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Category: Speeches

  • Steve Barclay – 2023 Statement on NHS Strikes

    Steve Barclay – 2023 Statement on NHS Strikes

    The statement made by Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 17 April 2023.

    I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. On its first part, we will not have firm figures on the number of patient appointments postponed until later today, because the NHS guidance has been to allow trusts a full working day to collate the data on those impacts. We do know from the previous three-day strike that 175,000 hospital appointments were disrupted and 28,000 staff were off. There is an initial estimate that 285,000 appointments and procedures would be rescheduled, but it is premature to set out the full impact of the junior doctors’ strike before we have that data. I am happy to commit to providing an update for the House in a written statement tomorrow. In the coming days, I will also update the House on the very significant progress that has been made on the successful action taken over recent months to clear significant numbers of 78-week waits, which resulted from the covid pandemic.

    It is regrettable that the British Medical Association junior doctors committee chose the period immediately after Easter in order to cause maximum disruption, extending its strike to 96 hours and asking its members not to inform hospitals as to whether they intended to strike, thus making contingency planning much more difficult. Let me put on record my huge thanks to all those NHS staff, including nurses and consultants, who stepped up to provide cover for patients last week.

    I recognise that there are significant pressures on junior doctors, both from the period of the pandemic and from dealing with the backlogs that that has caused. I do want to see a deal that increases junior doctors’ pay and fixes many of the non-pay frustrations that they articulate. But the junior doctors committee co-chairs have still not indicated that they will move substantially from their 35% pay demand, which is not affordable and indeed is not supported by those on the Opposition Front Bench.

    Let me turn to the second part of the hon. Gentleman’s question and the steps we are taking to prevent further strike action in the NHS. We have negotiated a deal with the NHS Staff Council; it is an offer we arrived at together, through constructive and meaningful negotiations. It is one on which people are still voting, with a decision of the NHS Staff Council due on 2 May. The largest union, Unison, has voted in favour of it, by a margin of 74% in favour. So we have agreed a process with the trade unions, which I am keen to respect, and we should now allow the other trade unions to complete their ballot, ahead of that NHS Staff Council meeting on 2 May.

    Wes Streeting

    Thank you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question.

    Finally, the invisible man appears; the Secretary of State was largely absent last week during the most disruptive strikes in NHS history. He was almost as invisible as the Prime Minister, who previously said he does not want to “get in the middle” of these disputes—what an abdication of leadership during a national crisis. An estimated 350,000 patients had appointments and operations cancelled last week—that is in addition to the hundreds of thousands already affected by previous rounds of action. Having failed to prevent nurses and ambulance workers from striking, the Government are repeating the same mistakes all over again by refusing talks with junior doctors. Patients cannot afford to lose more days to strikes. The NHS cannot afford more days lost to strike. Staff cannot afford more days lost to strikes. Is it not time for the Secretary of State to swallow his pride, admit that he has failed and bring in ACAS to mediate an end to the junior doctors’ strike?

    Last week also saw the Royal College of Nursing announce new strike dates with no derogations and a new ballot. What does the Secretary of State plan to do to avert the evident risks to patient safety? Government sources briefed yesterday that they are prepared to “tough it out”. That is easy for them to say. Will the Secretary of State look cancer patients in the eye, while they wait for life-saving treatment, and tell them to tough it out, as they are the ones who will pay the price for his failed approach?

    Finally, writing in The Sun on Sunday, the Secretary of State said that he is worried about patient safety, but he offered no plan to get this matter resolved. He is not a commentator; he is nominally the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with the power and responsibility to put an end to these strikes. When will he put his toys back in the pram, stop blaming NHS staff, sit down with junior doctors and negotiate a fair resolution to this terrible, damaging and unprecedented dispute?

    Steve Barclay

    The shadow Secretary of State seems to ignore the fact that we have negotiated a deal with the NHS Staff Council, and it is a deal that it has recommended to its members. Indeed, the largest health union has voted in favour of the deal—indeed it is his own health union that has voted in favour of it—and yet he seems to suggest that we should tear it up even though other trade unions are voting on the offer, and their leadership had recommended it.

    Secondly, the shadow Secretary of State says that we should sit down and negotiate. We have made an offer of 10.75% for last year, compared with the Labour Government in Wales, who have offered just 7.75%, which means that, in cash terms, the offer in England is higher than that put on the table by the Welsh Government, whom, I presume, he supports. He says that he does not support the junior doctors in their ask of 35%, and neither does the leadership there. We need to see meaningful movement from the junior doctors, but I recognise that they have been under significant pay and workforce pressures, which is why we want to sit down with them.

    The bottom line is that the deal on the table is reasonable and fair. It means that just over £5,000 across last year and this year will be paid for a nurse at the top of band 5. The RCN recommended the deal to its members, but the deal was rejected by just under a third of its overall membership. It is hugely disappointing that the RCN has chosen not to wait for the other trade unions to complete their ballot and not to wait for the NHS Staff Council, of which it is a member, to meet to give its view on the deal. It has chosen to pre-empt all that not only with the strikes that come before that decision of the NHS Staff Council, but by removing the derogations—the exemptions—that apply to key care, including emergency care, which is a risk to patient safety.

    Trade unions are continuing to vote on the deal. The deal on the table is both fair and reasonable, including just over £5,000 across last year and this year for nurses at the top of band 5. The deal has been accepted by the largest union in the NHS, including, as I have said, the shadow Health Secretary’s own trade union. It pays more in cash to Agenda for Change members than the deal on the table from the Labour Government in Wales. It is a deal that the majority of the NHS Staff Council, including the RCN’s own leadership, recommended to its members. We have always worked in good faith to end the disruption that these strikes have caused and we will continue to do so. None the less, it is right to respect the agreement that we have reached with the NHS Staff Council and to await its decision, which is due in the coming weeks.

  • Angela Rayner – 2023 Comments on Parliamentary Watchdog Investigation into Conduct of Rishi Sunak

    Angela Rayner – 2023 Comments on Parliamentary Watchdog Investigation into Conduct of Rishi Sunak

    The comments made on Twitter by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 17 April 2023.

    The Ministerial Code requires all Ministers to disclose their financial interests in detail – the Prime Minister is obliged to publish the register of interests.

    It’s now been 321 days since the register was updated. What’s Rishi Sunak got to hide?

  • Andrew Griffith – 2023 Speech to the Innovate Finance Global Summit

    Andrew Griffith – 2023 Speech to the Innovate Finance Global Summit

    The speech made by Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, on 17 April 2023.

    Good morning, everyone.

    Let me start by thanking Innovate Finance for inviting me and for organising such a fantastic conference.

    As ever, you really are kicking off UK Fintech Week in style.

    And it’s wonderful to be in this beautiful space – Guildhall – a venue constructed in the fifteenth century. It is a reminder of the proud and storied history of the financial services industry in this country.

    As Economic Secretary, my objective is to ensure that the UK is the most innovative, most international and most business-friendly economy anywhere in the world.

    I want the UK to prioritise growth, risk taking and wealth creation and to celebrate it for the moral good that it is.

    And as we chart our way forward with the ability of being able to make our own rules for the first time in decades, it has never been more important that financial services are at the heart of those efforts.

    That is certainly the objective that the Chancellor, the Prime Minister and I all share for the sector.

    Innovation – all of you in the dynamic fintech community – has a huge role to play.

    Bank accounts, payment services, the ability to borrow, save into a pension or other investments, buying insurance, or the provision of tools to understand finances better or to shop around offer enormous benefits to their users.

    They create ladders of opportunity, the ability to transfer wealth over a lifetime, the chance to provide for our old age or they can shield us from some of the adverse events that life can throw at us.

    Whilst I am proud to have many large and longstanding firms in the sector, it is rare that legacy firms have the ability to innovate at the pace required to make the most of changing technologies and keep us internationally competitive.

    Our Fin Tech community is vital for the economy in improving productivity, creating choice, and reaching into new under-served segments of the market.

    Which is why I am glad that as a location for Fin Techs to base themselves, on many fronts the UK is leading the way.

    Indeed, the sector continues to go from strength to strength.

    Data from Fintech Labs shows that almost half of Europe’s fintech unicorns are based here in the UK.

    And Innovate Finance found that last year, the sector attracted more investment than the next thirteen European countries combined.

    Our own commitment to supporting UK fintech is reflected in the actions we took, working with the Bank of England, to facilitate the private sector sale of the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank to HSBC last month.

    I know many of you in this room were directly affected by the collapse of SVB and I am glad that we were able to act decisively to secure an outcome which protected your capital and ensured continuity of banking services.

    Throughout that intense period, I and other Ministers were accessible and constantly communicating with the sector.

    Government isn’t perfect but I hope that when the chips were down we demonstrated the benefits of being a sovereign nation with the agility to make its own decisions fast.

    But that is just the start.

    Our belief in this sector is also evident in the proactive steps we are taking to ensure that you continue to thrive in the years ahead.

    Importantly, the Government will reflect on the submissions to the Payment Services Call for Evidence and introduce an agile regulatory framework for payments and e-money that promotes growth and supports an internationally competitive payments sector.

    We’re also fostering innovation by making the UK a safe jurisdiction for cryptoasset activity.

    We set out plans in our wide-ranging consultation published in February, and we want to pro-actively support the use of distributed leger technology and tokenisation where it makes sense.

    At the same time, I was pleased to launch the Treasury’s joint consultation with the Bank of England, on how to move forwards with a sovereign or central bank digital pound.

    Private wholesale digital currencies are likely to come to market first and we are already creating the legislation to enable those which are fiat backed and used for settlement in the current Financial Services Bill going through Parliament right now.

    And we have the upcoming Financial Market Infrastructure Sandbox, which will help industry adopt and scale digital solutions that could radically change the way markets operate. That will be up and running this year.

    CFIT

    One of the most important steps we have taken to support financial innovation over the past two years has been implementing Ron Kalifa’s fintech review.

    Since being appointed, I have upped the pace of delivery and a few weeks ago we launched the new Centre for Finance, Innovation, and Technology – CFIT – in Leeds, a city where fintech adds £710 million to the local economy.

    CFIT is backed by £5 million of Treasury seed funding, along with an additional £500,000 from our partners at the City of London Corporation.

    It’s central task is to bring together industry players – entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and academics – into coalitions to address some of the trickiest challenges facing the sector.

    I am delighted to announce today that CFIT’s first coalition will look at Open Finance and how unlocking financial data can benefit SMEs and consumers.

    Everyone in this room understands how data can radically empower individuals and businesses alike.

    McKinsey estimate that opening up financial data could boost UK GDP by a useful 1.5% by 2030 so CFIT has my full support as they go after that opportunity.

    Open Banking

    Open finance would obviously be the next development beyond the existing Open Banking ecosystem, which is one of the most dynamic and exciting anywhere in the world.

    There are over 7 million regular active users of Open Banking in the UK and over a billion successful API calls every month. It’s spawned thousands of new businesses and products.

    Those who are close to it, know that this is a key moment for the Open Banking regulatory regime.

    We’ve done a lot of work over the last year through the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee to set out the next steps to ensure Open Banking continues to go from strength to strength.

    This morning, the Committee set out its recommendations, with a vision of a data sharing market which is competitive and scalable for the long term.

    To achieve this, we will move Open Banking on to a sustainable regulatory framework, which the Government intends to develop through the Data Protection and Digital Identity Bill which has its second reading in Parliament today.

    Open Banking will also transition to a new entity, with a broad-based, equitable funding model and high standards of corporate governance. Today we set out how we plan to get this transition started this year.

    But we can’t spend all our time and energy on governance models.

    So we also set out an ambitious roadmap of actions for the next few years, again starting immediately. By Q3 this year, there will be tangible progress across the board, on key themes such as mitigating the risks of financial crime and promoting new services, including variable recurring payments.

    Let me be clear as I know some folk have been worried: this will be the year of delivery on the next generation of Open Banking.

    Our plan is ambitious but achievable, and I am committed to maintaining our country’s leadership in this field. We won’t rest on our laurels, and I want to encourage all of you to work with me to build on the success that Open Banking has been so far.

    Artificial Intelligence

    If data is one limb that has the potential to transform the financial services sector, the application of artificial intelligence is the other.

    Although there are already many deployments and uses in the financial sector, my belief is that we are barely getting started.

    AI can help firms to identify and prevent fraudulent transactions, detecting suspicious patterns in real time.

    By analysing data on market trends, customer behaviour, and other factors, AI algorithms can identify potential risks and provide recommendations for risk mitigation strategies.

    It can help investment managers to make more informed decisions, driving better returns for savers.

    And AI can power new customer service features, such as chatbots, which can deliver personalised support quickly and efficiently.

    This technology has immense potential to transform the financial services sector.

    And that is why the Government recently published its White Paper on AI which details our plans to make the UK the most trusted and pro-innovation system for AI governance in the world.

    This builds on our recent £900 million investment to build an exascale supercomputer and to establish a new AI Research Resource. These will provide significant compute capacity that many in this room may wish to take advantage of.

    Launch of the UK Fintech Census

    But even as we support the fintech community here in the UK, it is vital that we help our firms to expand internationally.

    That’s why my final announcement today is the launch of the UK Fintech Census, in collaboration with the City of London Corporation and Innovate Finance.

    It is designed to tailor our support for you as we make the most of the UK’s access to international markets.

    When you think about it, no other country on earth combines a seat on the Permanent Council of the UN with membership of NATO and AUKUS, a trade deal with the EU, accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership and being a founder member of the Commonwealth.

    The Census aims to help you make the most of these opportunities by seeking your feedback on three simple points:

    What international markets do you want to break into?

    What are the main challenges that you face?; and

    What further support and services would you like to see?

    The Census opens today and will run for five weeks, aiming to reach all 2,500 fintechs in the UK.

    And, in order to make it a useful and actionable data set, we will repeat the Census annually.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen I hope you are as excited about the opportunities as I am for you.

    UK fintech is in a great place today.

    But it’s our job, as a Government, to ensure that that success continues and we reach new heights… a mission to which, I assure you, we are utterly committed.

    I am a do-er by nature: I have worked in disruptive businesses for most of my life and I want to deliver concrete actions that help this sector to thrive.

    You’re already effective at telling us what you think – and I challenge myself and the team on a daily basis what more we can do to help.

    So please let’s keep working well together so that at next year’s Global Summit – and many more to follow – we’ll all be able to look back on many more fantastic years for UK fintech.

    Thank you very much.

  • Mark Harper – 2023 Statement on Plans for New Smart Motorways Cancelled

    Mark Harper – 2023 Statement on Plans for New Smart Motorways Cancelled

    The statement made by Mark Harper, the Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 17 April 2023.

    The government has announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled.

    This will mean that the 11 schemes already paused from the second Road Investment Strategy (2020 to 2025) and the 3 earmarked for construction during the third Road Investment Strategy (2025 to 2030) will be removed from the government’s road-building plans in recognition of the current lack of public confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures.

    While no new stretches will be converted, work on the M56 J6 to J8 and M6 J21a to J26 will go ahead as planned given they are already over three-quarters constructed.

    The government and National Highways will continue to invest £900 million in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways. This includes installing stopped vehicle detection technology on every all lane running smart motorway which has now been completed, adding an additional 150 emergency areas across the network by 2025 and investing in giving motorists clear advice when using existing smart motorways.

    The government will also continue to deliver against its other commitments as set out in its response to the Transport Select Committee in January 2022.

    This government will continue to ensure that our roads remain among the safest in the world – helping drivers not just to be safe, but crucially, to feel safe and confident when driving.

    The following schemes have been cancelled

    RIS2 (2020 to 2025) paused schemes

    New all lane running smart motorways

    M3 junctions 9 to 14

    M40/M42 interchange

    M62 junctions 20 to 25

    M25 junctions 10 to 16

    Dynamic hard shoulder to all lane running conversions

    M1 junctions 10 to 13

    M4/M5 interchange (M4 junctions 19 to 20 and M5 junctions 15 to 17)

    M6 junctions 4 to 5

    M6 junctions 5 to 8

    M6 junctions 8 to 10a

    M42 junctions 3a to 7

    M62 junctions 25 to 30

    RIS3 (2025 to 2030) pipeline schemes

    M1 North Leicestershire

    M1 junctions 35a to 39 Sheffield to Wakefield

    M6 junctions 19 to 21a Knutsford to Croft

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech on Mathematics

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech on Mathematics

    The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in London on 17 April 2023.

    It’s great to be back at the London Screen Academy to celebrate the global powerhouse that is our film and television industry.

    From Star Wars to Game of Thrones…

    …007 to Top Gun Maverick…

    …you name it, we make it.

    And right here is where we’re training up the next generation of BAFTA winners…

    ….the producers, set designers, visual effects specialists…

    …who are going to ensure the UK remains one of the most creative countries in the world.

    Now the reason I’ve come here to talk about maths, is not just because I like maths.

    But because what I am setting out today is a fundamental part of how we need to change our country for the future.

    Now, one of my five priorities is economic growth.

    And if we are going to grow our economy not just over the next two years, but the next twenty…

    …we simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year…

    …or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy.

    So, we have to fundamentally change our education system…

    ….so it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need…

    …and that our businesses need…

    …to compete with the best in the world.

    And there’s no better example of that than in our creative industries.

    Because what’s the biggest skills shortage holding our film industry back?

    As you heard from Gillian, it’s a shortage of technical skills.

    And so what have the London Screen Academy put on the curriculum for their 16-to-19 year olds?

    Maths.

    Why?

    Because you can’t make movies without maths.

    You can’t make visual effects without vectors and matrices.

    You can’t design a set without some geometry.

    You can’t run a production company without being financially literate.

    And that’s not just true of our creative industries. It’s true of so many of our industries.

    In healthcare, maths allows you to calculate dosages.

    In retail, data skills allow you to analyse sales and calculate discounts.

    And the same is true in all our daily lives….

    …from managing household budgets to understanding mobile phone contracts or mortgages.

    We also know the benefits of maths for employability and earnings.

    Even just basic numeracy skills can increase your earnings by around £1,600 a year.

    Put simply, without a solid foundation in maths, our children risk being left behind…

    …shut out of the careers they aspire to; and the lives they want to lead.

    Now in the decade or so, we’ve gone up 10 places in the international league tables.

    And maths has become the most popular of all A-Levels.

    But it’s still the case that the UK is one of the least numerate countries in the developed world.

    More than 8 million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of a 9 year old.

    And around a third of our young people don’t pass maths GCSE.

    And it’s not just that we’re not good enough at maths…

    ….there’s a cultural issue here too.

    I’ll be honest, when my daughters first heard me talk about them doing more maths they weren’t too excited.

    And that’s just it.

    We make jokes about not being able to do maths.

    It’s socially acceptable.

    We say things like: “Oh, maths, I can’t do that, it’s not for me” – and everyone laughs.

    But we’d never make a joke like that about not being able to read.

    So we’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset.

    We’ve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading.

    So my campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice to have.

    It’s about changing how we value maths in this country.

    And changing the way our education system works to deliver it…

    ….so that all our children get these vital skills for life.

    Now, parents and teachers listening to this will want to know what that means for our children today.

    So let me tell you.

    We’re in the process of making maths more accessible, building our children’s confidence, so they don’t fear maths.

    We’re creating more sector specific content that can excite young people about the relevance of maths for the careers that they aspire to…

    …to help teachers bring maths to life in the classroom…

    …from building sets for school plays to calculating the angles of free kicks or the speed of a formula one car.

    We’re extending our Maths Hubs – unique partnerships of expert schools that support maths teaching.

    And we’re strengthening maths in primary schools…

    …including with a new fully funded professional qualification for those that are teaching it.

    But we also need to address a very specific problem that’s causing us to fall behind the rest of the world.

    We are one of the few developed countries where young people don’t routinely study some form of maths up to the age of 18.

    They do it in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway and America.

    Why should we accept any less for our children?

    Of course, we shouldn’t.

    That’s why I set out in January we are going to change the way our system works…

    …so that everyone in our country will study some form of maths all the way to 18.

    Now let me be absolutely clear – I am not saying the answer is A-Level maths for everyone.

    But we do need to work out the maths our young people should study.

    So we’re going to look at what 16-18 year olds around the world are learning.

    And we’re going to listen to employers and ask them what they say the maths skills are that they need.

    That’s why today I am appointing a new expert group….

    …who will help us identify that core maths content that our 16-to-18 year olds need…

    ….and whether we need a new specific qualification to support that.

    But to repeat: that will not be A-Level maths for all.

    And let me also be clear that we’re not going to deliver this change overnight.

    We’re going to need to recruit and train the maths teachers.

    We’re going to work out how to harness technology that we need to support them.

    And we’ll need to make sure this maths is additional to other subjects – not instead of them.

    Just as here at the London Screen Academy, they don’t teach maths instead of the arts – they teach both.

    Because they are complementary not contradictory.

    So it will take time to implement this change.

    But we are taking the first step today by identifying the maths content that will give our 16-to-18 year olds the skills they need to get on in life.

    And when we have that, then we’ll come back with a detailed plan to deliver it.

    I’ll just finish on a personal note.

    Every opportunity I’ve had in life began with the education I was so fortunate to receive….

    …and maths was a critical part of that.

    And I knew it was important then.

    And when I look at how the world is changing, it’s only going to be more important for my children – and yours.

    So I won’t sit back and allow this cultural sense that it’s ok to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

    We’ve got to change this.

    We’ve got to value maths, and what it can do for our children’s futures.

    Giving our children a world class education is the single most important thing we can do.

    It’s the closest thing we have to a silver bullet….

    …the best economy policy, the best social policy, the best moral policy.

    That’s why I’m proud that it’s our policy, and I will never stop striving to achieve it.

  • Steve Barclay – 2023 Letter to General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing

    Steve Barclay – 2023 Letter to General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing

    The letter sent by Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to the General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing on 16 April 2023.

    Dear Pat,

    Thank you for your letter of 14 April.

    The offer that we arrived at together through negotiations in March, and which as the General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing you recommended to your members, is a fair and reasonable settlement that acknowledges the dedication of NHS staff.

    It would mean that a nurse at the top of Band 5 would get over £5,000 in extra pay across last year and this year – including over £2,000 in bonus payments arriving as a lump sum in pay cheques by the summer.

    After you recommended the deal be accepted, I am disappointed that given the turnout, a rejection from less than half of your members was sufficient for a narrow rejection overall.

    This offer was of course negotiated with and put to all Agenda for Change trade unions. Unison’s members decisively accepted it on Friday, and other unions are yet to conclude their consultations. I hope that this fair and reasonable offer will secure their members’ support, and I will therefore await the collective outcome and extraordinary Staff Council meeting that will follow. As you know from when you and your colleagues negotiated this offer, the lump sum payments for 2022/23 are payable if the NHS Staff Council ratifies this offer.

    Given that you supported the offer we reached together, and that your ballot saw a very narrow result, I am also both disappointed and concerned that the Royal College of Nursing has chosen to announce 48 hours of continuous strike action without consultation of other Staff Council unions or waiting for the full Staff Council consultation to complete. The decision to refuse at this stage any exemptions for even the most urgent and life-threatening treatment during this action will, I fear, put patients at risk.

    We have so far worked together constructively, and I hope this can continue. The strike action you have called will cause significant disruption at a time when the NHS is already under extreme pressure. I urge you to reconsider your planned strike on 30 April – 2 May and, like the remainder of the Agenda for Change unions, wait until the collective outcome of the extraordinary Staff Council meeting.

    I would therefore welcome a meeting with you to discuss how we can avoid this escalatory action – recognising that the offer we negotiated with you and other unions stands, and I hope to see it implemented in the interests of all Agenda for Change staff once other consultations conclude.

    Yours ever,

    RT HON STEVE BARCLAY MP

  • Grant Shapps – 2023 Comments on Energy Sources

    Grant Shapps – 2023 Comments on Energy Sources

    The comments made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, on 16 April 2023.

    The UK has been at the very heart of global efforts to support Ukraine, defeat Putin and ensure neither him nor anyone like him can ever think they can hold the world to ransom over their energy again.

    This is the next vital step, uniting with other countries to show Putin that Russia isn’t welcome anymore, and in shoring up our global energy security by using a reliable international supply of nuclear fuel from safe, secure sources.

    But this is one side of the equation – the other is the need to invest in clean, cheap and secure energy sources, and our Powering Up Britain plan will do just that.

    We must stop being reliant on expensive and imported fossil fuels and focus on smarter energy solutions. The UK is already a world-leader when it comes to renewables, a fact recognised by the investors I have met in the Republic of Korea and Japan this week.

    In flying the flag for UK PLC, I want to be crystal clear that the expertise we have from having the four biggest wind farms off our shores is available to support countries looking to invest in their supplies – something that will benefit them, create green jobs and opportunities at home and boost energy security around the world.

    And I want us to work ever-closer together with countries like Republic of Korea and Japan as we invest more in nuclear technologies like Sizewell and Small Modular Reactors, opening up opportunities to invest in the UK and with it, the job opportunities in our local communities.

  • Michael Gove – 2023 Statement on Freeports in Wales

    Michael Gove – 2023 Statement on Freeports in Wales

    The statement made by Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    Today the UK and Welsh Governments have jointly announced that there will be two new Freeports in Wales: Celtic Freeport and Anglesey Freeport.

    This is an important moment for people across Wales. Freeport status will support the creation of high skilled jobs, drive growth and level up parts of our great country that have been previously overlooked. Each freeport, subject to business case, will be backed by up to £26 million in UK Government funding, and a range of tax incentives, including locally retained business rates to upgrade local infrastructure and stimulate regeneration. This is alongside a generous package of trade and innovation support for businesses locating there.

    These two new freeports will unlock significant funding for Wales, helping to boost the economy and ensuring the benefits are felt from Anglesey to Port Talbot and Milford Haven. They will help to create tens of thousands of new jobs, boost business, and unleash potentially billions of pounds of investment in the local areas and beyond. The strong bids from the Celtic and Anglesey sites compellingly demonstrated how they will use freeport status to regenerate their local communities, establish hubs for global trade, and foster an innovative environment.

    Freeports are at the vanguard of levelling up: driving growth and bringing opportunity and prosperity to the communities that surround them. The new freeports in Wales will build on the UK Government’s successful freeport programme in England, where all eight freeports are open for business, and in Scotland where two new green freeports have recently been announced.

    The Government remain committed to ensuring that the whole of the UK can reap the benefits of our freeports programme. As well as freeports being set up in England, Scotland and Wales, we also continue discussions with stakeholders in Northern Ireland about how best to deliver the benefits associated with freeports there.

  • Dominic Raab – 2023 Statement on Family Law – Dispute Resolution and Mediation

    Dominic Raab – 2023 Statement on Family Law – Dispute Resolution and Mediation

    The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    Today the Government are launching a consultation that will inform proposals to support more families, in appropriate cases, to agree their children and financial arrangements without court involvement.

    Family courts are under unprecedented pressure. In recent years, more families than ever before are applying to the court to resolve their disputes about children and financial matters, and once at court their cases are taking longer to be resolved. We believe that many of these disputes can be successfully resolved outside of court, and that in supporting this we can spare families, and especially children, the anguish of protracted litigation. Resolving more disputes outside of court will also help enable the courts to focus available resource on the cases that need to be there, including where domestic abuse is evidenced or there are urgent issues, and ensure these are resolved swiftly. This will help us to deliver on the levelling-up agenda by ensuring we improve the experience of parents across the country, including the most deprived areas.

    Key proposals in the consultation include:

    Supporting parents to resolve their children and financial arrangements without court involvement:

    We propose to strengthen access to resources and guidance for parents/carers and separating couples, and seek views on requiring parents/carers, in appropriate cases, to attend a co-parenting programme alongside mediation to help them better understand their family’s options.

    Resolving private family law arrangements through mediation:

    We propose to introduce a requirement, in appropriate cases, to make a reasonable attempt to mediate before applying to court. We are seeking views on how this could operate, and the circumstances that should make an individual or family exempt from the requirement. We propose that Government would fund the cost of this mediation for child arrangement cases and seek views on the funding of mediation for finance cases.

    Accountability and costs in court proceedings:

    We are also consulting on how costs orders could be used by the family courts to enforce requirements to mediate and discourage unnecessary prolonging of court proceedings.

    The consultation also seeks views on the impact these proposals may have on the mediation sector, and the role of other forms of dispute resolution in family cases.

    We want to hear from a range of people with experience of the private family law system, including families with experience of family courts, the organisations that work to support them, and the professionals who work within the system sector. We will be holding a number of stake- holder engagement events to ensure we receive detailed responses from a wide range of people and organisations.

    The consultation is available at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/

    The consultation closes on 15 June 2023.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2023 Statement on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2023 Statement on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    The statement made by Kevin Hollinrake, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    The Post Office Horizon scandal, which began over 20 years ago, has had a devastating impact on the lives of many postmasters. Starting in the late 1990s, the Post Office began installing Horizon accounting software, but faults in the software led to shortfalls in branches’ accounts. The Post Office demanded sub-postmasters cover the shortfalls, and in many cases wrongfully prosecuted them for false accounting or theft.

    The High Court group litigation order case against the Post Office brought by 555 postmasters exposed the scandal. The House will know that Sir Wyn Williams is now chairing a statutory inquiry to establish what went wrong and identify those who were responsible for what has happened.

    The settlement of the High Court case ensured that postmasters who had not been party to it would receive proper compensation through what is now the historical shortfall scheme. However, group litigation order postmasters had much of their compensation taken up by the associated costs of funding their case and they were ineligible to access further compensation through the historical shortfall scheme. This meant that they received less than those in similar circumstances who were not party to the case. Government have agreed to run an additional compensation scheme to put this right and to allow group litigation order postmasters to access similar compensation as that available to their historical shortfall scheme peers in similar circumstances.

    On 7 December the then Secretary of State announced the outline of the scheme. Since then, a great deal of work has been done to finalise the details, drawing on helpful input from the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance and claimants’ legal representatives as well as utilising lessons learned from the historical shortfall scheme and compensation for those with Overturned Historical Convictions. On 10 February the Government published a tariff (agreed with claimants’ lawyers) for reasonable legal fees and a registration form.

    In December we announced an independent advisory board on the scheme chaired by Professor Christopher Hodges and includes Lord Arbuthnot, Professor Richard Moorhead and the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), all of whom have long been distinguished campaigners for postmasters. I am pleased to report that the advisory board has met three times, and reports of its meetings are on gov.uk.

    We also said that we would follow an alternative dispute resolution model delivered by the Government. I can report today that we have appointed Dentons as our independent claims facilitators. Its role will be to promote fair and prompt resolutions of each case. We have also appointed Addleshaw Goddard to act as my Department’s external legal advisers on the scheme. They will take a collaborative approach, ensuring that there is no place for aggressive litigation in resolving claims.

    I am delighted to tell the House that the scheme is open to receive claims from today. Details of how to submit claims can be found on gov.uk. Our legal powers to pay compensation run out in August 2024, but we certainly hope to make payments much faster than that. As the then Secretary of State told the House in December, we hope that most cases can be resolved before the end of 2023. I am placing documentation on the scheme in the Library of the House.

    I am further pleased to report that the statutory instrument exempting group litigation order compensation from income tax, national insurance contributions and capital gains tax was laid before the Commons on 23 February and came into force on 16 March.

    Historical Shortfall Scheme

    I am also pleased to provide an update on Post Office’s progress in delivering compensation to those in the historical shortfall scheme. I am pleased to see the progress that Post Office has made in delivering compensation to post- masters. As of 21 March, 98% of eligible claimants have been issued offers of compensation, totalling £90.2m. Post Office is working to issue offers to remaining claimants as soon as possible.

    Post Office has also received 231 late claims to date, with 15 offers issued so far.

    I also recognise the concerns that have been raised in recent weeks around the tax position of claimants in the historical shortfall scheme. It has always been the intention of the scheme to return postmasters to the position they should have been in had they not been affected by the Horizon issues. The Government want to see fair compensation for all victims and my Department is working urgently to address this issue with the Post Office, HM Treasury and HMRC.

    Overturned Historical Convictions

    I am also pleased to provide an update on Post Office’s progress in delivering compensation to those with overturned historical convictions.

    As of 20 March, Post Office had paid out over £17.6m in compensation. 79 of the 84 postmasters with overturned historical convictions had received interim payments, totalling over £10.2m. Post Office has reached full and final settlement with 4 postmasters. In order to deliver compensation as quickly as possible, Post Office is handling non-pecuniary and pecuniary claims separately.

    A further 63 non-pecuniary claims had been received, of which all but three had received offers. 49 of these had been paid and settled, with one more claim paid, subject to settlement paperwork, which will bring the total to 50, once received.

    In addition to the four full and final settlements, Post Office had made pecuniary settlement offers to four of the nine postmasters who had submitted a pecuniary claim.