Tag: 2021

Chris Heaton-Harris – 2021 Statement on Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy 2

The statement made by Chris Heaton-Harris, the Minister of State at the Department for Transport, in the House of Commons on 25 March 2021.

In 2017 the Government published the first statutory cycling and walking infrastructure strategy (CWIS 1) which covered the period 2016-17 to 2020-21. Since it was produced, the Secretary of State and the Prime Minister have significantly expanded the ambition and funding of the Government’s cycling and walking programme, launching the Gear Change White Paper in summer 2020 with £2 billion of additional funding over this Parliament for active travel, the largest amount of dedicated spending ever committed to increasing cycling and walking in this country. Significant delivery on the ground has already occurred.

Because of the pandemic, the multi-year spending review planned for autumn 2020 was postponed. Instead, as with most other budgets, a single-year settlement for cycling and walking reflecting the ambitions set out in Gear Change has been set for the year 2021-22. The Government will set out plans for future years, including future funding for cycling and walking beyond 2021-22, at the spending review later this year.

I am today informing Parliament of my intention to publish as soon as possible thereafter a second four-year statutory cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS 2), reflecting the new policies in Gear Change and the multi-year funding settlement.

The Government will consult on CWIS 2, with relevant stakeholders, ahead of its publication, as required by the legislation.

March 28, 2021
Oliver Dowden – 2021 Comments on Support for Sports

The comments made by Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on 27 March 2021.

We know that the restrictions on spectators continue to have consequences for many sports. That includes Rugby Union and its clubs at the elite level through to the grassroots.

That’s why we’re helping our major spectator sports, with money already benefiting more than 100 organisations, from women’s football, to netball, badminton and basketball, with more to follow as we navigate our roadmap back to normality.

This funding will support the survival and continued visibility of men’s domestic rugby union at the highest level, allowing the league to complete its season.

March 28, 2021
Matt Hancock – 2021 Comments on Lateral Flow Testing at Home

The comments made by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 28 March 2021.

Rapid testing is a vital part of our roadmap, helping us to cautiously lift restrictions on our economy and society.

Around one in three people with coronavirus do not have any symptoms, so extending employee testing from the workplace to the home will help us identify more cases we otherwise wouldn’t find, prevent further transmission and save lives.

60,000 businesses across the country have already registered for free, regular and rapid tests and I encourage many more to take up the offer, helping to keep their employees and their families safe.

March 28, 2021
Nick Thomas-Symonds – 2021 Comments on Tackling Violence

The comments made by Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Shadow Home Secretary, on 27 March 2021.

On streets across the country, we are witnessing the devastating impact of a decade of the Tories being soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime. Under the Conservatives, violent criminals have never had is so good.

This election is a choice between the Labour Party who is serious about tackling the Tory rise in violent crime or the Conservatives who have slashed police numbers and let violent crime rise in every part of the country. Communities are now having to deal with 200 violent crimes an hour, while the number of violent offences being charged have plummeted to less than 7 per cent.

Labour Councils, PCCs and Mayors have made huge impacts by standing up for their communities in the face of Tory cuts. However, since their inception they have had one hand tied behind their back, when battling this Conservative UK Government whose cuts have resulted in huge crime rises on their watch.

In these elections, Labour has a plan to tackle the Tory rise in violent crime, put more police on our streets and put victims at the heart of the criminal justice system.

March 28, 2021
Robert Jenrick – 2021 Statement on the Construction Industry and Retail Sector

The statement made by Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on 25 March 2021.

As England moves towards step two of the covid-19 response road map out of lockdown, which will take place no earlier than 12 April, the Government want to ensure that planning measures are in place to support businesses to operate safely and drive the economic recovery.

First, the Government recognise that the construction industry will need to continue to operate in a safe and productive way. Temporary extensions to working hours were introduced over the last year on some sites to facilitate safer working and allow tasks to be completed where social distancing can be challenging. These changes have also helped to protect and support jobs in the construction industry and reduced pressures on public transport at peak hours throughout the pandemic.

This written ministerial statement confirms that the approach set out in my previous statement to the House of 13 May 2020, about construction working hours due to covid-19, will remain in place until 30 September 2021. This continued flexibility is necessary due to the continued impact of covid-19 and to support the construction industry to recover and operate safely as we emerge from the pandemic. This date will be kept under review.

Secondly, the Government would like local planning authorities to continue to take a positive and flexible approach to planning enforcement action to support economic recovery and support social distancing while it remains in place. The national planning policy framework already emphasises that planning enforcement is a discretionary activity, and local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.

In particular, to ensure a safe and successful reopening of the non-essential retail sector from step two of the road map, the Government want to see retailers given the opportunity to extend their daily opening hours from Monday to Saturday, notwithstanding local planning restrictions on opening hours, where appropriate. This will help to spread footfall, ease transport pressures and make shopping in a socially distanced way easier by giving shoppers greater flexibility to choose when they shop and avoid peak times.

Accordingly local planning authorities, having regard to their legal obligations, should not seek to undertake planning enforcement action which would result in the unnecessary restriction of retail hours between 7 am to 10 pm Monday to Saturday, from step two of the road map (no earlier than 12 April) until the introduction of step four of the road map (scheduled for no earlier than 21 June 2021).

Where appropriate, local planning authorities should also highlight this temporary relaxation to retailers in their area so that they can take advantage of longer opening hours if they wish to do so.

The Government recognise that longer retail opening hours could have a temporary impact on local residents, but this needs to be balanced by the significant public interest in ensuring there is a safe retail environment when non-essential shops reopen. The 10 pm limitation should also mitigate the impact for local residents. There will be no change in licensing restrictions on retailers.

Finally, I am through this written ministerial statement extending the statement that I made to the House on 13 March 2020 about planning enforcement and the delivery of food and other essential goods to retailers until the introduction of step four of the roadmap (scheduled for no earlier than 21 June 2021). This will help supermarkets and other retailers to continue to continue to provide home deliveries while restrictions are still in place.

March 27, 2021
Edward Argar – 2021 Statement on NHS England and NHS Improvement

The statement made by Edward Argar, the Minister for Health, in the House of Commons on 25 March 2021.

The Prime Minister paid tribute to the extraordinary success of the UK’s covid-19 vaccination programme when setting out on 22 February 2021 his road map for easing lockdown restrictions in England. This vaccination programme would not be possible without the dedication and commitment of many thousands of NHS staff who have already worked tirelessly for many months to support the covid response while doing their utmost to reduce the impact on wider NHS services.

I am today laying before Parliament the Government’s 2021-22 mandate for NHS England and NHS Improvement. It will make clear that covid-19—including further roll-out of the vaccination programme to ensure that every adult in England will be offered a first vaccination by 31 July—remains the NHS’s top priority in 2021-22. At the same time, and taking account of the pandemic’s impact, the NHS will return to implementation of the important transformative ambitions set out in its long-term plan and our 2019 manifesto. These will underpin recovery, and support the NHS’s longer-term resilience and sustainability. There will be a renewed focus on prevention to empower people to live as healthily as possible, and on tackling those health challenges which have been highlighted by the pandemic. The NHS will also work to recover performance of non-covid services that were unavoidably impacted by the pandemic—including elective care.

The new mandate is underpinned by our further funding commitments to the NHS. In addition to the substantial support made available for the pandemic response in 2020-21, and the further £6.3 billion increase in NHS funding already confirmed as part of its funding settlement to 2023-24, we are providing a further £3 billion in 2021-22 to support NHS recovery. This includes £1.5 billion for indirect covid pressures in 2021-22 as well as £1 billion for tackling backlogs in elective activity, and £500 million for mental health and the NHS workforce, for which operational delivery will be agreed in due course. This is in addition to the £6.6 billion announced last week for operationally necessary costs arising from the pandemic in the first half of 2021-22.

As in previous years, I will also today lay a revised 2020-21 mandate. As required by the NHS Act 2006, this revision is to reflect changes to the capital and revenue resource limits included in it that result from in-year funding decisions.

March 27, 2021
Jo Churchill – 2021 Statement on A Vision for the 1,001 Critical

The statement made by Jo Churchill, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 25 March 2021.

In summer 2020 the Prime Minister commissioned the early years healthy development review. Chaired by my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom), the review looks across the “1,001 critical days” from conception to the age of two, ensuring babies and young children in England can be given the best start in life.

The focus on these 1,001 critical days from pregnancy to the age of two is important. They are a unique period of time, when the foundations for an individual’s cognitive, emotional and physical development are developed and set. It is also a period of time when babies are at their most vulnerable and susceptible to, and influenced by, the environment around them.

It is for these reasons, and many more, that I am pleased to share the first publication from the early years healthy development review entitled: “The Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days”.

This comes at a timely moment for our nation as we reflect on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and begin to turn our focus on building back better. As we do this, we must place our youngest citizens at the centre of our ambition.

Our vision sets out an ambitious programme of work to transform how we support families across England throughout these 1,001 critical days. It sets out six action areas to ensure that families have access to the services they need, when they need them. We want to enable the parts of the system to work even better together to provide this support.

Action area 1: Seamless support for families. Our vision is for seamless support for families, with local areas encouraged to publish a start for life offer. The offer should explain clearly to parents and carers what services they are entitled to and how they can access them.

Action area 2: A welcoming hub for the family. All families need a welcoming space to access services. Our vision is that family hubs are a place for families to access start for life services.

Action area 3: The information families need when they need it. All families need to have access to trustworthy information at the times they most need it. This includes digital, virtual and telephone services designed around the needs of the family.

Action area 4: An empowered start for life workforce. Our vision is that every family will be supported by a range of professionals and volunteers, each of whom brings skills, knowledge and empathy to interactions with families. From their first appointment, every parent and carer must feel that they are heard and that they can ask for help.

Action area 5: Continually improving the start for life offer. We want every parent and carer to have confidence that the services and support in their area will help them give their baby the best start for life. A brilliant start for life offer will continuously improve with better data, evaluation, and proportionate inspection.

Action area 6: Leadership for change. Leadership is critical to the success of the vision. There must be local and national commitment and accountability.

This is just the beginning of our work, and the early years healthy development review will continue with a second phase where we will focus on the implementation and delivery of these six action areas.

March 27, 2021
Kwasi Kwarteng – 2021 Statement on the EU Emissions Trading System

The statement made by Kwasi Kwarteng, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in the House of Commons on 25 March 2021.

In April 2019, the Government entered into a commercial agreement with British Steel Ltd in relation to their annual obligations under the EU emissions trading system (ETS). This agreement was needed to support the operator in complying with its 2018 EU ETS obligations, in the absence of receiving its expected 2019 free allowances, due to restrictions placed on the UK’s participation in the EU ETS during negotiations on the withdrawal agreement.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark) informed the House of this agreement on 1 May 2019—a bridge facility valued at around £120 million under section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 at an interest rate of LIBOR plus 7%. Under this commercial agreement, the Government were entitled to recover the next allocation of allowances issued to British Steel Ltd, and sell these back to the ETS market to recover the full cost of the bridge facility.

Following ratification of the withdrawal agreement, restrictions on the UK’s participation in the EU ETS market were lifted in February 2020 and the Government successfully recovered the allowances to which they were entitled. The Government have since successfully sold these allowances back to the EU ETS market, and concluded the contractual obligations with British Steel (in compulsory liquidation), under control of the official receiver.

I am pleased to inform the House that sale proceeds of nearly £140 million have been received. This exceeds the total cost owed to the Government from this bridge facility, delivering value for money for the UK taxpayer.

The Government have also sold a separate 3,191 allowances in their possession. These allowances were transferred to the UK national Government holding account within the EU ETS union registry, over several years, following the closure of several operator and trader accounts, in line with EU ETS registry regulations. The net sale proceeds from this transaction is around £80,000. This transaction is not related to the agreement with British Steel Ltd, and the sale of 3,191 allowances was undertaken separately for administrative reasons to provide value for money to UK taxpayers.

March 27, 2021
Dominic Raab – 2021 Statement on Myanmar

The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, on 25 March 2021.

The UK condemns the coup in Myanmar and reiterates our deep concern at the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors. We call on the military to hand back power to the democratically elected Government; protect rights and freedoms, including the right to peaceful protest; and to ensure unobstructed humanitarian access.

The UK has been at the forefront of a strong, co-ordinated international response. On 10 March we secured a presidential statement at the UN Security Council that condemned the violence against peaceful protestors and called for respect of Myanmar’s democratic transition and the release of all those detained arbitrarily. This followed further UK-led statements by the UN Security Council on 4 February and G7 Foreign Ministers on 3 February and 23 February.

Working closely with partners in the US, Canada and EU, the UK has already sanctioned nine individuals responsible for serious human rights violations during the coup, including three military cabinet members and all the military members of the State Administration Council. This is in addition to 16 individuals already sanctioned for their role in serious human rights violations against the Rohingya and other minorities.

Today, I am announcing, further measures to target the Myanmar military’s economic interests in conjunction with the US.

The UK will enforce sanctions against Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL), the military owned conglomerate supporting the Tatmadaw. We have found credible evidence that MEHL contributed funds to support the Tatmadaw in their campaign on ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya in 2017, knowing or having reasonable cause to suspect that the funds would or may contribute to the serious human rights violations committed, and that MEHL is associated with the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief.

Designating MEHL will immediately impose an asset freeze on any assets that MEHL may hold in the UK and a ban on any UK individual or company from providing funds or economic resources to MEHL directly or indirectly. This will also prohibit funds being made available to any subsidiaries “owned or controlled” by MEHL as defined by the global human rights sanctions regime.

These sanctions complement the ongoing strategic review of the UK’s trade and investment approach led by the Department for International Trade. The Government’s position is that UK businesses should not be supporting the military or their businesses.

Along with the UN Security Council and the wider international community, we will continue to make clear that the military must stop killing its own people, release all those who have been detained arbitrarily and respect the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar.

March 27, 2021
Penny Mordaunt – 2021 Statement on Infected Blood

The statement made by Penny Mordaunt, the Paymaster General, in the House of Commons on 25 March 2021.

Today I am providing an update on parity of financial support, the commitment to considering a compensation framework, and enhancements to the psychological support for the victims of the infected blood tragedy.

Parity

In July 2019, a UK-wide agreement was reached in principle to resolve disparities in levels of support for people infected and affected. In January 2020 at a meeting with campaigners, the UK Government committed to resolving the disparities in financial support in Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland as well as addressing broader issues of disparity, including support for bereaved partners.

I am pleased to confirm that the following changes are planned to the four separate schemes to bring them into broader parity. Increases in annual payments will be backdated to April 2019. Where lump sum payments are being increased, this will apply to all current scheme members. We will work with the four schemes to communicate the changes to beneficiaries. Beneficiaries will continue to receive their current payments until the changes can be made. We hope that the schemes will be able to make additional payments where required by the end of the calendar year, and sooner if possible.

The key elements of change for the England infected blood support scheme are:

annual payments for bereaved partners will be increased to an automatic 100% of their partners annual payment in year 1, and 75% in year 2 and subsequent years, in line with the position in Scotland;

the lump sum bereavement payment will move from a discretionary £10,000 to an automatic £10,000, in line with the position in Wales;

the lump sum payment paid to a beneficiary in the scheme with hepatitis C stage 1 will increase by £30,000 from £20,000 to £50,000, in line with the position in Scotland; and

the lump sum payment paid to a beneficiary in the scheme with HIV will increase from up to £80.5k maximum in England, to an automatic £80.5k.

In addition, the schemes managed by the devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be similarly adapted so that across the UK there is broad parity of payments to infected and affected people. These adaptations are in line with the UK-wide agreement reached in July 2019.

In Scotland, the changes are to increase annual payments for infected beneficiaries and bereaved partners, and to introduce £10,000 lump sum bereavement payments for the families of those beneficiaries who have died since the scheme began.

In Wales, the changes are to increase annual payments for infected beneficiaries, increase both the payments and length of payments for the bereaved partners, in line with the position in Scotland, and changes to the lump sums for hepatitis C and HIV.

In Northern Ireland, the changes are to annual payments for non-infected bereaved spouses/partners, lump sum bereavement payments, and a commitment to introduce enhanced financial support for hepatitis C (stage 1), at the same payment levels as in England, as soon as a system can be put into operation.

We have agreed with Health Ministers that any future changes to national schemes would be subject to consultation between the UK Government and devolved Administrations.

Compensation framework

To meet the Government’s commitment to consider a framework for compensation, we can confirm our intention to appoint an independent reviewer to carry out a study, looking at options for a framework for compensation, and to report back to the Paymaster General with recommendations, before the inquiry reports.

The terms of reference of this study will be finalised in consultation between the independent reviewer and those infected and affected. The study will include consideration of the scope and levels of such compensation, and the relationship between a compensation framework and the existing financial support schemes in place.

The study is entirely separate from the public inquiry, which continues to have this Government’s full support; it will not duplicate the work of the inquiry, or cut across the inquiry’s findings. The study shall provide the Paymaster General with advice on potential compensation framework design and solutions which can be ready to implement upon the conclusion of the inquiry, should the inquiry’s findings and recommendations require it.

The name of the independent reviewer will be announced shortly.

Psychological support

Since May 2020, there have been important improvements to how beneficiaries of the England infected blood support scheme can access psychological support. Beneficiaries are now able to receive funding for counselling directly from the scheme without GP approval or the need to access waiting lists. This change has been communicated to beneficiaries.

The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with EIBSS and NHS England and Improvement to review if further improvements are necessary to the psychological support which is available for beneficiaries.

Finally I would like to place on record my thanks to the inquiry chair, Sir Brian Langstaff, and his team for the way the inquiry has managed to continue its work throughout the last 12 months despite the challenges presented by covid-19, and for consistently putting the interests of the infected and affected victims at the heart of their decision-making when dealing with significant logistical and planning challenges.

March 27, 2021