This is more than at any previous point in the pandemic and the biggest homeland operation the UK has ever seen in peacetime. Thousands more are supporting efforts through their day jobs in military planning, Defence Medical Services, Defence Science and Technology Laboratories and elsewhere.

More military personnel are being deployed to support community testing in:

• Manchester – 800 personnel providing community testing support to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority
  • Kent – 390 personnel will support community testing
  • Swadlincote, Derbyshire – 130 personnel to establish and operate four lateral flow testing sites
  • Kirklees, Yorkshire – 75 personnel to establish and operate four lateral flow testing sites
  • Lancashire – 420 personnel to support asymptomatic testing

In Manchester today (4 January) another large scale task starts, with 800 personnel deploying from nine regiments across the British Army at the request of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), through the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). These personnel will prepare to work across all ten local authority areas of Greater Manchester to carry out targeted asymptomatic testing of specific populations that may be at a higher risk of infection including social care staff, key workers, public facing occupations such as bus drivers, and those in high risk environments such care homes and shared accommodation for the homeless. The task builds on lessons from previous asymptomatic community testing in Liverpool, Lancashire, Merthyr Tydfil, Medway, and Kirklees.

In addition to community testing, military personnel remain on-task testing hauliers in Dover and helping to establish ten new testing sites to improve the flow of traffic across the Channel. As of today, 515 personnel are on task in Kent and elsewhere providing testing to hauliers.

1,500 Armed Forces personnel have also been provided to support schools testing, with local response teams providing virtual support and phone advice to institutions. Personnel also on standby to deploy at short notice to provide in-person support. Testing will continue as planned with two rapid Lateral Flow Tests available to all secondary school and college students and staff at the start of term to identify asymptomatic cases, break chains of transmission and beat the virus.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

The new year will see new levels of Armed Forces support to overcoming this pandemic. Thousands of service personnel are working throughout the United Kingdom, wherever they are needed to assist the civil authorities.

Manchester is the latest of those tasks and will be an important contribution to protecting the highest risk groups as the city seeks to recover. As a North West MP I am acutely aware of the considerable time many of us have been labouring under some form of lockdown and I hope our soldiers will help us get to the day when these restrictions will start to lift.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

We are enormously grateful to the Armed Forces for lending their support to these important community testing programmes. Around one in three people with coronavirus showing no symptoms, asymptomatic testing is crucial to identifying those who might be unknowingly infected, and protecting our most vulnerable.

These community testing schemes are part of a national testing programme with millions of lateral flow tests arriving in schools tomorrow, for the testing of students and staff, to add to the hundreds of thousands of asymptomatic tests currently being conducted in care homes, across the NHS and in critical infrastructure workplaces and food manufacturers.

While the Army, alongside thousands of medical professionals and volunteers, help roll out the vaccination programme, we must remember that the first line of defence against the virus remains to wash our hands, cover our faces and keep space.

Lt Gen Sir Tyrone Urch KBE, Commander Standing Joint Commander UK said:

I am incredibly proud of all the servicemen and women who have worked tirelessly for most of this year on Operation RESCRIPT, the military effort in support of the government’s campaign to tackle COVID-19.

In recent weeks, our amazing staff have deployed at short notice to set up and staff community testing centres across the country in support of the NHS, DHSC, Devolved Nations and local communities. They have conducted a successful testing pilot in schools and contributed to vaccine rollout planning. Both Regular and Reservist personnel stepped up on Christmas Eve to help clear the backlog of trucks in Kent, setting up testing facilities overnight when they would otherwise have been spending the festive period with their families.

I am humbled by the sacrifice and dedication of all our people from the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force as we continue to contribute to our nation’s fight against the coronavirus.

The MOD has deployed 10 military planners to assist the Vaccine Task Force, with over 150 personnel deployed across the UK to support organisational and logistical components of the Deployment Programme. Two separate military planners are seconded to support the Vaccine Task Force Director. Additionally, 20 personnel are assisting with regional vaccine planning, end-to-end logistics and delivery.

From 11th January a Vaccine Quick Reaction Force is being established, with their training for the role beginning today. This will initially be 21 teams of six personnel assigned to the seven NHS England regions, able to provide surge support to the vaccine roll-out if required by local health authorities.

In Wales, 90 service personnel are deployed to support Health Boards in rapidly establishing and operating vaccination centres. For the first-time trained defence medics will also support the administering of the vaccine. Ninety-four military personnel, including medics and drivers, have embedded with the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust to support them by driving Ambulances.

In Scotland, military planners are supporting the testing and vaccine programmes. Earlier during the pandemic Armed Forces personnel supported healthcare professionals to deliver testing at Glasgow Airport, and RAF Puma helicopters were deployed to Kinloss Barracks in Moray to provide emergency assistance to NHS boards and trusts across Scotland. In Northern Ireland the Defence Estate is being loaned to the PSNI for their use and the Armed Forces have placed medevac capabilities on standby for Covid-19 patients when needed.

The NHS is the first health service in the world to deploy the life-saving jab, which has been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after meeting strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. It is the only approved vaccine which can be stored at fridge temperatures.

The Government has secured access to 100 million doses of the vaccine on behalf of the whole of the UK, crown dependencies and Overseas Territories.

More than half a million doses are available today, with tens of millions more to be delivered in the coming weeks and months once batches have been quality checked by the MHRA. More than 730 vaccination sites have already been established across the UK and hundreds more are opening this week to take the total to over 1,000, helping those who are most at risk from Covid-19 to access vaccines for free, regardless of where they live.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

I am delighted that today we are rolling out the Oxford vaccine – a testament to British science. This is a pivotal moment in our fight against this awful virus and I hope it provides renewed hope to everybody that the end of this pandemic is in sight.

Through its vaccine delivery plan the NHS is doing everything it can to vaccinate those most at risk as quickly as possible and we will rapidly accelerate our vaccination programme.

While the most vulnerable are immunised, I urge everybody to continue following the restrictions so we can keep cases down and protect our loved ones.

The first Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccinations will be delivered at hospitals for the first few days, as is standard practice, before the bulk of supplies are sent to hundreds of GP-led services and care homes later in the week. More than a million people in the UK have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and its roll out will continue at pace.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at fridge temperatures, between two to eight degrees, making it easier to distribute to care homes and other locations across the UK. The vaccines will be deployed through:

• hospital hubs for NHS and care staff and older patients to get vaccinated
• local community services with local teams and GPs already signing up to take part in the programme
• vaccination centres across the country, ensuring people can access a vaccine regardless of where they live

An army of current and former NHS staff have applied to become vaccinators, with tens of thousands having already completed their online training. These are being processed as quickly as possible and volunteer vaccinators will be deployed as more vaccine supplies become available. GPs and local vaccination services have been asked to ensure every care home resident in their local area is vaccinated by the end of January.

The MHRA, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the four UK Chief Medical Officers agreed to delay the gap between the first and second dose of vaccines to protect the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time.

In line with the recommendations of the JCVI, the vaccine will be rolled out to the priority groups including care home residents and staff, people over 80 and health and care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

Background

There are more than 730 vaccination sites across the UK.

Up to 100 more hospital sites are due to come online in England this week, subject to final assurance checks. There are also another 180 GP-led services which are due to come online this week.

The following hospitals in England will start delivering the vaccine today ahead of the rollout to hundreds of GP-led services later in the week:

• Royal Free Hospital London NHS Foundation Trust
• Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
• George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust

The government is taking further steps to help hauliers get tested before they travel to Kent or any port heading to France, in an effort to reduce disruption for drivers as they carry goods across the Channel.

The Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, today (2 January 2020) announced the creation of 10 new testing locations across the country, with a further 10 opening tomorrow (3 January 2020), and more being added this week.

In addition, to help hauliers cross the Channel as quickly as possible, the government is offering to help any business to set up a testing centre at its own premises to ensure trucks heading for France depart ‘COVID ready’.

The Department of Health and Social Care will support this, including the provision of testing kits entirely free of charge, and any business able to take advantage of this offer is urged to so to avoid the risk of delays waiting for tests either in Kent or at the public sites.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

As a result of the heroic efforts of hundreds of military and civilian personnel who have worked hard over the past 10 days, we have made incredible progress in clearing the queues of drivers left stranded as a result of the French government’s actions.

If we are to keep traffic flowing in Kent, it is essential drivers are tested before they travel down to the area and that they have a Kent Access Permit before heading to the border, and these new testing centres both at service stations and inside businesses, will help reduce delays.

Tests will be available at the information advice sites the government has set up for hauliers around the country, originally to provide advice about the requirements for travelling to the continent after leaving the EU. Now military personnel will be at 10 of these sites to provide COVID testing for haulage drivers, providing a negative result in the required 72-hour window before arriving in Kent, fast-tracking their access to the ports.

Lateral flow devices are being used to test hauliers that provide results within the hour and provide the necessary negative test result to allow them to continue on their journey into France. The Armed Forces are experienced in using these devices having used them for mass testing in Liverpool, Merthyr Tydfil and Medway.

As well as delivering testing, staff at the sites can also provide guidance on new border processes after EU transition and check whether drivers have all the right paperwork.

Significant progress has been made in ensuring over 25,500 lorries have crossed the Channel since the French government introduced unprecedented restrictions due to the new coronavirus variant.

Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey said:

The Armed Forces are once again demonstrating their flexibility, redeploying to new testing sites to ensure quicker access and minimal disruption on the approaches to Dover and the Eurotunnel.

As we saw throughout the festive period the Armed Forces are dedicated to help keeping the country moving, healthy and secure in 2021.

Six projects across the UK will today receive a share of £8 million in government funding as part of a drive to create the world’s first net zero emissions industrial zone by 2040. Projects in the West Midlands, Tees Valley, North West, Humber, Scotland and South Wales will see local authorities working with industry to develop plans to reduce carbon emissions, with one scheme alone – across the North West of England and North East Wales – aiming to create over 33,000 new jobs and more than £4 billion of investment as it bids to become the world’s first net zero industrial zone.

A net zero industrial zone will see all industries in a region collectively reducing their carbon dioxide emissions to as close to zero as possible using low-carbon energy sources and new technology like carbon capture.

All 6 areas receiving funding today have high concentrations of industrial activity and will get a share of up to £8 million towards the development of decarbonisation plans.

Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said:

The UK is leading the world’s green industrial revolution, with ambitious targets to decarbonise our economy and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

As we continue to level up the UK economy and build back greener, we must ensure every sector is reducing carbon emissions to help us achieve our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

This funding will help key industrial areas meet the challenge of contributing to our cleaner future while maintaining their productive and competitive strengths.

Decarbonising UK industry is a key part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution, which is laid out in its Ten Point Plan and Energy White Paper and is set to create 220,000 jobs as we build back greener over the next decade.

The Industrial Clusters Mission aims to support the delivery of 4 low-carbon regional zones by 2030 and at least one net zero green hotspot by 2040, kickstarted by the government’s £170 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge.

The 6 winners will now produce detailed plans for reducing emissions across major areas of industrial activity, where related industries have congregated and can benefit from utilising shared clean energy infrastructure, such as carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) and low-carbon hydrogen production and distribution.

All the winners have produced initial plans for reducing emissions across major industrial clusters across the UK and, in subsequent years, will build on these preliminary successes by bringing together industry and public sector bodies in a comprehensive effort to devise a route to net zero emissions.

Bryony Livesey, UKRI Challenge Director, Industrial Decarbonisation, said:

Today’s announcement shows that the industrial clusters campaign is proceeding at pace. This second phase of the competition asks companies and partners to plan for comprehensive changes to industries, products and supply lines.

This is a crucial step in the government’s plans to develop cost-effective decarbonisation in industrial hubs that tackle the emissions challenge UK industry faces. The move to low carbon industry is a huge opportunity, with the chance for the UK to take the lead and seize a large share of a growing global market.

Notes to editors

The Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge will commit £170 million towards deploying technologies like carbon capture and hydrogen networks in industrial clusters, supporting the Industrial Clusters Mission to establish the world’s first net zero industrial cluster by 2040.

The Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge supports co-ordinated research, technology and infrastructure that allows UK industry to reduce carbon emissions across a large scale and in a way that can be easily replicated.

The funding for the £170 million Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge is being made through the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Regional cluster leads

• in the West Midlands, the Black Country Consortium will be the cluster plan lead
• in the Tees Valley, the cluster plan will be overseen by the Tees Valley Combined Authority
• in the North West of England and North East Wales, the cluster plan will be led by Peel Environmental
• in the Humber it will be led by the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership
• in Scotland NECCUS, an alliance of industries and experts, will lead
• in South Wales, the cluster plan will be led by CR Plus consultancy

List of IDC Phase 2 Cluster Plan Projects

Project title: South Wales Industry – A Plan for Clean Growth

Region: South Wales
Project Lead: CR Plus consultancy

The South Wales Industrial Cluster (SWIC) is a diverse mix of critical industry that have come together to collaboratively achieve common objectives for decarbonisation and clean growth delivering job security.

Led by CR Plus consultancy the SWIC plans centres around a 5 stepped approach to net zero carbon (NZC), 5 spatial zone types will allow SWIC to take immediate steps toward NZC with a low chance of incurring ‘Regret Capital’. As well as targeting a NZC cluster by 2040, this plan focuses on societal needs, circular economy and clean growth aspirations of the region, tackling the common and unique commercial and operational challenges facing SW industry.

Project title: Repowering the Black Country Phase 2 Cluster Plan

Region: Black Country
Project Lead: The Black Country Consortium

The Black Country is 1 of 7 strategic industrial clusters across the UK being supported by BEIS and Innovate UK to decarbonise by 2040. By 2030, without radical action, Black Country industry will be responsible for 2.3 MtCO2 emissions a year, from an industrial base of more than 3000 energy-intense businesses, many still engaged in the region’s traditional metal processing operations.

This project, led by the Black Country Consortium (a partnership of private, public and voluntary sector organisations), aims to reduce these emissions to zero by 2030 through a co-ordinated programme of transformational projects focused around a new type of industrial estate: the zero carbon hub.

Zero carbon hubs will be based around anchor industrial processes, strategically-selected to match Black Country skills and strengths (for example aluminium reprocessing). Each hub will contain a mix of businesses carefully selected to complement each other by thinking about their energy and waste flows.

Project title: Net Zero Tees Valley: Cluster Plan Stage 2

Region: Teesside
Project Lead: Tees Valley Combined Authority

The Tees Valley is the UK’s most compact and integrated industrial cluster with a radius of 5 miles. The cluster includes several of the UK’s top CO2 emitters and is responsible for 8.8 million tonnes of CO2. The Tees Valley industrial cluster generates £12 billion of exports annually, employs over 12,000 people and currently contributes some £2.5 billion to UK gross value added (GVA).

The cluster plan will be led by the Tees Valley Combined Authority and will identify the most appropriate range of technologies and potential pathways for the various industrial producers and energy generators in the Tees Valley, considering both existing and future new entrants. It is expected that this plan will combine carbon capture at scale, fuel switching to hydrogen, integration of renewables, low carbon energy sources, feedstocks changes, together with improved process and energy efficiencies.

Project title: Scotland’s Net Zero Roadmap (SNZR)

Region: Scotland
Project Lead: Neccus

To achieve net zero by 2045 Scotland needs to decarbonise industry, transport, heat and power. Scotland’s Net Zero Roadmap project (SNZR) will provide the roadmap to enable large-scale industrial CO2 emissions reduction in a way that focuses on ensuring the continued, but evolving, contribution of high-value industry and employment in a future net zero economy.

Led by Neccus, an alliance of industries and experts, the SNZR will provide the roadmap that enables the deployment of options in a way that ensures competitive decarbonisation through continued and growing prosperity across the economy.

Scotland is in a strong position to lead this new large scale CO2 management industry. Offshore Scotland has some of Europe’s best-characterised and largest CO2 storage sites while CCS and hydrogen will create opportunities for jobs and economic activity and help transition staff employed in sectors such as oil and gas.

Project title: The Net Zero NW Cluster Plan

Region: North West
Project Lead: Peel Environmental

The Net Zero NW Cluster Plan, led by Peel Environmental, a development company, will set out the transition to net zero for industry in the North West of England and North East Wales. It will describe the investments, technologies, infrastructure changes and sequencing required to fulfil the UK’s Industrial Clusters Mission.

Industry and public sector bodies, building on the preliminary research completed in Phase 1, will collaboratively promote and engage on plans to decarbonise, ensuring businesses have a strong voice in planning decarbonisation activity in line with current and future business needs whilst leveraging inward investment opportunities.

By enabling multiple industrial facilities to reduce their emissions by the greatest possible extent, with knock-on effects in the reduction of commercial, domestic and transport emissions, the Net Zero NW Cluster Plan hopes to realise over 33,000 new jobs, over £4 billion investment and the world’s first net zero industrial cluster.

Project title: Humber Industrial Cluster Plan

Region: Humber
Project Lead: Humber Local Enterprise Partnership

The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (Humber LEP) and membership organisation CATCH will lead on the project and work with industrial partners across the Humber to develop the Humber Cluster Plan (HCP) that will enable the Humber industrial cluster, the UK’s largest by carbon emissions, to achieve net zero by 2040.

The Humber emits more CO2 than any other industrial cluster (30% more than the next largest), while the area is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. A quarter of the Humber’s GVA and 1 in 10 jobs depend on these industries, making safeguarding their competitiveness imperative for the local economy as well as strategically important for the UK.

A phased approach will prioritise near-term deliverable investments that will see quick results, significantly reducing the Humber’s emissions by 2030, mapping out how carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen infrastructure can be scaled up over time, and identifying the full range of interventions required to achieve net zero by 2040.

HCP will also outline the potential for the Humber’s industrial decarbonisation to support decarbonisation beyond the industrial cluster, including maritime in the UK’s largest ports complex, road/rail transport and decarbonisation of the gas supply (25% of the UK’s supply passes through the Humber). Linked opportunities and implications for renewable energy, especially bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and offshore wind (both of which the Humber leads on and are integral to decarbonising industry), will also be identified.