John Edwards, Director of Education and Skills at Manchester city council, has been named as the new Regional Schools Commissioner for East Midlands and the Humber.

He will be responsible for overseeing the growth of academies in the region and will monitor their performance to ensure children receive the best possible education. He is taking over from Jennifer Bexon-Smith.

John will start later this year, working with Sir David Carter to shape the role and priorities of the growing numbers of academies in the region, contributing to the government’s agenda of raising standards, by tackling underperformance to create more ‘good’ school places for every child regardless of background or circumstances.

John Edwards said:

I’m very much looking forward to the challenges of my new role as Regional Schools Commissioner for the East Midlands and the Humber, and hope I can make a real difference to the lives and outcomes of children and young people working in partnership with everyone in the region.

I will undoubtedly miss Manchester and particularly all the people I work with. I know however that in their capable hands learning in the city will continue to go from strength to strength.

National Schools Commissioner Sir David Carter said:

I am thrilled that John Edwards is joining my team as the new Regional Schools Commissioner for the East Midlands and the Humber region. John was selected from a strong national field and will bring a wealth of experience and talent from his work as Director of Education and Skills in Manchester, that has improved the life chances of many young people.

Regional Schools Commissioners’ (RSCs) responsibilities include:

• taking decisions on the creation of new academies
• monitoring their performance and improving underperforming academies
• ensuring there is a strong supply of excellent sponsors to work with underperforming schools in the region
• encouraging and supporting high-quality applications for new free schools

The East Midlands and the Humber commissioner works with 970 academies and free schools across the region.

John will be advised by a board of headteachers of ‘outstanding’ academies or experienced educational leaders. The board challenges and supports the work of the commissioner, bringing additional educational insight and local intelligence to decision-making.

1. The Regional Schools Commissioner for East Midlands and the Humber is responsible for making decisions about academies and free schools in the following local authorities:
   • Barnsley
   • Derby
   • Derbyshire
   • Doncaster
   • East Riding of Yorkshire
   • Kingston upon Hull
   • Leicester
   • Leicestershire
   • Lincolnshire
   • north-east Lincolnshire
   • north Lincolnshire
   • Nottingham
   • Nottinghamshire
   • Rotherham
   • Rutland
   • Sheffield
   • York
2. The full list of Regional Schools Commissioners are:
   • Tim Coulson: East of England and north-east London
   • John Edwards: East Midlands and the Humber
   • Vicky Beer: Lancashire and West Yorkshire
   • Janet Renou: North of England
   • Martin Post: north-west London and south-central England
   • Dominic Herrington: South-East England and south London
   • Rebecca Clark: South-West England
   • Christine Quinn: West Midlands

3. The RSCs, supported by their headteacher boards, perform functions of the Secretary of State on her behalf, within a national framework. This will not cut across existing accountability lines; accountability will remain with the Secretary of State, with decisions better informed by sector expertise.

4. Mr Edward’s biography: John Edwards has been the Director of Education and Skills for Manchester city council since February 2013, with responsibility for all of the council’s education functions, including schools, early years, youth, 14 to 19 and adult skills. Prior to this role, John was Assistant Director for Learning and Skills at Kirklees council, and previously worked for Manchester city council (as Deputy Director of Children’s Services) and for Wakefield council. Before moving into local government, John worked in schools across Yorkshire for over a decade, as a maths teacher, head of sixth form and senior leader. He is married with 2 school-age children and lives in Sheffield.

A Jeremy Corbyn spokesperson said:

“Jeremy’s tax return is complete
and accurate. He has declared all income and paid the appropriate amount
of tax.

“The payment he received in
2015-16 as Leader of the Opposition of £27,192 appears on the return as a
‘benefit’ rather than as pay because that is how it is categorised by
HMRC.

“This figure is calculated after
deducting the waivers Jeremy has made of earlier increases to the benefit.
These waivers were also made by his predecessor, Ed Miliband. A parliamentary
pension contribution of £3,395 was also deducted (see note).

“We are disappointed the Cabinet
Office did not clarify this and explain the figure used on the P60 yesterday in
answer to media inquiries they received.

“It is also a matter of concern
that some media organisations made entirely false claims without verifying or
confirming the facts, and we expect these now to be corrected.

“The owners of the media companies
that have attempted to cast doubt over Jeremy’s transparent and accurate tax
return are of course among those who could stand to lose from the tax
transparency and justice the British people demand.

“Jeremy believes firmly in
transparency. These media barons have tax questions of their own to
answer. Tax avoidance and evasion deprive the public purse of billions in
revenue for vital services and is unfair on those with much lower earnings who
pay a higher proportion of their income in tax.”

Innovate UK has up to £15 million to support business projects that stimulate new products and services through emerging and enabling technologies. These technologies could be the basis for billion-pound industries of the future.

Emerging technologies

Emerging technologies are newly developed sciences, where the best application and value is yet to be realised. Examples include quantum technologies, graphene and 2D materials, biofilms, energy harvesting and synthetic biology.

Enabling technologies

Enabling technologies can have wide applicability. Many industries could benefit from advances in areas such as machine learning, compound semiconductors, and earth observation. Examples of enabling technologies include digital, space and satellite, electronics, sensors and photonics, and robotics.

Projects

We expect to fund projects in 4 priority areas:

• emerging technologies
• digital
• enabling capabilities
• space applications

Proposals must demonstrate significant innovation; be applicable to more than one industry, sector or market; and improve growth, productivity or create export opportunities for at least 1 SME.

Competition information

• the competition is open, and the deadline for registration is midday on 3 May 2017
• we expect projects to last between 6 months and 3 years and to range in size from £35,000 to £2 million
• projects must involve at least 1 SME and be led by a business or a research and technology organisation
• businesses could attract up to 70% of their project costs
• a briefing event for potential applicants will be held on 8 March 2017

Speaking at a meeting of European Union Defence Ministers in Brussels, Sir Michael Fallon called on the EU to step up cooperation with NATO in order for the two organisations to more effectively tackle shared security challenges, including hybrid warfare and cyber.

Sir Michael also called for an improvement in Europe’s performance in building national capabilities that can be made available to the EU and NATO. This requires more defence spending and better investment in key equipment.

Britain’s commitments in 2017 underline the leading role in European Security the UK will continue to play. This year, Britain is leading NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, a Brigade-size force which is ready and willing to respond to any threat. This spring, the UK will also deploy a battle group of around 800 personnel to lead in Estonia NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence.

The Defence Secretary also confirmed Britain’s strong role in EU missions and operations. HMS Echo is currently helping to tackle people smugglers in the Mediterranean, as part of the EU’s mission Operation Sophia. Royal Navy deployments to the operation have helped destroy over 120 smuggling boasts, apprehending 20 suspected smugglers in the process, and have helped to rescue 10,000 people from the high seas.

Britain also has over 150 UK personnel committed to EU missions and operations, including in Bosnia, Mail and Somalia, demonstrating Britain’s global reach.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:

We are leaving the EU but we will continue to cooperate with our European partners on defence and security. This includes playing our part in the mission in the Mediterranean, rescuing migrants and tackling people smuggling.

Today I have urged the EU to cooperate more closely with NATO, to avoid unnecessary duplication and to work together on new threats, including cyber.

Sir Michael called on the EU and NATO to redouble their efforts on cooperation, noting that while good progress has been made, more work needed to be done, particularly on cyber, hybrid, maritime and coordinated exercises.

Today’s meeting also brought forward improvements to the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations, through the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), to help improve planning and conduct of the training missions (known as non-executive missions) and to enhance civilian and military working. Important improvements to the agreement, suggested by the UK, were agreed today, including limiting the authority of the Director of the MPCC, and avoiding duplication with NATO structures.