

And, clearly, one of the biggest threats to retention, and also to recruitment, is – as Geoff (Geoff Barton, ASCL general secretary) says – on workload.

Too many of our teachers, and our school leaders, are working simply too long hours – and too often on tasks that the evidence shows are not helping children to learn.

We need to get back to the essence of successful teaching; strip away the workload that doesn’t add value and give teachers the time and the space to focus on what actually matters. Trust teachers to teach. That’s in the interests of teachers but it is also in the interests of children.

As Geoff has set out you, as leaders of your schools, you have the power to drive real change. You are the ones who can help to meet this challenge directly and it is, ultimately, your actions that will make the most difference.

But I fully understand that you don’t operate in a vacuum, you react to, you respond to, you operate in the context and climate around you. And two of the most powerful forces in shaping that environment are the Government and Ofsted.

When I talk to teachers one thing I sometimes hear is this question: are we actually all on the same side?

And that’s why I was so keen that today you would see up here Amanda (Amanda Spielman, Chief Inspector for Schools), Geoff and me together, standing together. Because we are all on the same side, and we all need to take collective ownership of the workload burden on schools.

Now I do realise, of course, that I am not the first person to talk about this – I’m not the first person probably to stand here and talk about this.

A lot of work has already taken place, and including in your schools.

But, clearly, we need to go further.

The issue of teacher workload is not new. It is one of the great unsolved issue in schools for well over a decade.

Eight years ago, just before I became an MP for the first time and before the change in government in 2010, I spent a week in a secondary school in my constituency. Now you could make the very legitimate criticism that it wasn’t a typical school and it’s absolutely true that my constituency is a relatively affluent area.

But this was a comprehensive intake, local authority maintained secondary school.

I learnt a lot there. I learnt a lot in that week.

Now I know in the intervening years a lot has changed. But I am also struck by what hasn’t changed in those intervening years; what I hear in schools today, compared to what I heard then, before the change in government in 2010.

And one of the things that hasn’t changed is how often the subject of workload can come up in conversation.

Teachers then were also having to spend too much time on non-teaching tasks out of proportion to how much those things would help children improve.

So as we all know, it isn’t a problem with a quick fix.

It is not as simple as going around searching for bits of bureaucracy that day by day you can cross off.

It is a deep-seated, endemic issue and multiple forces play a part in it – and I want to go through some of those now.

First, I do want to acknowledge the government’s part in this – because the pace of change has been fast these past 8 years, as indeed, to be fair, it was pretty quick in many of the preceding years as well.

These changes have been important and necessary and we are now seeing their positive impact. As I’ve said, schools and teachers have risen remarkably to the challenge and raised standards. But I recognise that you now need a period of greater stability.

That is why – beyond those changes already announced and which are working their way through the system – apart from those, for the rest of this parliament there will be:

• No new additional statutory tests or assessment for primary schools;
• No further changes to the national curriculum; and
• No more reform of GCSEs and A levels.

I will also look at the accountability system and how it can drive unnecessary workload.

I know that the current accountability regime can feel very high stakes for school leaders – and this does then filter down to all staff.

Now, I don’t think anybody can argue that we should dispense with accountability – it is crucial. And we must continue to hold schools to high standards – because children only get one chance at their education and they deserve the best.

But I’m also clear accountability must also lead to the right support, at the right time.

I want the default assumption to be firmly and increasingly about effective support for headteachers, so that they can receive the tailored help they need to help turn their schools around and move them further forward.

I also know that schools can at times feel accountable to multiple masters, and even subject to multiple ‘inspections’. That is why I will be making a statement – following consultation with ASCL and others – to clarify the roles of the different actors in the system.

We do need to ensure that headteachers have clarity about how the system works. We need a transparent, supportive system, where schools know the rules, but they also know the roles, of every player within it.

That is why I want us to work together – government and the Regional Schools Commissioners, Ofsted, local authorities, teachers and unions – to make this a reality.

But what about the immediate challenges in schools?

I think we need to confront the fact that there are practices that have developed and spread based on beliefs about what Ofsted or what the government want to see, or required to see happening in our schools. And that, at their worst, these simply don’t help to improve outcomes for children, but do make life more difficult for teachers.

And so you hear things like:

• we need to colour code our marking like this in this way;

• we need to fill in all these repeated forms or make these data entries about who is making progress and who is not; and

• we need to give the senior leadership team extensive lesson plans every week.

Why? Because Ofsted and others demand this of us.

Yet, Amanda – who you’ll hear from in a moment – and Ofsted are clear that they don’t need all of this. And we’ll hear a little more on that later on.

School leaders are increasingly rejecting these practices and developing more effective strategies.

Such as 15 schools in Wigan which replaced various forms of deep marking with verbal feedback instead, leading to a reduction in workload and improvements in pupil outcomes.

Or Whitley Bay High School which, working with two schools in the North East, have created coherent long-term curriculum plans, making it easier for teachers to share high-quality lesson resources, reducing the time teachers spend making their plans.

Or Linton Village College which replaced onerous and ineffective whole school data drops, empowering subject leads instead to only collect data when it fits with their subject-specific curricula and teaching.

I want all school leaders to be able to trust your teachers and make decisions you think, that you know, are in the best interests of children.

My department has worked with Ofsted on their positive myth-busting work on inspections. And I want to build on this today with the launch of a video, making clear the things that we – and they – do not expect, because there is no evidence that they work.

We want to demonstrate a clear, united approach on tackling workload. And our key message is that you have our backing to stop doing those things that add to workload but don’t actually help children to do better.

No one should be asking you for those things, and no one else should be telling you it is what Ofsted or government expect.

And to anyone who says otherwise – please play them that video.

I am also working with teachers, school leaders, Ofsted and unions to create an online workload reduction toolkit.

This will help schools identify what is eating up teachers’ time away from the classroom and offer practical solutions.

In particular, we need to tackle the propensity of schools to collect more and more data, even when there’s no clear benefit to pupils.

So I am going to bring together a high level group of sector experts and teachers to look at the kind of data and evidence schools are collecting and look at what, and who, is driving that. And they will work with me on a set of actions, which we will publish by the end of the summer term.

As part of this, I also want to look at the role of technology, which Geoff also talked about. In so many other walks of life, modern technology has been a time-saver. But I know for many teachers it can sometimes feel like technology has had the opposite effect – actually adding to the work that needs to be done.

Of course, technology can never replace the role of the teacher in a classroom. And we know that there have been times in the past when technology has been used to promote some of the fads and gimmicks that have spread around the school system – despite a lack of evidence on how this will help children learn.

My goal is to support schools to use technologies in ways that actually reduce the workload burden, while supporting teachers to deliver great lessons.

I understand that if we want to really tackle workload, then we also need to look at the broader questions around teacher recruitment and, particularly, retention.

This needs to begin by setting out an overarching strategy on both.

So, my Department will develop this plan, working with the profession – including ASCL and the teaching unions – identifying clearly what steps we will take. This strategy will cover areas like workload, professional development, career progression, flexible working and entry routes into teaching.

In particular, I recognise that teachers need additional support and the highest quality development in the early years of their career, when the learning curve is inevitably at its steepest. This is what can attract more of the best graduates into teaching, set them up for success and keep them in the profession.

That is why our plans to strengthen Qualified Teacher Status are so important. Our consultation has just finished – with over 2,000 responses – and I’m very grateful to all those of you who took the time to respond.

We will be taking these plans forward, working hand in hand with the profession, and we will set out the next stage of this process by the summer.

I also think it is particularly important that we do more to make sure teachers have ready access to high quality teaching materials that they can choose to draw on, with the confidence that they are used and approved by their peers.

At the heart of great professions is the concept of building on the best practice and body of knowledge that has gone before. And I want to make it easier for teachers to do that throughout their careers.

That is why, as a starting point, I intend to use our new Curriculum Fund to make it easier for schools and teachers to share and access high quality teaching resources.

And I will work with the profession to help teachers to access a broad set of quality curriculum and teaching materials that teachers and leaders can adapt for their schools and classes, without having to write them from scratch.

Finally, we will continue to work on making flexible working more possible, and easier for schools and teachers. The modern world demands this, and if teaching is to remain attractive to the next generation, it is a challenge we will all have to meet.

As part of this, my department will be launching a new recruitment website that will help schools to recruit teachers and reduce costs – and we will adapt this specifically to help teachers to pursue flexible working, including job shares.

Conference, I certainly do not think we’re going to fix all of this overnight – but I do promise to stick with it. I commit to you that I will work with all of you, I will work with ASCL, I will work with the other unions, I will work with Ofsted, I will work with the Regional Schools Commissioners, with teachers up and down country – with every part of our education system.

I think between all of us we have the opportunity to do something materially different here: to change the culture in schools and to reduce workload for the long-term.

As I said at the start, ultimately education is all about people. And my top priority must be to support you as a profession, helping to build on your successes, and making sure that all children get the world-class education they deserve.

And I very much look forward to working with you.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds has pledged to strip away workload that doesn’t add value in the classroom and give teachers the time to focus on teaching in his first speech to the profession.

Speaking to more than 1,000 heads and teachers at the Association of School and College Leaders’ (ASCL) annual conference in Birmingham, the Secretary of State has said that his “top priority” is making sure teaching continues to be regarded as “one of the most rewarding jobs you can do”. Improving workload will be at the heart of this.

Mr Hinds spoke alongside the Chief Inspector for Schools, Amanda Spielman and ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton in a show of their shared responsibility and joint commitment to tackling the workload burden on schools.

Thanks to a hardworking and incredibly talented generation of teachers, alongside the government’s bold reforms, there are now 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010, our pupils are now amongst the best readers in Europe and GCSEs have been reformed to match the best education systems in the world.

During his speech, the Education Secretary outlined his plans to support teachers and work with the profession to continue to build on this record.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:

There can be no great schools without great teachers to motivate children and inspire curiosity. Teaching is still a top destination for graduates and there are more teachers in our schools than ever. But I recognise that recruitment and retention is difficult for schools and that one of the biggest threats to this is workload.

Above all else, the key to education is the person standing at the front of the class. I believe we need to get back to the heart of successful teaching – to strip away the workload that doesn’t add value and give teachers the time to focus on what actually matters. Together with Ofsted and the Association of School and College Leaders, we will take collective responsibility for this issue and tackle the workload burden on our schools.

The Education Secretary announced:

• a strategy to drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers working with teaching unions and professional bodies to devise ways of attracting, and keeping, the brightest and best graduates

• a commitment to work with Ofsted, regional schools commissioners, the Education and Skills Funding Agency and multi-academy trusts – to clarify their roles and ensure teachers and school leaders have a clear understanding of who they are accountable to, and for what

• that there will be no new tests or assessment for primary schools and no changes to the national curriculum, GCSE or A levels for the remainder of this parliament, beyond those already announced

Addressing the gathering of headteachers, Chief Inspector of Schools Amanda Spielman said:

I want to look at how Ofsted can play its part in reducing workload, so that you’re able to focus on the things that matter to you and to your pupils.

It really doesn’t matter what an inspectorate thinks if we can’t attract good people into teaching. The record number of good and outstanding schools won’t be sustained if the people, who make them run so well, are burning out and leaving the profession.

When I see NQTs brimming with passion to change young lives for the better, I think it an utter travesty that so many end up losing their early enthusiasm, because of the pressures of the job. Especially when so many of those pressures are entirely unnecessary.

Because that’s what endless data cuts, triple marking, 10 page lesson plans, and, worst of all, Mocksteds are: a distraction from the core purpose of education. And a costly distraction at that.

We must do all we can to support removing unnecessary workload for teachers and school leaders and direct the focus back to what matters.

General secretary of ASCL Geoff Barton said:

Teacher workload is one of the key issues of our time in education. It deters would-be teachers and makes it harder to retain good teachers.

Only coordinated action by school leaders, Ofsted and the government will solve this problem, and we are pleased to be working together to find solutions. We must extinguish unnecessary workload and free up our teachers to do what they do best – teach.

In a further sign of their joint commitment to tackling teacher workload, a myth buster video featuring the Secretary of State and Amanda Spielman will be previewed at the conference, alongside leading figures from the world of education.

The Secretary of State’s speech coincides with the publication of a number of research reports, commissioned by the Department for Education, to analyse teachers’ workload. The findings will help build on the government’s reforms since 2010, which were necessary and right, and have helped raise academic standards across the country and seen a record 15,500 more teachers now working in our classrooms.

Today’s announcement will build on measures already helping to support teachers’ development and attract the best, brightest recruits into the profession, including:

• the consultation to strengthen Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and improve career progression for teachers by ensuring the right structures are in place at the beginning of teachers’ careers and improving access to high-quality professional development

• a Flexible Working Summit with business and education leaders to explore how the profession can be more flexible – including through part time roles – which resulted in a number of pledges

• developing a free website for schools to publish vacancies to help reduce costs and make it easier for aspiring and current teachers to find new posts

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, HRH Mohammed bin Salman, concluded his three day visit to the UK yesterday with bilateral meetings with the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.

During the visit, the Crown Prince’s first official overseas trip, he had engagements with the Queen, the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge, and meetings with the Prime Minister. He also met the Archbishop of Canterbury, reiterating his vision of Saudi Arabia as a home of moderate Islam open to the world and all religions.

During the visit the Prime Minister and Crown Prince launched the UK-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, where they committed to a long-term partnership supporting the Crown Prince’s reform programme ‘Vision 2030’ and further strengthening political and security cooperation.

Cooperation on Vision 2030 will involve Saudi trade and investment in UK sectors such as education, financial services, culture, healthcare, life sciences, technology, clean energy and defence. This investment will be aided by newly Special Representatives for Education and Health and the establishment of ‘Private Sector Groups’, led by UK experts in their fields, who will advise on delivery and Saudi reforms. The opportunities discussed this week are expected to bring over £65bn to the UK economy over a 10 year period, a recognition of the UK’s global leadership in these industries.

The conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen was an important focus of talks. The UK and Saudi Arabia agreed on the importance of reaching a political solution to the crisis in Yemen and resolved to work closely together and with partners, including the newly appointed UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths, to achieve this. The UK and Saudi Arabia will continue to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the UK is the third largest humanitarian donor.

The two countries agreed to work together with the UN on a mechanism for payment of public sector salaries, protecting livelihoods and Yemeni institutions. The UK and Saudi Arabia will continue to strengthen the UN verification and inspection mechanism to ensure that all Yemeni ports can remain fully open to commercial and humanitarian supplies.

Speaking on Friday, the Foreign Secretary said:

The Crown Prince’s sweeping reform programme is bringing positive economic and social changes to the country. These reforms are hugely beneficial to Saudi Arabia and, as we have seen this week with Saudi Arabia’s pledge to bring £65bn to the UK over the next 10 years, to the UK too.

This landmark visit has been an opportunity to strengthen and broaden our relationship into new areas. Education, healthcare, clean energy, culture, sports and tech are all sectors where we have world-leading expertise and which are fundamental to the successful realisation of Saudi plans.

On foreign policy we look forward to building on the important and productive discussions during this visit on Yemen as we seek to find a political solution to conflict.

Of course, there are areas where we do not agree with our Saudi colleagues. But working closely together allows us to have constructive discussions on these issues, and we have used this week as an opportunity to do that.

Notes to Editors

• The United Kingdom-Saudi Arabia Joint Communiqué regarding the visit is available here

• The newly announced Private Sector Groups will be convened by Catherine McGuiness (Asset management and Financial Services), Lord Ajar Kakkar (Life Sciences), Melanie Leech (Real Estate and Regeneration), Mike Lynch (Technology and Innovation) and Sir Gerry Grimstone (Privatisation and Corporatisation). Saudi Arabia is expected to appoint co-convenors for these groups in due course.

• Following this week’s visit the UK Government has also announced new Special Representatives to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 on education (Sir Anthony Seldon) and healthcare (Sir Mike Richards).

• A number of agreements have been signed between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia during the visit.

1. Department for Education/Saudi Ministry of Education Memorandum of Understanding.

2. Ministry of Culture/Department for Culture, Media and Sport Executive Programme of Cooperation on culture and the creative industries.

3. General Entertainment Authority/ Department for Culture, Media and Sport Memorandum of Understanding on Entertainment cooperation.

4. Ministry of Labour/Department for Work and Pensions Memorandum of Understanding on labour cooperation.

5. Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy/Saudi Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Memorandum of Understanding on clean energy.

6. Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority/ Department of International Trade Framework Cooperation Programme.

7. Framework Agreement on Cyber Security between the UK and the National Cybersecurity Authority.

8. Memorandum of Intent to purchase 48 Typhoon swing role aircraft.

9. General Authority for Military Industries/Ministry of Defence Memorandum of Understanding on research and development.

10. King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre/DFID Joint Cooperation Memorandum.

11. Saudi Fund for Development/DFID Letter of Intent on financing of development projects in Africa.

12. Saudi Fund for Development/DFID Joint Cooperation Arrangement.

13. Memorandum of Understanding on Visa Co-operation

From 6th to 9th March 2018, during the visit to the United Kingdom of His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at the invitation of the Government of Queen Elizabeth ll. Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom confirmed and reinforced the relations between the two countries, and committed to developing a deeper and more strategic partnership to enhance mutual interests.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II welcomed his Royal Highness the Crown Prince at the beginning of his visit and invited him to lunch at Buckingham Palace. His Royal Highness extended to Her Majesty the regards of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

1. Strategic Partnership and support for Vision 2030

1.1 The United Kingdom confirmed its strong support for Vision 2030 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s programme for economic diversity and social reform. The Kingdom will transform into a pioneering investment power and a strategic partner for the Middle East, serving as a focal point for dialogue with the rest of the world. The skills and potential of the Kingdom’s human capital will also be improved, releasing the capabilities and possibilities of all citizens of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom is committed to delivering expertise to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in these vital reforms. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is confirming that the United Kingdom is a strategic partner in Vision 2030, acknowledging the advanced expertise and capabilities of the public, private, and non-profit sectors of the United Kingdom, in key sectors including: education, healthcare, culture, entertainment, financial services, technology, life sciences, innovation, energy, security, and defence.

1.2 The Crown Prince and the Prime Minister launched on the 7th of March 2018 the annual UK-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council as a key mechanism for discussing and developing all aspects of the bilateral relationship, including UK support for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030; on security, defence and international humanitarian assistance; and on regional and international issues. Both countries committed to a detailed plan to deliver this agenda with further meetings in 2018.

1.3 The UK and Saudi Arabia committed to a long-term partnership to support delivery of Vision 2030 covering a range of fields including evaluating mutual investment opportunities in and through the UK by the Public Investment Fund, bilateral trade, and public procurement with UK companies in Vision 2030 priority areas, including on: education, training and skills; financial and investment services; culture and entertainment; healthcare services and life sciences; technology and renewable energy; and the defence industry. Taken together these opportunities are expected to amount up to $100bn over a ten-year period, from which PIF will aim to target direct investments amounting to $30bn.

2 Education, health, culture and entertainment

2.1 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has paid tribute to the expertise and experience of the United Kingdom in different education sectors, from kindergarten to primary and secondary education, all the way through to higher education, as well as technical vocation training. An agreement was concluded on shared cooperation in the different fields of education, including bringing the benefit of British skills and expertise in supporting early years development. A Memorandum of Understanding that will enable a partnership in developing educational curricula and capacity building was also signed between the two countries and the United Kingdom appointed Sir Anthony Seldon as its Education Special Representative to support Vision 2030.

2.2 The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia acknowledged the extent of British expertise in healthcare and the two countries agreed to reinforce cooperation in this field through a Memoranda of Understanding. This will reinforce cooperation in the fields of training, primary health care, health investment, digital healthcare, and others that the two nations agreed. The United Kingdom appointed Sir Mike Richards as its Special Representative on Healthcare to support Vision 2030.

2.3 The United Kingdom has shown its interest in becoming involved with the large opportunities with have resulted recently from positive changes in the fields of culture and entertainment. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia confirmed its confidence in the leading role and deep-rooted experience that distinguishes the United Kingdom in the creative, cultural, and entertainment industries. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two sides for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport in the United Kingdom. The two sides signed an agreement on cultural cooperation, which will work to preserve tradition and expand cooperation in developing and protecting cultural content. The United Kingdom undertook to support Saudi Arabia’s investment in new cultural and entertainment projects across the country.

2.4 The United Kingdom welcomed Saudi Arabia’s goal, under Vision 2030, of promoting and reinvigorating social development to build a vibrant society, including strengthening families and providing proper education for all children. The United Kingdom welcomed and agreed to support Saudi Arabia’s goal of increasing the number of women and young people participating in the workforce – including in science, technology, engineering, maths, and digital sectors. The United Kingdom reaffirmed its support to the recent reforms and announcements empowering women.

3 Trade, investment and the private sector

3.1 The United Kingdom recognised the substantial potential for Saudi Arabia as a global investment powerhouse and committed to work with Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi objectives on industrialisation and human capital development. The Public Investment Fund recognised the United Kingdom as a highly attractive investment location and a gateway to the world, with London as a global city unrivalled in its international reach. The Public Investment Fund agreed to work closely with the British side to identify mutually beneficial inward investment opportunities in the United Kingdom and beyond, consistent with Saudi Vision 2030 and the United Kingdom’s own investment priorities. The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia further agreed to establish co-chaired Private Sector Groups to support the expansion of the key sectors identified in Vision 2030, including on privatisation and corporatisation, asset management, real estate, life sciences and technology.

3.2 The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia recognised the importance of a successful listing of Saudi Aramco as part of the Kingdom’s economic reform agenda. The United Kingdom underlined its support for the development of Saudi Arabia’s financial services industry and Saudi Arabia praised the United Kingdom’s support for plans to increase the size, depth and development of the Kingdom’s capital markets, affording the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul, the international status it deserved. Saudi Arabia endorsed the status of London as the premier global financial centre, providing unparalleled access to the global investors and expertise in financial and related professional services. The London Stock Exchange Group agreed with Tadawul on a programme of capacity-building and training measures to assist in developing the exchange.

3.3 The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia launched the first Ministerial United Kingdom-Saudi Arabia Energy and Industry Dialogue. A Memorandum of Understanding on clean energy was signed, with Saudi Arabia recognising United Kingdom’s experience and expertise in clean growth. The United Kingdom expressed strong interest in Saudi Arabia’s giga-project NEOM, and Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom agreed to work together to identify ways to use British expertise and innovation, including from the private sector, to develop NEOM and build in-country skills, capacity and expertise in Saudi Arabia. The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia agreed to share British expertise on growth hubs and business accelerators, with Saudi Arabia recognising the investment potential and opportunities from entrepreneurs and innovators in both countries, as well as the opportunities offered by investment in Saudi Arabia.

3.4 The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia welcomed the significant number of major new commercial deals that were agreed during the visit expected to total over $2 billion, creating and securing jobs and prosperity both in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.

4 Security and defence

4.1 The United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia reiterated the importance of the defence and security relationship for mutual security and regional stability. They celebrated a defence partnership of over half a century of cooperation on issues such as countering terrorism, developing joint capabilities and strengthening regional security. Both countries stressed the importance of continuous strong collaboration in defending their national security and fighting terrorism and its funding as well as on areas of defence. They affirmed that this cooperation was decisive in saving lives in the two countries, as well as in other areas of the world, and they pledged to deepen their cooperation and broaden their partnership in facing new challenges. This would include strategic cooperation in areas of cyber security, where a framework agreement on strategic cooperation in cyber security between the two countries was signed.

4.2 The two countries expressed their resolve to intensify their efforts to combat terrorism and extremism until its roots were eradicated and its funding exhausted, especially by exchanging information and understanding the different methods that extremists and terrorists use to influence vulnerable people, and working together to protect people from negative terrorist campaigns that terrorists use to spread extremism and conduct recruitment online. The United Kingdom expressed its support for Saudi Arabia’s efforts and leadership in promoting tolerance and inter-faith dialogue, including the development of initiatives related to fighting extremism, including the establishment of “Etidal”, which represents a global center of excellence for countering extremist narrative. The two nations committed to sharing best practices and identify opportunities for joint projects to counter terrorist propaganda, including in the English language.

4.3 The United Kingdom has expressed their appreciation to the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in countering terrorism and terrorist financing by announcing the establishment of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition with Riyadh as a centre consisting of 41 Islamic countries. The United Kingdom also expressed pleasure to be the first supporting country signing an agreement of collaboration with the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition in its initiative to combat threats from terrorism and violent extremism in four working sectors: Media, Counter-terrorism, Military and Ideology. The United Kingdom also welcomed the establishment of the International Centre for Targeting Terrorism Funding in Riyadh.

4.4 The two nations have signed a number of MoU’s to deepen and broaden cooperation between them and enhance the Kingdom’s industrial defence capabilities, noting that this was being achieved through technology transfer and capability development, training, and building a partnership in research and development on a national and industrial level, and providing technical advisory to the development program of the Ministry of Defence in Saudi Arabia. As a central part of this, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom signed a letter of intent to finalize discussions for the purchase of 48 Typhoon aircrafts.

4.5 The two countries agreed to increase cooperation on aviation security. The United Kingdom expressed its appreciation of Saudi Arabia’s partnership in aviation security and in countering the continuing terrorist threat, fulfilling commitments under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2309. The United Kingdom underlined the importance of the recently signed Department for General Authority of Civil Aviation Priority Action Plan to work together to further develop aviation security standards.

5 International issues

5.1 The two countries agreed to continue to co-operate closely on international security, national development, and humanitarian issues. The United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed cooperation agreements to enable the strengthening of responses to regional and global humanitarian and development challenges. As part of this partnership, the two sides pledged £100 million of joint funding to support livelihoods and economic prosperity in the Horn of Africa and East Africa.

5.2 The two countries stressed the importance of Iran’s adherence to the principles of good neighboring behaviors, and not interfering in the internal affairs of countries in accordance with international norms and the United Nations Charter.

5.3 The two countries discussed Yemen:

• The two countries confirmed the importance of reaching a political solution to the crisis in Yemen on the basis of the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its implementation mechanism, the outcome of the Yemen National Dialogue and UN Security Council Resolution 2216, so as to ensure Yemen’s security and territorial integrity. They expressed their strong support for the recently appointed UN Special Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths. The two nations agreed to stay in regular contact, and conduct intensive discussions around this.

• The two countries agreed that any political settlement must result in an end to security threats to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, other regional states, and to Red Sea shipping, as well as see an end to the Iranian support for militias and a withdrawal of Iranian elements and Hizbollah from Yemen.

• The two countries agreed to continue to work together to address the humanitarian crisis, building on Saudi Arabia’s efforts, including Saudi Arabia’s recently announced Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations plan. Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its commitment to disburse its pledge to the UN Appeal. Both countries reaffirmed their commitment since November to work together to strengthen the inspection mechanism of the UNVIM to ensure that all Yemeni ports can remain fully open to commercial and humanitarian supplies, according to relevant United Nations’ resolutions. They agreed on the importance of the international community to pressure the Houthi militias to allow unimpeded humanitarian access in areas they control, whilst taking all appropriate measures to implement the arms embargo pursuant to paragraph 14 of UNSCR 2216 (2015). They agreed to work together with international partners including the UN to agree on a mechanism for paying public sector salaries across the country. The United Kingdom welcomed Saudi Arabia’s recent establishment of an office for Yemen reconstruction in Riyadh to develop reconstruction plans to be implemented following a political settlement. The United Kingdom sees this as an important expression of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to the long-term development of all of Yemen.

• The United Kingdom welcomed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s continuing commitment to ensuring that the Coalition’s military campaign is conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law.

5.4 On other Middle East issues the two sides affirmed the following.

• Middle East Peace Process: The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to a two state solution based on the Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant UN Resolutions.

• Iraq: The United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia congratulated the Iraqi government on their progress and success against ISIS. The UK strongly supports the improvement in relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of Iraq, including the reopening of border crossings and trade routes, the resumption of direct flights and its support to rebuild Iraq.

• Syria: The two countries reiterated their support for the UN led Geneva Process and for a political solution based on Geneva I declaration and UN Security Council resolution 2254. They agreed on the need to implement urgently a ceasefire, as called for UN Security Council Resolution 2401, in order to allow the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid and medical evacuations.

• Lebanon: The two countries agreed to work together to support the Lebanese Government and to work together to counter Hizbollah’s destabilising role.

• Libya: The two countries expressed strong support for the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy to establish peace in Libya.

5.5 The two countries reaffirmed their commitment to enhanced co-operation between the UK and Gulf Cooperation Council; and the implementation of the joint communique agreed between the UK and GCC States in December 2016.