Today, the Prime Minister has hailed the work of the public sector during the coronavirus outbreak – calling for new recruits to step up and to take advantage of the great opportunities that public service provides.
- During this pandemic, we have seen more clearly than ever the heroic efforts of our public sector workers and they will continue to play a pivotal role as we rebuild our country in the wake of coronavirus.
- As the Prime Minister urges others to consider taking the opportunities that come from working in public service we have also announced the hiring 1,000 new probation officers to help reduce reoffending. Later today (9:30am) we will outline our progress to date in recruiting new teachers and police officers – delivering on our promise to the British people.
- Our fantastic teachers, police officers and NHS workers truly are the pride of the nation. Together, we are on a mission to build back better - protect our NHS, make our streets safer, educate the next generation and unleash Britain’s potential.
From today, thousands of small businesses across the country will be able to benefit from new funding which will help them recover and spur our post-coronavirus economic recovery.
- Small and medium sized businesses are the beating heart of our communities and will continue to play a vital role as we seek to recover our way of life and get the economy moving again.
- Thanks to changes to state aid rules, more small businesses will now be able to benefit from loans of up to £5 million under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme. In addition to this, we have made £20 million in new government funding available to help smaller businesses in England to adapt, recover and rebuild.
- We have stood by business throughout this crisis, and today’s announcement will mean that even more small firms will be able to access much-needed financial support – spurring our economic recovery, protecting and creating jobs across the country.
Today, we announced an additional 9,000 new places at UK universities focusing on courses which will deliver the vital services and skills we will need to help our economy thrive.
- We are committed to our mission to build back better. These new university places are focused on health, science and innovation based courses – aiming to encourage more young people to take up the professions that will prove vital to our post-coronavirus recovery.
- These additional places include more than 1,300 spaces for engineering courses, 756 places for bio-sciences and almost 500 for maths courses. A total of 5,611 places for healthcare courses have also been allocated at universities in England to support the NHS, with 3,803 of these additional places going to nursing courses.
- This announcement will not only help thousands more people gain knowledge that will help them progress in life, but also help rebuild Britain. It is vital that we invest in the skills which will be crucial to our economic recovery and deliver our country’s next generation of doctors, nurses, scientists and engineers.
