Good afternoon.

I am joined today by Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS England Regional Medical Director for London, and Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

The rollout of our fantastic vaccination programme continues to make good progress.

The brilliant NHS is vaccinating people at the rate of 200 jabs per minute.

And as of today, four million, nine hundred and seventy-three thousand, two hundred and forty-eight people have been vaccinated across the United Kingdom.

The NHS are working as quickly, efficiently and as fairly as possible to get the vaccine to priority groups.

And I want to take this moment and opportunity to counter some of the disinformation about the vaccine – especially any messages targeted towards those from an ethnic minority background.

This vaccine is safe for us all.

It will protect you and your family.

It is our best chance of beating this virus.

So I urge everyone across our wonderfully diverse country to get the vaccine when their turn comes to keep us all safe.

But we are sadly not out of the woods yet, this virus remains severe and it is a deadly threat.

Our NHS is under immense pressure and large numbers of people are still falling ill and, sadly, dying.

So it is absolutely crucial that you stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

Since yesterday, thirty-seven thousand eight hundred and ninety-two people have tested positive for coronavirus.

As of 19 January, thirty-eight thousand, six hundred and seventy-six people were in hospital with coronavirus. That is up 4.8 per cent from the week before.

Of those who have tested positive for coronavirus, across all settings, sadly ninety-four thousand, five-hundred and eighty people have died. That’s one thousand, two-hundred and ninety fatalities since yesterday.

Every death is a tragedy and these numbers demonstrate, that this country remains in the grip of a pandemic.

My thoughts go to all of those who have lost loved ones.

The sacrifices that millions of you are making day in, day out are starting to make a difference.

By staying at home, you are helping to keep those you care about safe, and contributing to this national effort.

But there is still a small minority who refuse to do the right thing.

To them, my message is clear: if you do not follow these rules, then the police will enforce them.

Police officers are now moving more quickly to handing out fines when they encounter breaches. And they have my absolute backing in doing so.

As we have done throughout this pandemic, we are constantly reviewing our approach to ensure that we can crack down on the most serious cases of rule-breaking.

And today I can announce that next week we will be introducing a new £800 fine for those attending house parties, which will double for each repeat offence to a maximum level of £6,400.

These fines will apply to those who attend illegal gatherings of more than 15 people in homes.

The science is clear: such irresponsible behaviour poses a significant threat to public – not only to those in attendance, but also to the wonderful police officers who attend to shut down these events.

From the outset, we have given the police the necessary powers to enforce the rules, which are in place to stop the spread of the virus.

As this latest measure demonstrates, we will not stand by while a small number of individuals put others at risk.

I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our police forces and our fire services for their extraordinary contribution throughout the pandemic.

They are out there each and every day, supporting our communities, risking their own health to keep the rest of us safe.

And we have seen in their own commitment during this whole response to the flooding caused by Storm Christoph.

During such a difficult time for this country, the commitment and courage shown by our emergency services has been truly inspiring.

Everyone has a role to play in our fight against this virus.

So please: stay at home so we can protect the NHS and save lives.

I will now hand over to Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.

The UK Government has announced that £1 million will be invested in the Swansea Bay area to reduce drug crime.

The money will be invested into piloting Project ADDER – a new intensive approach to tackling drug misuse, which combines targeted and tougher policing with enhanced treatment and recovery services.

Project ADDER (which stands for Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) will bring together partners in the local area including the police, councils and health services and run for three financial years.

It will bolster local police force activity and police investigations, targeted at drug supply disruption.

Work will also take place to establish programmes to use the criminal justice system to divert people who use drugs away from offending through programmes such as Drug Testing on Arrest and out of court disposals.

There will also be increased drug outreach, harm reduction, treatment and recovery support services.

Welsh Secretary, Simon Hart said:

The supply and misuse of drugs causes terrible harm to many of our communities across Wales. It is vital that the agencies who are combatting this appalling trade get all the support they need.

The investment in services in Swansea Bay will help police and other partners tackle this problem in the heart of the communities where an intensive approach is most needed.

Crime and Policing Minister, Kit Malthouse, said:

The drugs trade is a poison in our society, devastating lives and destroying communities.

We are delivering on the priorities of the people of Swansea Bay, who do not want drugs blighting their communities. The work delivered through Project ADDER will help in the concerted and coordinated effort to tackle the problem at its root, from disrupting supply right through to rehabilitating people struggling with drug dependence.

We are determined to confront the issue of drugs across the UK and deliver for the public by making our streets safer and protecting those most vulnerable

Swansea Bay is one of the five pilot areas for Project ADDER, which is underpinned by £28 million in funding, and will run across three financial years.

According to the most recent statistics, in 2017-19, Swansea had the highest rate of drug deaths per 100,000 in Wales at 17.6. The rate of drug-related deaths in Swansea is 1.8 times higher than it was a decade ago.

Neath Port Talbot has the third highest rate of drug deaths at 12.7 per 100,000 and has been one of the five highest locations of drug deaths in England and Wales between 2014 and 2017.

Today’s funding is part of a £148 million, comprehensive drive by the UK Government to build back safer by helping people break free from the scourge of drug use and cutting drug-fuelled crime and violence.

Some £40 million has been allocated to police forces to take down county lines gangs and tackle drugs supply while £80 million has gone towards drug treatment services to stop reoffending – the largest increase in drug treatment funding for 15 years.

All high-rise buildings in the social sector and student buildings are now fully remediated or have work underway to remove unsafe ACM cladding, according to stats released today (21 January 2021).

Around 95% of the highest risk buildings with unsafe cladding similar to that found on Grenfell Tower have been made safe or have work underway compared to a year ago; with 159 buildings starting work last year compared to 90 in 2019 – representing more buildings on site with remediation work in 2020 than at any point previously.

However, ministers continue to press building owners to take urgent action to make homes safer.

Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

Today’s stats show that – despite the pandemic – significant progress has continued to have been made with remediation work either complete or on site on around 95% of buildings, rising to 100% in all social or student high rise buildings.

This is a big step forwards. While there is still more to do, we are helping make the highest risk buildings with dangerous cladding safer, more quickly.

Building Safety Minister Lord Greenhalgh said:

Building owners are responsible for making sure that their buildings, and the people who live in them, are safe. However, some need to do more and it’s unacceptable a minority are yet to start work.

We are in contact with the remaining buildings where remediation has not started and we are clear if work does not take place urgently we will take further enforcement action.

Following the Grenfell Tower fire, the government launched a large-scale programme to identify all high-rise buildings in England with unsafe cladding similar to that found on Grenfell to ensure those homes were prioritised for remediation work to make them safe.

Separately, the government’s £1 billion Building Safety Fund is enabling faster remediation of high-rise buildings with other unsafe cladding and as at 15 January had allocated just under £100 million to projects (£95.9 million).

The official statistics published today show data, as of 31 December 2020, updating on progress in remediation of high-rise buildings in England with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations.

View the latest data on remediation

The end of the year saw 31 buildings completed between November and December 2020, the highest monthly increase last year.

Of the 45 buildings yet to start, 13 were identified last year; 7 are vacant and do not represent a risk to resident safety.

The department has confirmed that remediation work should continue during the pandemic, where it is safe to do so.

See guidance relating to construction work and Covid-19

A protection board has been set up with the Home Office and National Fire Chiefs’ Council to provide further reassurance to residents of high-risk residential blocks that any risks are identified and acted upon.

The Communities Secretary has made up to £10 million a year of funding available to support the board who will provide expert, tailored building checks and inspections, if necessary, on all high-risk residential buildings in England by 2021.