Following a tour of the facility, during which she spoke to members of staff and students, the Secretary of State addressed the media.

Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland:

I am absolutely delighted to be in Belfast and to be appointed to this important Cabinet post and I am really looking forward to getting down to work as quickly as possible. I want to work with all sections of the community here to help build a Northern Ireland that is fit for the future and that works for everyone.

During my visit to Belfast Metropolitan College, I have been struck by the wonderful education facilities that are available to students here. Throughout the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland is highly regarded for the excellent levels of education it provides, as well as the high calibre of its students – they can hold their heads high and compete with the best from around the world;

And of course I can’t forget the marvellous tourism that this part of the world is so famous for – the Giant’s Causeway, the Mourne Mountains and of course the No 1 visitor attraction in the world – Titanic Belfast. I know my family are already looking forward to getting to know this beautiful part of the United Kingdom.

Of course I have a very important job to do, and as I said yesterday my immediate challenge and key objective is to ensure that Northern Ireland has a devolved government in place in order to address the issues that affect everyone’s lives, including health, education and the economy. I’m also conscious of the need to deliver a Brexit that works for Northern Ireland and to ensure everyone is safe and secure.

It is fitting my first visit should be to Titanic Quarter, which reflects both Belfast and Northern Ireland’s past and its future. Once one of the world’s leading industrial cities and now one of the world’s largest urban-waterfront regeneration schemes.

And I understand the importance of dealing with the past and securing a safe and prosperous future. My aim is to work collaboratively to find solutions to these issues acceptable to everyone.

I have spoken to all the main party leaders. While there will be many challenges in the coming weeks – which all parties will need to rise to – I will do all that I can to ensure that we find a way to restore devolution to Northern Ireland.

By Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis

Today (10 January 2018) we’re both in Germany to highlight the important relationship that exists between our countries.

It’s a relationship built on shared interests and shared values, that has helped both our nations prosper and grow.

And while the UK will leave the EU next year, we can still look to the future with a shared vision — one that sees Germany, Britain and the EU continue to thrive, and our relationship remain strong and close.

Trade between the UK and EU 27 is worth €750 billion a year — and a quarter of EU exports to Britain, worth €113 billion, come from Germany, more than any other EU country.

Of course we understand that Germany and other EU countries want to protect the integrity of the single market, and that without all the obligations of EU membership third countries cannot have all the benefits.

Those priorities are not inconsistent with ours — a deep and special partnership with our closest trading partners and allies.

Our commitment to Europe’s security is unwavering, and we’ll seek to agree new arrangements that allow us to keep the close UK-EU cooperation to tackle the shared threats we face.

Meanwhile, there are still important choices to be made about how we find the right balance in Britain’s new relationship with the EU.

As two of Europe’s biggest economies, it makes no sense to either Germany or Britain to put in place unnecessary barriers to trade in goods and services that would only damage businesses and economic growth on both sides of the Channel.

So as Brexit talks now turn to trade, the UK will look to negotiate a new economic partnership with the EU – the most ambitious in the world – that recognises the extraordinary levels of interconnectedness and cooperation that already exist between us.

When we leave the European Union, we will leave the Customs Union and Single Market, but in agreeing a new model of cooperation, we should not restrict ourselves to models and deals that already exist.

Instead we should use the imagination and ingenuity that our two countries and the EU have shown in the past, to craft a bespoke solution that builds on our deeply integrated, unique starting point to maximise economic cooperation, while minimising additional friction.

The economic partnership should cover the length and breadth of our economies including the service industries — and financial services.

Because the 2008 Global Financial Crisis proved how fundamental financial services are to the real economy, and how easily contagion can spread from one economy to another without global and regional safeguards in place.

That is why the UK has worked with our partners in the EU to ensure we led the world in making the regulation and supervision of finance safer.

In particular, we’ve sought to ensure that financial authorities across the world can cooperate in rule-setting and supervising systemically important global firms, to make sure such a catastrophe doesn’t happen again.

That work shouldn’t end because the UK is leaving the EU. On the contrary, we must re-double our collective effort to ensure that we do not put that hard-earned financial stability at risk, by getting a deal that supports collaboration within the European banking sector, rather than forcing it to fragment.

For such a close trade partnership in goods and services to succeed, we will need to maintain our common principles – including our shared belief in high standards – and continue the intelligent cooperation of our regulators.

Because the trust we place in each others regulators, in a whole range of areas, has been built up over many years of cooperation and there’s no good reason why it should disappear after the UK leaves the EU.

We also propose to provide as much certainty to businesses throughout the EU as possible, through a time-limited implementation period after Britain leaves the EU.

During this period, we propose that access to one another’s markets will continue in its current form, using the EU’s existing rules, regulations and agencies.

That way, UK and European businesses have time to prepare for a single set of changes – once we know what our future trading partnership will look like.

This implementation period is clearly in the mutual interests of the UK, Germany, and the EU – that is why the December EU Council signalled its support for rapid progress on this agreement, which we should deliver at the March council.

So this week, we both take the message to German business leaders that agreeing the details of this period with the Commission is a major priority for the UK Government.

Brexit will inevitably mean a shift in the way UK and European companies do business together.

But with the next set of negotiations just around the corner, a bold, positive and exciting new chapter in our history together awaits.

We will continue to work closely together, to make sure we put in place a new relationship that works best for the UK, for Germany and for Europe.

The Insolvency Service accepts that the original headline published on this statement was inappropriate and capable of misinterpretation. For the avoidance of doubt we wish to state that the Insolvency Service has made no finding of dishonesty or fitness to practice as a psychiatrist against Dr Seamark.

A statement containing a revised headline has been published on our website. We wish to apologise to Dr Seamark for the orginal headline which did not meet our usual editorial standards.

Three of the UK’s leading construction companies have been chosen to create Public Health England’s (PHE) new state-of-the-art public health science campus and headquarters at Harlow, Essex.

They have been selected for the 4 key elements of the £400 million capital spend programme to create the campus. This includes building and refurbishing new and existing laboratories and office areas; construction of a new arrivals area and logistics centre; and site-wide infrastructure including car parking.

The appointments, creating thousands of construction-related jobs, sees the end of an 18-month procurement process, with work expected to start next month.

The successful companies bid for 4 lots:

• lot 1 – new build of specialist bioscience laboratory building – Kier Group
• lot 2 – refurbishment of main building, including laboratories and offices – Wates Construction
• lot 3 – arrivals, administration and logistics buildings – Wates Construction
• lot 4 – site-wide infrastructure, external works and energy centre – VolkerFitzpatrick (Royal VolkerWessels)

The appointment of all 3 contractors provides a boost to local employment – particularly in the case of VolkerFitzpatrick, whose head office is located in the neighbouring town of Hoddesdon.

The next steps will see the contractors working with the existing design teams and preparing the site for major construction. This is planned to start in 2019, with phased occupation starting in 2021.

PHE Harlow, as the campus will be known, is expected to employ up to 2,750 people by 2024, with scope for further expansion.

Facilities from Porton in Wiltshire and Colindale in north London, as well as PHE’s central London headquarters, will be relocated to the single centre of excellence for public health research, health improvement and protection.

The campus is critical to the future of PHE, ensuring we will be able to use the latest scientific advances to deliver our world-leading science and evidence for issues such as smoking, alcohol, diabetes, dementia, infectious diseases, environmental hazards and climate change nationally and internationally.

Richard Gleave, PHE Deputy Chief Executive, said:

PHE is delighted to have secured 3 of the leading construction companies in the UK to deliver what will be a world-leading national and international resource.

Much of the work to create PHE Harlow is highly specialised so it’s especially pleasing to have secured 3 of the best companies in their fields to deliver that work. This is yet another milestone for PHE and we can now look forward to the chosen contractors coming on board and bringing their considerable wealth of experience and skills to our programme.

We are also delighted at the very significant opportunities that the construction of PHE Harlow will offer in the surrounding area.

Nigel Brook, Kier Group Executive Director, Construction and Infrastructure Services, said:

This £160 million project is another significant award for Kier in bioscience, building on our track record as a specialist delivery partner in the sector with projects including biomedical research facilities for the University of Cambridge with Project Capella and the Sainsbury laboratory as well as the state-of-the-art Derriford Research Facility for Plymouth University.

We’re looking forward to providing a state-of-the-art facility which will help Public Health England to keep improving the nation’s health and wellbeing.

Ian Vickers, Managing Director, Wates Construction Home Counties, commented:

PHE Harlow will play a pivotal role in improving public health, providing state-of-the-art facilities for industry-leading scientists and doctors to address some of the most pressing medical and environmental challenges the world is currently facing.

It is therefore a particular privilege for Wates to be awarded 2 of the 4 lots. It is also a huge responsibility, and over the next year we will be working closely with PHE and other partners as we prepare to start on site in early 2019.

Richard Offord, Managing Director of VolkerFitzpatrick said:

We are delighted to be working with PHE on such a forward-thinking project. The new public health science campus will support the growth of the local area and we are looking forward to starting work on this exciting opportunity.

1. PHE submitted an Outline Business Case to government in July 2014. An interim decision was taken in September 2015 to move the majority of PHE functions from Porton to Harlow. In November 2015 the government supported a further proposal to move PHE science facilities at Colindale to Harlow to create a single integrated campus. The government has committed £400 million capital investment for the project.

2. Today’s announcement comes less than 3 weeks after PHE was granted outline planning permission by Harlow District Council to create its centre of national and international scientific expertise.

3. It is hoped the public health science campus will be fully operational by 2024, with the first building work expected to start in 2019 and a phased occupation from 2021.

4. The campus will allow PHE to fully embrace the new technologies of whole genome sequencing, public health interventions and ‘big data’ and transform the delivery of public health science for many years to come. Whole genome sequencing is the mapping of a person’s unique DNA and enables more accurate, sophisticated and cost-effective genetic testing.

5. Kier Group plc is a leading property, residential, construction and services group which operates across a range of sectors including science, defence, education, housing, industrials, power, transport and utilities. Among the schemes it has been involved in, the most relevant are Project Capella, a large biomedical research facility, and the Sainsbury Laboratory both in Cambridge.

6. Wates Construction has a long track record across both the public and private sectors and has worked on projects across a variety of areas, including education, commercial, heritage, local authority frameworks and mixed-use. These have included the delivery of major projects for both the Pirbright Institute in Surrey and the Quadram Institute in Norwich.

7. VolkerFitzpatrick is a multi-disciplinary contractor working in the civil engineering, building, rail, waste and energy infrastructure sectors. The head office is at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire just eight miles from the PHE Harlow site. Founded in 1921, the company has grown to become one of the top contractors in the UK. VolkerFitzpatrick constructed a third berth at the UK’s new deep-sea hub port, 25 miles from central London at Stanford-le-Hope and was appointed by Siemens to design, build and commission two train care depots in Hornsey, north London and Three Bridges near Crawley, West Sussex. VolkerFitzpatrick is part of VolkerWessels UK, a multi-disciplinary construction and civil engineering group.

8. Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist public health services. PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health. Twitter: @PHE_uk, Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicHealthEngland.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO),on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), has launched its commercial strategy setting out its vision for future ways of working with suppliers in the soft and hard facilities management, construction and property advisory sectors

DIO currently spends around £3 billion each year buying infrastructure services to enable the men and women of defence to live, work, train and deploy across the UK and overseas.

The strategy, which has been developed in consultation with industry partners, aims to transform the way DIO does business. It provides information on the types of opportunities available to prospective suppliers and outlines plans to create and sustain a competitive market.

Central to the strategy is the importance of a broad and more diverse supply base which increases value back to the taxpayer by generating wider competition. DIO aims to increase supplier numbers and create a genuinely competitive supply base which offers greater opportunities to small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) as well as larger suppliers.

As a main infrastructure client, DIO will engage with industry by sharing pipeline information well in advance of planned procurements to help shape the market, drive innovation and invigorate and maintain a diverse portfolio of suppliers. In turn this will support economic growth nationally and in the regions by giving businesses certainty to recruit and retain staff.

Minister for Defence, Personnel and Veterans, Tobias Ellwood said:

The defence estate is where our armed forces live, work, train and deploy from and it’s crucial we give them the best infrastructure possible.

Working with industry is key, and this commercial strategy will ensure that the £3 billion we invest each year in our estate gives more value for money, is better aligned to military needs and gives more certainty to the defence supply chain.

Graham Dalton, DIO’s CE said:

The publication of this strategy, in anticipation of the updated 2018 DIO Procurement Plan, marks an important moment for DIO. We realise that we have not been the easiest organisation to do business with in the past and we are dedicated to changing that.

This strategy sets out our intent to broaden our supply base, and for our existing and prospective suppliers to have the confidence to work with us. We will work in an open and constructive way to deliver innovative and value for money services that meet the requirements of defence and the armed forces.

Mark Fox, Chief Executive of the Business Services Association said:

I welcome the publication of the DIO Commercial Strategy. BSA members were closely involved in its development. Its publication marks an important step forward in the relationship, with government partnering with the private sector to deliver the best possible services.

Gareth Rhys Williams, Government Chief Commercial Officer said:

At a crucial time for defence spending, I am very pleased that the Defence Infrastructure Organisation has applied government best practice alongside working with industry to launch its first ever commercial strategy. It is important that we build a strong and broad supply chain for government contracts and by giving certainty and transparency to the market we ensuring value for money for the taxpayer and a vibrant economy.

The DIO Commercial Strategy sets the direction for future DIO procurement plans.