The Times - UK (2020-06-29)

(Antfer) #1

Boris Johnson will announce a £1 billion
school-building programme today as
he tries to reset the political agenda
after the coronavirus crisis.
The cash will pay for the first 50
projects of a ten-year investment, with
a further £560 million for repairs and
upgrades to schools next year.
The spending will be aimed at
schools in the worst condition.
“Substantial” sums will be promised
for those in the north and Midlands,
Downing Street said last night. The first
projects will start in September next
year. Further education colleges will be
able to access £200 million brought for-
ward from an existing fund to refurbish
their buildings.
The prime minister will promise to
usher in a “decade of investment”
tomorrow, with further spending
announcements on hospitals, prisons
and transport infrastructure.
He is expected to say that the
disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on
those in low-paid jobs and from ethnic
minorities has underscored the need to
spread opportunity more fairly as he
seeks to frame a narrative of national
recovery from the disease.
“As we bounce back from the
pandemic, it’s important we lay the
foundations for a country where
everyone has the opportunity to
succeed, with our younger generations


Francis Elliott Political Editor
Richard Ford Home Correspondent


Sir Mark Sedwill will step down as
cabinet secretary and national security
adviser as Boris Johnson seeks to bend
the government machine to his will.
Britain’s most senior civil servant
announced his exit after rumours that
he was being sidelined by the prime
minister and his top adviser, Dominic


Top civil servant quits amid Cummings war with Whitehall


Francis Elliott Cummings. David Frost, Mr Johnson’s
Brexit negotiator, will take over as
national security adviser in September.
A cabinet secretary will be chosen in
a contest in which only past or present
permanent secretaries will be consid-
ered. Sources said the winner would be
appointed by the end of next month
and be in post by the end of August.
Sir Simon McDonald stepped down


this month as permanent secretary of
the Foreign Office and it is understood
that Mr Johnson has decided not to
keep Sir Richard Heaton as permanent
secretary at the Ministry of Justice.
The clear-out, preceding a shake-up
of the Cabinet Office and changes to
the civil service, has raised tensions
with the FDA union, which represents
civil servants. Dave Penman, its general

secretary, accused “No 10 or those
around it” of undermining Sir Mark with
“anonymous briefings against him over
many months”. He added: “This govern-
ment will emerge weaker as a result.”
Sir Mark was once lined up to follow
Sir Kim Darroch as ambassador to
Washington. It is understood that he
will be asked to take other roles, includ-
ing helping the UK to prepare to chair

the G7 next year. His departure in Sep-
tember after less than two years will
make his tenure as cabinet secretary
the shortest since the post was created.
Sir Mark and Mr Frost are both to
have life peerages, Downing Street said.
In his letter to Sir Mark, Mr Johnson
thanked him for his “massive contribu-
tion” and his “calm and shrewd advice”.
Secretary sidelined, pages 4-

Monday June 29 2020 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73198 2G £1.10 to subscribers

100 days


of lockdown


How much do


you remember?


ONLY
£1.

Times 2

First for football


Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester


City into the last four of the FA Cup


the


game


PM pledges


a decade of


spending


on schools


front and centre of this mission,” Mr
Johnson said last night. “This major
new investment will make sure our
schools and colleges are fit for the
future, with better facilities and brand
new buildings, so that every child gets a
world-class education.”
The move came as:
6 Britain’s Covid-19 death toll rose by
36 yesterday, taking the total to 43,514.
6 Mr Johnson said he would examine
plans to ban promotional deals on junk
food in a drive to fight obesity.
6 Ministers were expected today to
review air bridges with other countries.
6 Head teachers appealed for a grace
period before fining parents after it was
announced that school attendance
would be compulsory from September.
Details of which schools are to re-
ceive funding will be announced when
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, sets out
Whitehall spending totals for the next
three years this autumn. Downing
Street said that what it described as the
first major rebuilding project since 2014
would concentrate on schools in the
worst condition and aim to pioneer
green construction techniques.
The £560 million for school repairs
and upgrades is in addition to the
£1.4 billion in school condition funding
already committed in 2020-21. The
£1 billion allocated for rebuilding is the
first tranche of a new ten-year scheme,
officials said. Mr Johnson will also
announce moves to ensure that each
Continued on page 2, col 5

Hit for six Children at Wimbledon Cricket Club are taking part in training sessions y(7HB7E2*OTSQLP( |||+?!_
in pods of six. Club cricket may be free to restart on July 11 Mike Atherton, page 50

Web shoppers


face levy on


deliveries to


cut pollution


Graeme Paton Transport Correspondent

Internet shoppers could be hit by a
compulsory delivery charge as part of a
campaign to cut congestion and toxic
emissions, The Times has learnt.
The government is considering
measures to reduce the impact of the
e-commerce boom, which has led to a
rise in delivery vans on the roads.
A report from the Department
for Transport’s scientific advisers
recommended that a “mandatory
charge”, similar to that for plastic bags,
should be considered for all Amazon-
style consumer deliveries.
It said that free and next-day delivery
deals had led to “over-ordering”, with
some people immediately sending
back, free of charge, clothes that they
no longer wanted. Mandatory charges
may be needed to “encourage more sus-
tainable behaviour”, ministers were told.
The DfT said that it was considering
the conclusions and could open a public
consultation. The move comes amid
concern over the impact of internet
shopping on the environment and
congestion in built-up areas.
According to latest DfT figures,
annual nitrogen oxides (NOx) emis-
sions from vans rose 43 per cent to
99,300 tonnes between 2007 and 2017.
Total NOx emissions from all other
forms of road transport including cars,
buses and HGVs fell sharply over the
same period. In all, vans caused a
quarter of NOx road transport
emissions in 2017 — more than three
times the amount from HGVs.
Light commercial vehicles, which
include delivery vans, cumulatively
travelled 50.4 billion miles in Britain
in the year to the end of March, a
24 per cent rise in a decade. It was more
than four times the average rise for all
Continued on page 2, col 3

We will create opportunity for all, says Johnson


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