Rupert Douglas

The government have released a statement reflecting on the last parliamentary session. The last parliamentary session was started in October 2019 was extended to deal with the outbreak of Covid-19. Any plans that the government had at the start of the session have been skewed by the worldwide pandemic and the overwhelming response to save lives and livelihoods.

A new programme is being run by Re-Instate, a charity based in Erith that work to improve employment opportunities, quality of life and well-being for disadvantaged people in the London Borough of Bexley. The new programme will hundreds of adults with learning disabilities to develop life skills and boost confidence.

The Department for Transport have announced that vehicles fitted with the Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) technology could be used on British motorways by the end of the year. The technology is seen to be a way to reduce human error on slow moving motorway lanes.

Schools in England to share £1.8billion pot to help keep their buildings in the best possible state of repair.

The UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG21) is set for its maiden deployment in a globe spanning mission. The size and scope of the voyage will be the largest concentration of maritime and air power in a generation.

The BRIT Awards with Mastercard will return to London’s The O2 arena on Tuesday 11 May with an audience of 4,000 people and live performances from Dua Lipa, Headie One, Arlo Parks and BRIT Rising Star Award winner Griff, among other acts to be announced.

Over 200 charities have signed a joint statement to condemn the cuts to the UK aid budget, saying that more than £500million is to be lost from humanitarian aid. The government announced it was cutting the aid budget last November, a direct contradiction to the manifesto promises, but charities have been waiting to see which areas of the budget are to be cut

Earth Day is recognised each year on the 22nd April, started in 1970 to help diversify, activate and educate the worldwide climate movement. Earth day has been used to act as a landmark day for many environmental causes including, most recently signing the Paris Agreement and today the US has announced a bold new target.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, sales of smart devices have increased by almost 49%. As working from home has become the norm, and looks set to continue at least part time for many workers across the UK, protections from malicious cyber attacks need to be boosted.

Shan Dassanaike, The Leith Group’s Chief Operations Officer, promotes direct foreign investment to support businesses in the UK manufacturing sector as the firm looks to launch a new arm of its business.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has set out a series of plans to push the UKs level of competition in the Fintech sector. Announcing regulatory support to help firms expand alongside a new taskforce, to look at digital currencies.

The government has launched a service to carry out further visits on people who have a duty to quarantine following international travel.

Lord Pickles as chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) has said that improvements need to be made to the system that oversees private sector jobs for ministers and civil servants.

Government are to launch a consultation on whether vaccination is to be a condition of work in care homes. A 5-week consultation will be launched looking at requiring care home providers, caring for older adults, to deploy only those workers who have received their COVID-19 vaccination to further protect residents who are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Just a month after three members of the governments LGBT advisement panel quit, the entire panel is set to be disbanded.