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  • Robert Courts – 2021 Statement on Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme

    Robert Courts – 2021 Statement on Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme

    The statement made by Robert Courts, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, on 25 May 2021.

    I am tabling this statement for the benefit of hon. Members to bring to their attention spend under the Industrial Development Act 1982 (“the Act”).

    On 24 November the Government announced the introduction of the airport and ground operations support scheme (the scheme) with the intention of supporting airports and ground handlers who have experienced the impact of covid-19 on their business while maintaining high levels of fixed costs during the 2020-21 financial year. The aim was to open the scheme in January and ensure grant payments were made to eligible businesses by the end of the financial year. Grant payments would be made using powers in sections 7 and 8 of the Act.

    Section 8(8) of the Act states that financial assistance for any one project shall not exceed £30 million, except so far as such excess has been authorised by a resolution of the House of Commons. The need to act and ensure that support was provided promptly meant that the Government were previously unable to seek such authorisation from the House of Commons.

    Section 8(9) of the Act provides that the Secretary of State shall lay a statement concerning the financial assistance before each House of Parliament if they are satisfied that the payment or undertaking to pay financial assistance in excess of £30 million was urgently needed and it would have been impracticable to obtain the approval of the House of Commons by way of a resolution.

    The need to provide urgent support to airports and ground handlers who play a vital role in the infrastructure of the country made it impracticable to seek authorisation by way of a resolution, for payments under the scheme in excess of £30 million and I am therefore tabling this statement. The details of the spend on the scheme, which opened for applications at the end of January, are set out below:

    Total of Scheme Grants

    £ 86,925,171.00

    Commercial Airports

    £ 65,075,462.00

    Ground Handling Operators

    £ 21,849,709.00

    The Government remain committed to supporting the sector and has recently announced that the scheme will be renewed for the first six months of the financial year 2021-22. Consent for the use of powers in sections 7 and 8 of the Act for the renewed scheme will be sought separately.

  • Nadine Dorries – 2021 Statement on Force in Mental Health Units

    Nadine Dorries – 2021 Statement on Force in Mental Health Units

    The comments made by Nadine Dorries, the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health, in the House of Commons on 25 May 2021.

    Today, I am pleased to announce the launch of the Government’s consultation on the statutory guidance for the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018.

    The Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018, also known as Seni’s Law, was introduced into the House of Commons by the hon. Member for Croydon North (Mr Reed) in July 2017 and received Royal Assent in November 2018. The Act is named after Mr Olaseni Lewis, who died as a result of being forcibly restrained while he was a voluntary patient in a mental health unit.

    The purpose of the Act is to clearly set out the measures which are needed to both prevent the use of force and then ensure accountability and transparency about the use of force in mental health units. By promoting good practice, identifying poor practice, and through a greater understanding of where there are problems or issues for specific groups, we can address this nationally as well as locally. The statutory guidance sets out how we expect mental health units to meet the requirements of the Act. This consultation will seek views on the clarity, content and approach of the proposed guidance.

    This is vitally important to minimise restrictive interventions in mental health units which affected 12,000 individuals in 2019-20, and disproportionately those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

    This is a landmark piece of legislation which enjoys the support of patients, people with lived experience, voluntary and charitable sector organisations and the NHS. Today’s launch represents a significant step forward in our efforts to prevent the use of force in mental health units which would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning of the hon. Member for Croydon North and the Lewis family.

    This consultation is part of the Government’s wider reform agenda to improve support for individuals with severe mental illnesses. The Government published their Mental Health Act White Paper on 13 January 2021, which sets out proposals for once in a generation reforms to the Mental Health Act, responding to and building on Sir Simon Wessely’s review of the Act. We are also working hard to achieve our NHS long-term plan commitment to give 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses greater choice and control over their care and support them to live well in their communities by 2023-24.

    The consultation will conclude on 17 August 2021. The Government’s intention is to publish the final statutory guidance and begin commencement of the Act in November 2021.

  • Amanda Solloway – 2021 Statement on the Research Collaboration Advice Team

    Amanda Solloway – 2021 Statement on the Research Collaboration Advice Team

    The statement made by Amanda Solloway, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in the House of Commons on 25 May 2021.

    The Integrated Review sets an ambition for the UK to be a science and technology superpower by 2030. International research collaboration will be central to achieving this objective, and our research sector needs to be both open and secure.

    The Government work with research institutions, funding bodies and industry to ensure national security risks are understood and responded to appropriately. I and the Secretary of State for BEIS (Kwasi Kwarteng), as well as our officials, have discussed these issues at all levels within the research community. We expect institutions and individuals to make sure international collaboration is safe, sustainable and secure.

    I am therefore pleased to announce that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will this year launch the Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT). The new unit will provide an efficient route by which researchers can access advice, as well as seek confidential consultation on sensitive and emerging issues. Its leadership will operate from Manchester and advisers will be distributed across the UK, available to researchers from across the country. Advisers’ responsibilities will be limited to guidance, and they will not have enforcement responsibilities.

    The RCAT will be a BEIS unit, but its advisers will work closely with officials in the Departments for Education, International Trade and Defence, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the National Technical Authorities.

    This initiative complements a number of measures already in place to manage risk within international collaboration, including:

    Guidelines published by Universities UK, on behalf of the sector and with Government support, to help universities to tackle security risks related to international collaboration;

    the Trusted Research campaign, run by National Cyber Security Centre and Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure in partnership with BEIS and the Cabinet Office;

    one of the toughest export controls regimes in the world, including guidance recently published by the Department for International Trade specifically for academics;

    the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Academic Technology Approvals Scheme, a pre-visa screening regime expanded to cover a wider set of technologies and all researchers in proliferation sensitive fields;

    guidance from the Intellectual Property Office on protecting intellectual property known as the Lambert Toolkit; and

    our work with partners and allies, including the G7, to create international frameworks that support open, secure science collaborations.

    My Department is working hard to promote research collaboration, putting science and technology at the heart of our international partnerships. As a package, these measures are enabling this effort by making sure collaboration is safe, sustainable and secure.

  • Luke Hall – 2021 Comments on Fairer Parking Charges

    Luke Hall – 2021 Comments on Fairer Parking Charges

    The comments made by Luke Hall, the Local Government Minister, on 26 May 2021.

    This government is making life easier for motorists as we get back to life as usual and build back better from the pandemic.

    I encourage motorists and parking operators to share their views on our proposed Parking Code of Practice.

    These changes will bring in a fairer system for drivers, creating a simplified appeals process and curbing excessive charges for millions of motorists.

  • Liz Truss – 2021 Comments on Modernising the G7

    Liz Truss – 2021 Comments on Modernising the G7

    The comments made by Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade, on 26 May 2021.

    It really is now or never for the World Trade Organization. International trade only works when it is fair and when countries submit themselves to a common set of rules, and for that to happen we need a more modern and dynamic WTO.

    We want to use our G7 Presidency to address the fundamental issues facing global trade, and support Dr Ngozi in her work to bring the WTO into the twenty-first century. Like-minded democracies need to lead the charge on trade reform, because if we don’t then there is a very real danger that global trade fragments and that fewer countries end up playing by the rules.

  • George Eustice – 2021 Comments on Eradicating Bovine TB

    George Eustice – 2021 Comments on Eradicating Bovine TB

    The comments made by George Eustice, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on 27 May 2021.

    Bovine TB is one of the most difficult and intractable animal health challenges that the UK faces today, causing considerable trauma for farmers and costing taxpayers over £100 million every year.

    The badger cull has led to a significant reduction in the disease but no one wants to continue the cull of a protected species indefinitely. That is why we are now building on this progress by accelerating other elements of our strategy, including cattle vaccination and improved testing so that we can eradicate this insidious disease and start to phase out badger culling as soon as possible.

  • Gavin Williamson – 2021 Comments on Amanda Spielman’s Extended Time in Role

    Gavin Williamson – 2021 Comments on Amanda Spielman’s Extended Time in Role

    The comments made by Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, on 27 May 2021.

    Amanda Spielman has a wealth of knowledge and experience from her five years leading Ofsted that will be invaluable as we work to support the education sector to make sure every child is able to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

    I am grateful she will remain in place as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector for a further two years to oversee a smooth reintroduction of a full programme of inspections, providing vital constructive challenge and reassurance to parents and families.

  • CONSTITUENCY RESULT : Dwyfor Meirionnydd

    Candidate name Party Gender Number of votes Share (%) Change vs. 2017 for party (percentage points)
    Liz Saville Roberts Plaid Cymru Female 14,447 48.3% +3.2
    Tomos Davies Conservative Male 9,707 32.4% +3.3
    Graham Hogg Labour Male 3,998 13.4% -7.3
    Louise Hughes Brexit Party Female 1,776 5.9% 0.0

     

    Election statistics
    Majority
    Votes 4,740
    Percent 15.8%
    Rank (1 = highest %) 426
    Turnout
    Constituency 67.5%
    Region 66.6%
    UK 67.3%
    Constituency in 2017 67.9%
    Size of electorate 44,362
    Valid votes cast 29,928

  • CONSTITUENCY RESULT : Dunfermline and West Fife

    Candidate name Party Gender Number of votes Share (%) Change vs. 2017 for party (percentage points)
    Douglas Chapman Scottish National Party Male 23,727 44.4% +8.8
    Cara Hilton Labour and Co-operative Female 13,028 24.4% -9.5
    Moira Benny Conservative Female 11,207 21.0% -3.7
    Rebecca Bell Liberal Democrat Female 4,262 8.0% +2.1
    Mags Hall Green Female 1,258 2.4% 0.0

     

    Election statistics
    Majority
    Votes 10,699
    Percent 20.0%
    Rank (1 = highest %) 364
    Turnout
    Constituency 69.8%
    Region 68.1%
    UK 67.3%
    Constituency in 2017 67.4%
    Size of electorate 76,652
    Valid votes cast 53,482

  • CONSTITUENCY RESULT : Dundee West

    Candidate name Party Gender Number of votes Share (%) Change vs. 2017 for party (percentage points)
    Chris Law Scottish National Party Male 22,355 53.8% +7.1
    Jim Malone Labour Male 10,096 24.3% -8.8
    Tess White Conservative Female 5,149 12.4% -3.8
    Daniel Coleman Liberal Democrat Male 2,468 5.9% +2.9
    Stuart Waiton Brexit Party Male 1,271 3.1% 0.0
    Quinta Arrey Christian Peoples Alliance Party Female 240 0.6% 0.0

     

    Election statistics
    Majority
    Votes 12,259
    Percent 29.5%
    Rank (1 = highest %) 256
    Turnout
    Constituency 64.5%
    Region 68.1%
    UK 67.3%
    Constituency in 2017 61.7%
    Size of electorate 64,431
    Valid votes cast 41,579