Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh today.

The leaders had a positive discussion on a range of shared issues and priorities, including tackling illegal migration and people smuggling gangs.

Reflecting on the UN climate summit, they noted the importance of addressing climate change for our long-term security and prosperity.

The Prime Minister highlighted the shock to global energy and food prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the leaders agreed to continue to take strong action to support Ukraine and hold Russia to account for its actions.

The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Meloni welcomed the opportunity to meet at the start of their respective premierships and looked forward to working closely together, building on the strong partnership between the UK and Italy.

The Prime Minister met the President of the United Arab Emirates, High Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, at the COP27 climate summit.

The leaders discussed regional security, in particular the situation in Iran and Tehran’s destabilising behaviour in the region, as well as the negotiations around the JCPoA nuclear deal.

The Prime Minister and Sheikh bin Zayed agreed to continue working closely together on defence, security and trade, including progressing the UK-GCC trade deal next year.

They also welcomed cooperation on energy transition and green technology, and looked forward to COP28 in the Emirates next year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen at COP27 in Egypt today.

They reflected on the progress and challenges since COP26 in Glasgow, committing to work together to speed up the transition to renewables and mobilise finance for developing countries.

The Prime Minister noted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and manipulation of energy prices had only strengthened the argument for ending our reliance on fossil fuels.

The leaders agreed the UK and European Union would remain steadfast in our military, economic and diplomatic support for Ukraine, and in countering Russian aggression.

On the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Prime Minister reiterated the need to find solutions to the very real problems it had created on the ground in Northern Ireland. They agreed on the importance of working together to agree a resolution.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has published it’s annual report and accounts for 2021 to 2022.

David Withey, Chief Executive said,

In 2021-22 ESFA successfully distributed £65 billion of funding to education and skills providers. This included new funding streams to help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to a total of £1.145 billion of educational recovery funding, helping learners catch up on lost learning.

Just as importantly, the agency’s audit and assurance programmes have helped to ensure that the public is receiving value for money by monitoring how the funds are spent within sectors.

Other key highlights are the continuing work of the schools resource management advisers which continues to both support schools and academy trusts to plan and manage their financial oversight. We’ve also seen successes in the FE sector where the agency has taken a more collaborative and supportive approach with colleges and 2021-22 saw a reducing number of colleges entering intervention.

This provides an important foundation for our work in 2022-23 and beyond. ESFA has a critical role in maintaining the provision of a quality service in what is likely to be an increasingly challenging fiscal environment given inflationary pressures on the system. While our regulatory-type functions will continue to play an important part part in supporting effective reassurance, I am also keen to build more effective partnerships with the sector that can enable early support for providers under financial stress.

We are here to support providers and I want to thank the sector for working with us to ensure that we continue delivering the best provision and outcomes for learners.

Martin Spencer, ESFA Chair said,

I am very pleased to have been appointed as Chair midway through the period covered by this report, taking over from Dame Irene Lucas-Hayes. I would like to thank Dame Irene for her support and leadership of the Board throughout her tenure.

We continued to perform strongly in 2021-22 and at the heart of our core purpose remains providing £65 billion of timely and accurate funding to our education and skills sectors, which this year we achieved with a 100% success rate for allocations and 99.9% for payments.

Following the implementation of the ALB review recommendations we felt it was important to take the time to reflect on our high level governance arrangements to ensure that we maintain appropriate oversight across all aspects of the refocused remit. As a board we will continue to work closely with the executive, offering our support whilst the agency continues to refine its functions and strategy.