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News story: Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia and Jordan: April 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May visits Jordan and Saudi Arabia from 3 to 5 April to further strengthen the UK’s relationships in the Middle East.

Jordan

On her first visit to Jordan as Prime Minister, Theresa May will visit Amman today, 3 April. The Prime Minister will announce a new UK-Jordan initiative to tackle the terror threat and develop new capabilities to strike at the heart of Daesh, with new support for the Jordanian Air Force. She will confirm a plan to improve co-operation on countering violent extremism in the region.

The Prime Minister will also discuss how the UK can build on our co-operation with Jordan to manage the fallout from the Syrian conflict.

Saudi Arabia

The Prime Minister will visit Saudi Arabia Tuesday 4 April and Wednesday 5 April. She will make clear that they are a close and important ally and that we will continue to work closely in a range of areas, particularly on counter-terrorism where UK-Saudi co-operation is vital.

The Prime Minister is also expected to explore ways of boosting our already very strong trade ties. Saudi Arabia is currently the UK’s largest trading partner in the Middle East, with exports of British goods standing at £4.67 billion and services at £1.9 billion in 2015.

Announcements

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HM Government •

News story: Small, local charities set to benefit from fundraising skills training

The Foundation for Social Improvement (the FSI) has been awarded a grant worth £199,580 to run a two year training programme, helping small, local charities and community groups develop their fundraising skills.

The programme run by the FSI in partnership with LocalGiving, the Small Charities Coalition and Charity Finance Group, will provide over 5,000 fundraising training opportunities. It will include face-to-face events across the country, webinars and online learning resources, one-to-one advice and consultancy appointments, fundraising campaign planning support, and intensive mentoring matches. Training will be subsidised, helping organisations to take part who may not normally have the resources to attend.

The training will be for small, local charities and community groups with an annual income of up to £1 million, which have a local focus within England.

Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson said:

Small, local charities and community groups provide essential support for local people and are the backbone of our communities helping to build a fairer society that benefits everyone, not just the privileged few.

I want to help them be more resilient and sustainable, and this training programme will give them valuable skills so they can continue their vital work helping to support people up and down the country.

Details of the training events will be added to the FSI’s website as they become available, with online resources for those who might not be able to attend the training. You can also follow the FSI on Twitter for latest news and information about the training.

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HM Government •

SNP set to finally give go ahead on Pentland Studio

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  • SNP set to finally give go ahead on Pentland Studio

4 Apr 2017

JCChoice

The Scottish Conservatives have welcomed the news that a major new film studio looks set to receive planning permission after ministers said they were minded to approve it.

The decision about whether to give the go ahead on the proposed £55 million Pentland Studio on the outskirts of Edinburgh had been with the Scottish Government for months, despite all funding being in place.

But developers received notice from the Scottish Government’s chief planner that ministers were intending to approve the application, subject to conditions and the completion of a planning obligation.

One of these conditions related to improving infrastructure on the Edinburgh city by-pass, but if completed it would provide Scotland with a world class 96-acre site with a water stage and six sound stages.

The latest instalment of the Avengers franchise recently began filming in Edinburgh, but not all of the filming can take place in Scotland due to the lack of a world leading film studio.

It is hoped that once completed, the new facilities could attract more programmes to be shot in Scotland, and help retain industry expertise.

Scottish Conservative culture spokesman Jackson Carlaw, who recently raised the matter of studio capacity at FMQs, said:

“Having dragged their feet for months I’m delighted that the Scottish Government has seen sense and decided to give this project the go ahead.

“Provided that the conditions of the approval are met, this should provide Scotland with an international, world leading film studio complex.

“I have no doubt that this will help attract major film and television productions to Scotland, and finally allow us to match and exceed facilities elsewhere in the UK.

“It will also give us a real opportunity to develop and nurture creative arts skills in Scotland, and give us the ability to retain talent rather than see it go elsewhere.

“Once finished, this new development will see us have a capacity and talent base to match the unrivalled variety of our natural landscape locations.”

The Scottish Conservatives urged the SNP to approve the application back in January:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/2017/01/ministers-must-reveal-fate-of-55m-film-studio/

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Scottish Conservatives