Blog

Therese Coffey – 2023 Comments on Sewage Entering Rivers

The comments made by Therese Coffey, the Environment Secretary, on 20 February 2023.

People are concerned about the impacts of sewage entering our rivers and seas and I am crystal clear that this is totally unacceptable.

We need to be clear that this is not a new problem. Storm overflows have existed for over a century. The law has always allowed for discharges, subject to regulation. That is how our Victorian sewers are built – wastewater and rain are carried in the same pipe. When it reaches a certain height, it pours into another pipe and into rivers.

And while we have done more about it than any other government – we were the first government to require companies to start comprehensively monitoring spillage so that we could see what was actually going on – there is still significant work to do.

Through the largest infrastructure programme in water company history we will tackle the problem at source, with more investment on projects like the new Thames Tideway super sewer. I am making sure that regulators have the powers they need to take action when companies don’t follow the rules, including higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce.

I am now demanding every company to come back to me with a clear plan for what they are doing on every storm overflow, prioritising those near sites where people swim and our most precious habitats.

20/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : Government asks companies share plans on improving Britain’s water infrastructure [February 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 20 February 2023.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey has today (Monday 20 February) demanded water companies share plans on improving Britain’s water infrastructure.

The fresh move is part of the drive for better water quality, building on significant work with industry and regulators, allowing government to track progress of investment and new projects.

The Environment Secretary has demanded a clear assessment & action plan on every storm overflow from every water and sewerage company in England, prioritising those that are spilling more than a certain number of times a year, and those spilling into bathing waters and high priority nature sites.

She has also set out more detail on how water companies will face higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce.

Any water company caught illegally polluting our waters currently faces enforcement action from the Environment Agency. This can range from Enforcement Undertakings – companies paying to restore damage to the environment – through to prosecution in the courts.

The most serious cases are dealt with through criminal prosecutions. Fines of more than £102 million were handed out in 2021. Last year it was announced that money from these fines will be re-invested into schemes that benefit the environment, rather than being returned to the Treasury.

However, prosecutions can take a long time to bring to a conclusion. That is why the government is consulting on making it easier and quicker for penalties to be issued so that polluters are made to pay immediately when damage is caused to our rivers and seas.

On the upper limit of fines, all options – including £250 million – remain on the table. There will be a public consultation in the spring to find an upper limit that is a real and serious deterrent.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said:

“People are concerned about the impacts of sewage entering our rivers and seas and I am crystal clear that this is totally unacceptable.

We need to be clear that this is not a new problem. Storm overflows have existed for over a century. The law has always allowed for discharges, subject to regulation. That is how our Victorian sewers are built – wastewater and rain are carried in the same pipe. When it reaches a certain height, it pours into another pipe and into rivers.

And while we have done more about it than any other government – we were the first government to require companies to start comprehensively monitoring spillage so that we could see what was actually going on – there is still significant work to do.

Through the largest infrastructure programme in water company history we will tackle the problem at source, with more investment on projects like the new Thames Tideway super sewer. I am making sure that regulators have the powers they need to take action when companies don’t follow the rules, including higher penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce.

I am now demanding every company to come back to me with a clear plan for what they are doing on every storm overflow, prioritising those near sites where people swim and our most precious habitats.”

The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, published last year, required water companies to deliver the largest infrastructure programme in water company history – £56 billion capital investment over 25 years.

More detail on the government’s plans to deliver clean and plentiful water were also set out last month in its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, a five-year strategy for a cleaner, greener country.

20/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : January sees highest level of energy bill support reach vulnerable households [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 20 February 2023.

New official statistics show record numbers of households took up the government support on offer for energy bills.
- More support reaching households across Great Britain, with 76% of all Energy Bills Support Scheme vouchers now redeemed – and 1.7 million used in the month of January alone
- this follows government communications campaign, with the Energy Security Secretary calling on suppliers to do everything they can to deliver support
- over £7.2 billion has now been provided to 98% of eligible households in England, Scotland and Wales, with redemption rates across suppliers ranging from 68% to 87%
- ministers call on local leaders to help make sure information and support reaches all households across the country
A record amount of government support reached some of the country’s most vulnerable households in January, as those on traditional prepayment meters (PPM) redeemed more energy bill support vouchers than at any other point in the scheme so far.

Redemption rates are up across all energy suppliers with three quarters of all vouchers now redeemed, following a dedicated government campaign and calls from the Energy Security Secretary for them to do more to help customers access all available support.

New figures published today (20 February 2023) show 1.7 million vouchers were used by households with prepayment meters across Great Britain in January – 130,000 more than in December. This means the highest rate yet of government help has reached some of the most vulnerable households through the Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS) – with £530 million provided in total so far under EBSS.

The vouchers delivered through the scheme provide a total of £400 to help with energy costs this winter paid in monthly instalments.

The best performing electricity suppliers with the highest rates of voucher redemptions include E Gas & Electricity and Octopus, whose traditional prepayment meter (PPM) customers redeemed 87% and 85% of their vouchers respectively.

The 5 suppliers with the largest number of PPM customers – Centrica (British Gas), E.On, Ovo, EDF and Scottish Power – all showed an increased number of voucher redemptions, although some remained amongst those with the lowest rates overall.

It follows the Energy Security Secretary’s push for suppliers to do more to help vulnerable customers and concerns about the low take-up of EBSS vouchers. The government has also expanded campaign activity to reach eligible customers with additional advertising across community radio, social media and national magazine titles.

As of the end of January, 76% of all vouchers issued so far have now been redeemed – meaning support reached more of these households than at any other point since the scheme began.

However, even with this improvement the government is calling on suppliers to continue efforts to reach customers with unused vouchers – with around 1.9 million remaining unredeemed.

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said:

The help we’ve put in place means we are covering around half of most household’s energy bill this winter – this is an unprecedented level of support.

With January temperatures having dropped to as low as -10 degrees in some parts of the country, I am pleased to announce today a record numbers of households taking up the government support.

But many households are yet to redeem the vouchers they are entitled to and I want energy companies to redouble their efforts to get the support to those who need it.

Today’s numbers reveal over £7.2 billion has now been provided to 98% of households across Great Britain through the EBSS. Across the regions rates of voucher redemption increased overall, but numbers show the fewest households making use of support in London (58%), Scotland (68%) and the Southeast of England (69%) – meaning many households are still missing out.

Redemption rates in all other regions are now above 70%, although ministers are maintaining calls for communities, local leaders and suppliers to make sure households using traditional prepayment meters are aware of the support and how to access it.

Key statistics today reveal:
- over a third of vouchers remain unclaimed in London’s local authorities, with households from Brent to Lewisham missing out on support to which they’re entitled
- outside of London, some of the lowest redemption rates are in Edinburgh (59%), Brighton (61%) and Glasgow (62%)
- Yorkshire & Humber and the North East of England have the highest overall PPM voucher redemption rates at 75% and 74% respectively – but even in these areas, greater voucher redemptions would bring help to more households using traditional prepayment meters
Whilst most people receive the discount automatically each month they are eligible, people using a traditional PPM receive this in the form of vouchers that need to be redeemed at a Post Office or PayPoint. Suppliers have a responsibility to inform their PPM customers how to access government support using the vouchers and must make several attempts to contact people who haven’t redeemed them.

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, which represents more than 350 councils across England and Wales, said:

Councils are working hard to ensure this support reaches those who need it, ramping up efforts up and down the country. As families are squeezed during the cost of living crisis, it is vital that households claim the support they are entitled to.

Last year the Energy Minister Graham Stuart met suppliers to discuss what other measures would help increase voucher redemptions by PPM customers, with many offering ongoing training for their call centre staff, and some sending representatives door-to-door to spread the word.

The Energy Security Secretary has also encouraged suppliers to replace traditional meters with smart meters, as they are able to receive government support payments automatically and detect when customers are self-rationing and disconnecting.

It comes in addition to a wider crackdown by the Energy Security Secretary on the mistreatment of vulnerable customers after concerns were raised about the sharp rise in companies seeking warrants to enter people’s homes to forcibly install prepayment meters.

Since Mr Shapps’ intervention all energy suppliers have now committed to ending the forced installation of prepayment meters in vulnerable customers’ homes, Ofgem has committed to speaking to consumers rather than just suppliers about their experiences and Lord Justice Edis issued directions to magistrates’ courts to stop approving warrants to force-fit prepayment meters grinding the practice to a firm halt.
20/02/2023
Gillian Keegan – 2023 Statement on the Reform of Children’s Social Care

The statement made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023.

With permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement about how we plan to reform children’s social care.

My first visit in this role was to a children’s home in Hampshire. The young people I met were full of excitement and enthusiasm for the opportunities ahead. One wanted to be a hairdresser or perhaps a beautician—she was still deciding—and another was set to follow his dreams and join the Navy. They all wanted to have the same opportunities as their friends, and our job is to make sure that all children should have those opportunities. It is why levelling up was the guiding principle of our 2019 manifesto.

On this visit, I could not have seen a more vivid example of how our dedicated professionals can change young lives. I am sure all colleagues will join me in paying tribute to the phenomenal work of our social workers and family support workers, directors of children’s services, foster and kinship carers, children’s home staff and so many others across the country. It is thanks to them, as well as to children’s talent, resilience and determination to succeed, that many who have had a tough start in life go on to thrive.

While the care review, the child safeguarding practice review panel on the tragic deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and the Competition and Markets Authority pointed to some good and innovative practice in children’s social care, they were also unequivocal in showing us that we are not delivering consistently enough for children and young people. These reviews provide us with a vision of how to do things differently, and how to help families overcome challenges at the earliest stage, keep children safe and ensure that those in care have loving and stable homes. I accept wholeheartedly their messages, and give special thanks to those who led and contributed—Josh MacAlister and his team, Annie Hudson and the rest of the panel, and the Competition and Markets Authority. Many thousands of people with lived and personal experience of the system also contributed and told their stories to these reviews, and I extend my heartfelt thanks to them for helping us to reach this point.

My hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Will Quince) came to this House eight months ago and committed to action from day one to respond to the care review, and I commend him for all his work while he was the Minister for Children and Families. Since then, we have established a national implementation board, with members to advise, support and challenge us on the delivery of reform. We have set up a new child protection ministerial group to champion safeguarding at the highest levels. We have launched a data and digital solutions fund to unlock the potential of technology, and we have started work to increase foster care placements. This work, coupled with the direction of the reviews and successful initiatives such as the supporting families programme and the innovation programme, has provided us with the confidence to go further to achieve our ambitions for children.

I know both Houses and all parties support bold and ambitious reform. This Government are determined to deliver that, and I am pleased to announce that today we will publish our consultation and implementation strategy, “Stable Homes, Built on Love”, which sets out how we will achieve broad, system-wide transformation.

We want children to grow up in loving, safe and stable families where they can flourish. The Prime Minister recently spoke about the role of families in answering the profound questions we face as a country. Where would any of us be without our family? That is true for me and I am sure it is true for everybody. My parents, my brother, my sister and my wider family had a huge role in shaping who I am, and they continue to do so.

When children are not safe with their families, the child protection system should take swift and decisive action to protect children. Where children cannot stay with their parents, we should look first at wider family networks and support them to care for the child. Where a child needs to enter care, the care system should provide the same foundation of love, stability and safety. Over the next two years, we plan to address some urgent issues and lay the foundations for wider-reaching reform across the whole system. Our strategy is backed by £200 million of additional investment, so we can start reforms immediately and build the evidence for future roll-out. We know this is something that partners support, including local government. This investment builds on the £3.2 billion provided at the autumn statement for children and adult’s social care.

After that, we will look to scale up our new approaches and bring forward the necessary underpinning legislation, subject to parliamentary time. We will listen to those with experience of the system as we deliver. This starts today, as we consult on our strategy and the children’s social care national framework. Our strategy will focus on six pillars of action to transform the system. We will provide the right support at the right time, so that children thrive within their families and families stay together through our family help offer. We will strengthen our child protection response by getting agencies to work together in a fully integrated way, led by social workers with greater skills and knowledge. We will unlock the potential of kinship care so that, wherever possible, children who cannot stay with their parents are cared for by people who know and love them already. We will reform the care system to make sure we have the right homes for children in the right places. We must be ambitious for children in care and care leavers, and provide them with the right support to help them thrive and achieve their potential into adulthood. We will provide a valued, supported and highly-skilled social worker for every child who needs one, and make sure the whole system continuously learns and improves and makes better use of evidence and data.

I will set out some of our key activity over the next two years to deliver this shift. On family help, we will deliver pathfinders with local areas to test a model of family help, and integrated and expert child protection to make sure that we support family networks and help them get the early help they need. On child protection, we will consult on new child protection standards and improve leadership across local authorities, the police, health and education through updates to the statutory guidance, “Working Together”. On unlocking the benefits of alternatives to care, we will publish a national kinship care strategy by the end of 2023, and invest £9 million to train and support kinship carers before the end of this Parliament.

For children in care and care leavers, we will deliver a fostering programme to recruit and retain more foster carers, and path-find regional care co-operatives to plan, commission and deliver care places. We will fund practical help for care leavers by increasing the available leaving care allowance from £2,000 to £3,000, and strengthening our offers so children can stay with their foster carers or close to their children’s homes when they leave care. In recognition of the great work that foster carers do and the increasing costs of living, we are raising the national minimum allowance and foster carers will benefit from a 12.43% increase to that allowance. We will consult on strengthening and widening our corporate parenting responsibilities so that more public bodies provide the right support to care leavers.

On the workforce, we will bring forward a new early career framework to give social workers the right start, and support employers with a virtual hub sharing best practice. We will expand the number of child and family social worker apprentices by up to 500, and we will reduce our reliance on agency workers by consulting on national rules related to their use. For this system, we will assemble an expert forum to advise on how we make the most of the latest technology and publish a data strategy by the end of this year. We will introduce a children’s social care national framework to set out our system outcomes and expectations for practice, and align this with the work of Ofsted.

This strategy sets out a pathway towards fundamental, whole-system reform of children’s social care. We are rising to Josh MacAlister’s challenge to be ambitious, bold and broad for the sake of vulnerable children and families. I thank all those who guided us here, including my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) and my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Edward Timpson), who contributed so much along the journey.

Too many children and families have been let down, and we are determined to make the changes needed. We must remember the stories and the lives of Arthur and Star and the children who came before them. We must settle for nothing less than wide-reaching, long-lasting change. Today we set the direction of travel and make a pledge on a future system that will help to provide all vulnerable children with the start in life they deserve.

As the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, my hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), noted in November in the House, our ambition is to lay the foundations for a system built on love and family. I believe that this strategy and the actions we are taking now will deliver that. Family will be central to the way we deliver our ambitions. I commend this statement to the House.

19/02/2023
Kerry McCarthy – 2023 Speech on British Steel

The speech made by Kerry McCarthy, the Labour MP for Bristol East, in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023.

I thank the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft) for securing this urgent question on an issue that affects not just the workers in her constituency but the future of a foundation industry across the UK.

In November last year, the iconic Redcar blast furnace—once the second largest in Europe—was demolished. Decades of work, tradition and pride needlessly went up in smoke. Here we are, yet again: another crisis under the Conservatives’ watch, with Liberty Steel announcing a number of weeks ago the potential loss of hundreds of jobs and yet more pain this week from British Steel. [Interruption.]

Mr Speaker

Order. I have granted the urgent question because I thought it was important. I certainly will not have the hon. Member for Scunthorpe heckling by putting her hands around her mouth to shout.

Kerry McCarthy

Liberty Steel bosses have described the UK steel sector as being “on life support”. No other developed country faces losing its domestic steel sector. If that were to happen here, it would be a badge of shame for this Government. It is entirely avoidable. Will the Minister outline the steps the Government are taking to secure the future of the Liberty and British Steel sites? She talked about the economic impact, but it is about more than that. It is about the fact that those sites have been at the heart of their communities for generations.

Earlier this month, there were reports that the Secretary of State wrote to the Chancellor requesting a bail-out for British Steel. Will the Minister confirm whether that is the case and whether she and the Secretary of State are continuing to push for that? The last thing that the steel sector and the British taxpayer need is another blank cheque bail-out for a buyer, rather than a proper investor. We do not need more sticking plasters; we need a long-term plan.

The market wants green steel, so will the Government back Labour’s plan for green steel, invest in new technology over the coming decade, crowd in private investment and address the root of the problems, rather than play an ever more expensive game of whack-a-mole? Labour will always back our steel industry. It has a bright green future—something it will never get under the crisis management Conservatives.

Ms Ghani

I had hoped that the Opposition Front Bench spokesperson would support our ongoing desire for negotiations, and that she would ask why the redundancy conversations are taking place while negotiations are ongoing.

On Liberty Steel, on 20 July 2021 the then Business Secretary set out in his evidence to the BEIS Committee that we did not have adequate assurances to be confident that money offered to Liberty Steel would remain solely available to UK operations. It is important to note that that approach was commended in the Committee’s November 2021 report. Of course, I was on the Committee then, but it is important to note that the Committee is made up of Members from both sides of the House, so that was obviously an agreed position of colleagues across the House.

The hon. Member talked about the level of support that we are providing to the sector to ensure that it can reduce its emissions and take on board new technology to go as green as it can. We have more than £1.5 billion of long-term, strategic and focused support in place to help it to go green, cut emissions and become more energy-efficient. There is more than £1 billion for the carbon capture and storage infrastructure fund, more than £240 million for the net zero hydrogen fund, more than £55 million for the industrial fuel switching fund, more than £20 million for industrial decarbonisation research, £289 million for the industrial energy transformation fund and up to £66 million as part of the industrial strategy challenge fund. That is substantial funding to help the sector to be strategic and have structures in place to help it to reduce emissions, invest in new technology and decarbonise.

The hon. Member spoke about Labour’s plan, or the budget it has in place to help steel become green. I am not sure how that has been costed or tested. As I said in my statement, what is important is that we are putting forward a generous package of support. I hope that she agrees that, because it is taxpayers’ money, we should also have certain assurances, whether on job security, or that new technology to decarbonise is adopted. That is a sensible, strategic way to go forward.

19/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : UK development minister visits Turkey-Syria earthquake response [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 19 February 2023.

UK Development Minister Andrew Mitchell travelled to southern Turkey on Sunday 19 February to see the response first-hand.
- First trip by UK Minister to Turkey since devastating earthquakes to witness first-hand impact of UK aid, helping those affected in Turkey and Syria.
- Follows major new UK aid package on 15 February in response to needs on the ground in both Turkey and Syria.
- Minister toured a UK-led Field Hospital in Türkoğlu to thank UK medical staff for providing lifesaving care alongside Turkish medics, and met UK-aid-funded White Helmets (Syrian Civil Defence) to discuss what is needed in the next stage of the response
As the UK continues to play a leading role in the global response to the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey, UK Development Minister Andrew Mitchell travelled to southern Turkey on Sunday 19 February to see the response first-hand.

He witnessed the work of UK medical and aid teams supporting the Turkish authorities, Syrian organisations, UN and other aid organisations to coordinate the emergency response in both Turkey and Syria.

In Türkoğlu he toured a joint MoD-FCDO Field Hospital staffed by UK-Med and MoD personnel with an emergency room and 24/7 operating centre providing lifesaving care and thanked UK medical staff working side-by-side with Turkish medics.

He also met the White Helmets and Syrian Women’s groups as well as the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) member charity, Care International, the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and UN agencies to hear first-hand about their relief efforts in Turkey and Syria and understand what more needs to be done as the crisis moves from rescue to recovery.

Development Minister Andrew Mitchell said:

We have been working since day one of this terrible earthquake to help coordinate the emergency response in both Turkey and Syria and provide life-saving support to those who need it.

As this evolving situation heads into a new phase from rescue to recovery, I’ve seen first-hand the incredible efforts on the ground at the field hospital, with UK medical teams providing live-saving operations, including to those rescued from under the rubble.

The British public’s response to the Disasters and Emergency Committee appeal, which has now reached a staggering £88 million, underlines the strong support from the UK for rescue and recovery following this tragic event.

I have seen and heard today how this extraordinary generosity has enabled British expertise, charities and NGOs to scale up their support and make a real difference to the people of Turkey and Syria.

The UK match funded the first £5 million of public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Turkey-Syria Earthquake appeal providing immediate life-saving support to hardest-hit areas, thanks to the compassion and generosity of the British public.

The visit follows a further £25 million major UK package of support on 15 February, with the UK responding to needs on the ground in Turkey and in Syria in line with requests from the Turkish authorities, the UN and aid agencies.

The UK also sent a team of 77 search and rescue experts with specialist equipment, as well as four rescue dogs, who worked day and night to help people affected by the earthquake. The UK-aid-funded White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence) mobilised a significant search and rescue effort and the UK mobilised an additional £4.3 million to the White Helmets in support of this. As we move from rescue to recovery, the UK is continuing to send urgent relief supplies to Turkey and Syria such as tents and blankets to help survivors cope with the freezing conditions.

We are working closely with the UN to maintain the swift delivery of these supplies across the Turkish border into north-west Syria.
19/02/2023
PRESS RELEASE : HMS Anson departs Barrow-in-Furness [February 2023]
The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 19 February 2023.

HMS Anson, the fifth Astute Class submarine, has sailed from Barrow-in-Furness to begin her journey to His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde.
- The fifth Astute-Class attack submarine has sailed from BAE Systems’ shipyard bound for her new home.
- Upon arrival at HMNB Clyde, she will undergo sea trials.
- £1.3 billion of UK investment in the programme.
Marking entry into the Royal Navy, HMS Anson was formally commissioned in ceremony last year, and is the eighth Navy vessel to bear the name, originally named after Admiral George Anson.

Building on commitments made in the Integrated Review, the completion of HMS Anson demonstrates the strength of British industry and its world-leading nuclear technology.

Upon arrival at the Clyde, HMS Anson will begin sea trials.

Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, said:

HMS Anson will play a vital role in defending the UK, providing a competitive edge for decades to come, and I am proud to see her make her journey up to her permanent home on the Clyde.

Supporting tens of thousands of jobs across the UK, our Astute-Class submarines are a leading example of our commitment to defence manufacturing, continuing to boost British industry for decades to come.

One of the most sophisticated underwater vessels ever built, HMS Anson represents £1.3 billion of UK investment.

More than 11 years in the making and built in BAE Systems’ Barrow-in-Furness site, the departure of HMS Anson is a significant moment for the UK’s submarine manufacturing industry.

Delivering on the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy, creating better-paid jobs and opportunity right across the country, the construction of HMS Anson has included more than 10,000 coders, engineers, scientists, submariners and technicians across the UK.

Steve Timms, Managing Director of BAE Systems’ Submarines business, said:

It’s with enormous pride that we bid farewell to HMS Anson as she departs our site to take up her vital role helping to protect the UK’s national security.

This is a truly national endeavour, so delivering the most capable attack submarine ever built for the Royal Navy is a tremendous moment for our company, our employees, the Barrow community and the whole of the submarine enterprise, not least our vast and crucially important UK wide supply chain.

Capable of defending the UK’s interests at home and overseas, HMS Anson will be armed with up to 38 Spearfish Heavyweight Torpedoes, and Block V Tomahawk land attack missiles, able to tackle targets at a range of up to 1,000 miles.

Powered by a Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor, the boat will also be operational for 25 years without refuelling.

The Astute Class is the first nuclear-powered submarine class to be designed entirely in a three-dimensional, computer-aided environment –represent the cutting edge and state of the art nature of the UK’s military capabilities.

They are the most advanced boats ever operated by the Royal Navy, providing the capability needed to defend the UK and its allies’ interests at home and overseas.

Dr Tim Sheldon, Director Submarines Acquisition for the Submarine Delivery Agency, said:

We commend the tremendous effort by all those involved across the UK in the delivery of HMS Anson to the Royal Navy.

Her departure from Barrow is a major milestone, not only in her journey to full operational service, but for the Astute programme as a whole.

Weighing 7,800 tonnes, she is 97 metres long – just short of two Olympic swimming pools – with 240 kilometres of cabling – enough to stretch from Barrow-In-Furness to its new home in Faslane, Scotland.

Commanding Officer of HMS Anson, Cdr David ‘Bing’ Crosby, said:

My team and I are grateful to all across the build enterprise and SDA who have made HMS ANSON such a formidable submarine. We are eagerly looking forward to putting the boat through her paces on sea trials, realising her full potential and joining our colleagues on the Clyde – the home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.

The first four Astute-Class submarines – HMS Astute, HMS Ambush, HMS Artful and HMS Audacious – are already in service with the Royal Navy.

The final two submarines in the class – Agamemnon and Agincourt – are in various stages of construction at Barrow-in-Furness.
19/02/2023
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 19 February 1923

19 FEBRUARY 1923

The Free State of Ireland’s amnesty for the Irregulars to surrender passed, with reports that many had taken the opportunity to hand themselves in.

A clash took place between the Irregulars and the troops of the Irish Government at the base of the Galtee Mountains, with fourteen members of the Irregulars captured and one killed. One member of the national troops was killed along with a boy from a local farm who was caught in the crossfire.

The Dublin home of Alexander McCabe, an Irish politician, was blown up. There was also an arson attack entirely destroying the home and property of Senator Thomas Linehan.

The mail train from Dublin to Galway was wrecked by the Irregulars with a bridge also destroyed.

The Killaloe railway station near Limerick in Ireland was destroyed by the Irregulars who poured petrol within the building and set it alight.

19/02/2023
NEWS FROM 100 YEARS AGO : 18 February 1923

18 FEBRUARY 1923

A spokesperson for the Railway Companies’ Association, the co-ordinating body for the four large rail companies, said that they were looking to change ticketing prices so that return fares would be twice the single fare rate. They added though that the rail companies were trying to reduce railway excursion charges to “nearer pre-war rates than ever before”.

William Thomas Cosgrave, the President of the Irish Executive Council, said that it was the final day of the amnesty that was being offered to members of the Irregulars to surrender. He said that “the Free State Government is prepared to put down this revolt regardless of cost. Let no man be deceived, there is no going back”.

It was announced at a conference of the National Training School that a poison gas that could penetrate any mask had been discovered.

19/02/2023
Holly Mumby-Croft – 2023 Speech on British Steel

The speech made by Holly Mumby-Croft, the Conservative MP for Scunthorpe, in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023.

As my hon. Friend has set out, in the midst of these negotiations with Government, involving hundreds of millions of pounds of further support on top of what she has listed, Jingye sat down yesterday with the unions and talked about laying off 800 British Steel workers. I do not want to break down my communications with British Steel, because I will fight for these jobs and continue to talk to it. Accordingly, I will temper my language today, but I want to be clear that I cannot and will not defend this decision, which is unacceptable in every possible way for my constituents. This is not a way to behave. It sends entirely the wrong message and breaches the spirit of negotiations, which I believe are the result of a level of Government focus on steel and its wider issues, including energy and carbon costs, that are genuinely encouraging for the industry.

Hundreds of families in Scunthorpe are worried sick, wondering if and when they will lose their jobs. I want to add that I am very capable of challenging the Government if I do not think they are going far enough on steel, but that is not what is happening here, and I hold the company entirely responsible for how it decided to act yesterday.

I ask the Minister to do three things, please. First, will she challenge the company on whether it is actually credible to run its operations with 800 fewer people? I have been told that it would not be possible to safely run the blast furnaces if that many team members were lost. Secondly, will she express in the strongest terms that this is not a way to do business and ask the company to immediately reconsider these potential redundancies? It is in its gift to do that, and if it publicly halted these redundancies, that would send a welcome and strong message to the community of which it is a part.

Thirdly, will the Minister reiterate this Government’s support for the thousands of world-class steelmakers in my patch, who are decent, hard-working, skilled members of our community? Will she tell them again today that we value their skills, we understand the importance of steel, we understand that we need it for every single thing we do in this country—from defence to growth—and that we are determined to do whatever it takes to make sure we do not become the only country in the G20 that cannot make its own steel?

Ms Ghani

Our lady of steel basically sums up the whole argument in her two minutes, and I do not disagree with much of what she has said. The decision to hold this meeting is a commercial one, but I agree with my hon. Friend that it is a peculiar way to do business, while we are in the middle of negotiations that will involve substantial amounts of Government support, which I will go on to describe.

I put on record, agreeing with my hon. Friend, that we make the finest steel in the world, and the steelworkers in the UK are the most skilled in the world. British Steel manufacturing is vital, and it cuts across everything we do, as well as issues around supply chain resilience brought on by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and issues around Chinese steel dumping. Steel is vital for our national security, just as it is for every sector involved in manufacturing and production. The Government are absolutely committed to the steel industry, and I will go on to describe that.

I make it clear that any decision that Jingye makes is a commercial decision, but it is our duty to make sure that if support is needed, we make it available, so our thoughts are first and foremost with employees and their families. We will work across Whitehall, whether that is standing up the Department for Work and Pensions rapid response service to support employees, working with the MoneyHelper scheme or working with the Department for Education’s National Careers Service.

I will spend a moment to explain the level of support that British Steel has already had. We have offered £120 million in grant funding through the exceptional regional growth fund to ensure that it can continue to work in the area. We have offered UK export finance to help it with new export contracts. In June, we extended UK Steel’s safeguards to protect domestic production. It has benefited from Government electricity price compensation for energy-intensive industries and the energy relief scheme for business. As I have mentioned, £800 million has been provided across the sector since 2013. It can also apply for help with energy efficiency, decarbonisation, low-carbon infrastructure, and research and development, where more than £1 billion is available in competitive funding for industry. The support is strategic and long term.

My hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe raised three points. She asked me to challenge the company on the number of employees it needs to continue functioning in a safe and stable way. Of course, we will drive that message home, and we will make it clear in the strongest terms that this is not the way to do business. She knows that I was on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee for a few years, and we wrote a report on steel. Perhaps my language then was a little freer than I can be at the Dispatch Box. It is peculiar for this conversation to take place while we are in the middle of good negotiations, since the negotiations involve substantial taxpayer money. Obviously, these are sensitive negotiations, but I do not think that it is inappropriate for me to say that the Government want some assurances and guarantees linked to jobs. The message I want to send today is that we will continue to be available to ensure that discussions and negotiations continue.

I listed the huge support that the Government have already put in place for steel. If I may, I would like to share some of the other support available for the region in and around Scunthorpe. More than £20 million was given to Scunthorpe through the towns fund, and more than £10 million through the future high streets fund. More than £25 million in seed capital was given towards the Humber freeport, and more than £5 million to north Lincolnshire from the UK shared prosperity fund. I must put on record my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe for being such a fantastic campaigner and for securing that funding for her constituency.

These are ongoing, sensitive negotiations. I hope everybody across the House, regardless of what they think of the Government’s record, will send the shared message that negotiations and discussions should continue. It is appropriate that within those discussions we should expect some assurances on job security.

19/02/2023