Tag: Speeches

Victoria Prentis – 2021 Statement on Annual Fisheries Negotiations

The statement made by Victoria Prentis, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the House of Commons on 10 June 2021.

The UK and EU have now reached an agreement on fishing opportunities for the current fishing year. This concludes all annual fisheries negotiations for 2021. This has been a landmark year with the UK negotiating as an independent coastal state for the first time in over 40 years.

Throughout the negotiations we have worked as a UK team with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Governments to take advantage of our new status as an independent coastal state. The outcomes secured by the UK team will enable us to improve the sustainable management of our fish stocks in support of the whole of the UK fishing industry in the short and long term.

Collectively, from all the negotiations, the UK has secured agreement on the total allowable catches (TACs) for 87 stocks.

UK-EU agreement

The agreement we have just reached with the EU, for 70 EU-UK TACs, results in a total value of fishing opportunities for the UK in 2021 of approximately 160,000 tonnes, worth approximately £333 million. This is around 26,000 tonnes more than in 2020, with an estimated value of £27 million.

On non-quota stocks, due to the late conclusion of negotiations this year and the need to provide our respective industries with clarity, the UK and EU agreed that, exceptionally, tonnage limits would not be applied in 2021.

The UK and EU have instead agreed to work together through the specialised committee on fisheries to develop multi-year strategies for managing non-quota stocks as a priority, as well as addressing challenges in mixed fisheries management, particularly in the Celtic sea, and on implementing a longer-term exchange system for quota.

Exchanges of quota with the EU, as part of annual negotiations, were not possible this year. However, the agreement includes a commitment to quickly develop an interim basis for exchanging fishing quota ahead of a longer-term exchange system to be decided by the specialised committee on fisheries. The UK expects that quota exchanges would be part of future annual negotiations, as provided for in the UK-EU trade and co-operation agreement.

We have also agreed changes for 2021 on seabass to reduce wasteful discarding, without increasing fishing mortality.

UK-EU-Norway agreement

The trilateral negotiations between the UK, EU and Norway concluded on 16 March 2021, and set TACs for the six North sea jointly-managed stocks. Three of these stocks were set consistent with independently assessed sustainability levels.

The agreed TACs resulted in catch reductions for North sea cod, plaice, saithe and herring compared with 2020, whilst there were increases for haddock and whiting.

The UK and Norway also committed to several priority work areas including a review of the management of North sea herring.

UK-Norway and UK-Faroes bilateral negotiations

Since the beginning of the negotiations, we have been very clear that the UK’s overriding priority in all negotiations is to agree a balanced deal in the best interests of the entire UK fishing industry. We worked hard to find a way to reach an agreement between the UK and Norway and the UK and Faroes this year, and regret that we concluded that we were too far apart.

In these negotiations, the UK sought to secure fishing opportunities for the UK industry, whilst at the same time addressing the historic imbalance between fishing opportunities taken in UK waters by other coastal states compared to those the UK took in theirs. In 2019 Norway landed approximately eight times higher value of fish from UK waters than UK vessels landed from Norwegian waters.

Whilst negotiations were constructive, neither Norway nor the Faroes were willing to provide appropriate compensation for access to fish in UK waters, without which the relationships would have been left significantly weighted against the UK. Neither coastal state was willing to conclude an agreement with the UK solely on quota exchanges.

Other international negotiations

This year the UK also participated, and reached agreement, in a number of other international negotiations. This included multilateral negotiations on TACs not covered under the EU-UK and trilateral negotiations, such as mackerel, blue whiting, Atlanto-Scandian herring, and redfish. We also took part in negotiations in several regional fisheries management organisations.

June 11, 2021
Michelle Donelan – 2021 Statement on Student Loan Interest Rates

The statement made by Michelle Donelan, the Minister for Universities, in the House of Commons on 10 June 2021.

On 9 June I announced a temporary reduction in the maximum student loan interest rate following the recent decline in the prevailing market rate for comparable unsecured personal loans.

In accordance with the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, where the Government consider that the student loan interest rate is higher than the prevailing market rate for comparable unsecured loans, we will take steps to reduce the maximum student loan interest rate.

The Government regularly monitor the interest rates set on student loans against the interest rates prevailing on the market for comparable loans.

Following a decline in the prevailing market rate, on 9 June I laid legislation to cap the maximum post-2012 undergraduate income contingent repayment and the postgraduate income contingent repayment student loan interest rate in line with the prevailing market rate. The cap will come into effect from 1 July 2021 and last for a period of three months.

The reduction will be 0.3 percentage point on the maximum student loan interest rate to reflect the average market rates during the preceding monitoring period.

Student loan interest rates are updated each year to take account of changes in the retail prices index (RPI). The updates are applied annually at the start of each academic year, 1 September. To take into account this annual change in the ordinary student loan interest rates, two separate caps will be implemented, one for the period 1 July to 31 August and one for the period 1 to 30 September.

The maximum post-2012 undergraduate income contingent repayment student loan interest rate and the postgraduate income contingent repayment student loan interest rate will be 5.3% between 1 July and 31 August.

The maximum post-2012 undergraduate income contingent repayment student loan interest rate and the postgraduate income contingent repayment student loan interest rate will be 4.2% between 1 September and 30 September.

From 1 October 2021, the post-2012 undergraduate and postgraduate income contingent repayment student loan interest rates will revert to the standard rate +3%.

Further caps may be put in place should the prevailing market rate continue to be below student loan interest rates.

June 11, 2021
Penny Mordaunt – 2021 Statement on the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee (8th Meeting)

The statement made by Penny Mordaunt, the Paymaster General, in the House of Commons on 9 June 2021.

My noble Friend, the Minister of State at the Cabinet Office (right hon. Lord Frost CMG), has today made the following written statement:

The Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee met today, 9 June, at Admiralty House, London.

The meeting was co-chaired by the UK’s Lord Frost and European Commission Vice President, Maroš Šefčovič. The First Minister and deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive and 27 member state representatives attended.

The Committee received an update on the work of the specialised Committees since the last meeting on 24 February, and discussed progress on withdrawal agreement implementation, with particular focus on the Northern Ireland protocol and citizens’ rights. The first Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee annual report was also agreed and signed, this will be published in due course.

The UK set out the extensive steps taken to operate the protocol, by the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, and by businesses in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

The UK made clear its readiness for continued constructive engagement to find pragmatic solutions that ensure the protocol operates in a way that safeguards the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all its dimensions, minimises its impact on the day-to-day lives of communities in Northern Ireland, and maintains the integrity of the EU’s single market. The UK will continue to put forward ideas and options.

The UK underlined the urgency of a number of issues and noted it would continue to engage fully in discussions with the EU, with a view to finding substantial solutions to address the difficulties being caused by the protocol in Northern Ireland. The UK would, however, continue to consider all options available for safeguarding peace, prosperity and stability in Northern Ireland.

The UK demonstrated its commitment to EU citizens living and working in the UK, where it has registered over 5 million people in the EU settlement scheme. The UK urged the EU to provide appropriate support to all eligible UK citizens living in the EU, particularly in EU member states with upcoming deadlines for their residency schemes.

The UK restated its commitment to co-operating with the EU through the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee processes to make sure that pragmatic solutions are developed to implement all areas of the withdrawal agreement.

A post-meeting statement has been published on www.gov.uk here, giving a current assessment of the UK Government’s view on the Northern Ireland protocol.

June 11, 2021
David Lammy – 2021 Comments on Whole Life Orders

The comments made by David Lammy, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 10 June 2021.

The protection of women and girls from violence is one of the first duties of any government.

But the Conservatives are failing to take the actions necessary to protect them.

The Conservatives should urgently introduce whole life orders for any offender found guilty of the rape, abduction and murder of a stranger, as well as Labour’s broader package of measures to keep women and girls safe.

June 11, 2021
Angela Rayner – 2021 Letter on Michael Gove Misleading Parliament

The letter written by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, to Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, and Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, on 10 June 2021.

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to you following a court judgement in a case regarding the Cabinet Office’s ‘Clearing House’ for Freedom of Information requests. In this case, the judge ruled that the Cabinet Office had presented “misleading” documents regarding the Clearing House unit in the Cabinet Office, demonstrating a “profound lack of transparency about the operation” of this unit.

The judge ordered the Cabinet Office to release further details of how the Clearing House handled Freedom of Information requests, however these documents have yet to be released.

The Cabinet Office lists one of its own key responsibilities as “making the way government works more transparent”, yet as the court’s damning judgement makes clear, your government is determined to undermine accountability and transparency at every turn, including when Ministers have been asked about this Clearing House unit.

Giving evidence to Parliament as a witness to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, on 10th December 2020, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove said: “The idea that there is a secret clearing house or any sort of blacklist is, I am afraid, not correct. Actually, I am glad it is not correct. It is the case that when we look at all freedom of information requests… whether it is a freelance journalist, someone working for an established title or a concerned citizen, all freedom of information requests are treated in exactly the same way”.

It would appear that Mr Gove has misled Parliament, whether knowingly or unknowingly, in saying “the idea that there is a secret clearing house… is … not correct”, a statement that has been proven to be untrue by this court judgement.

Mr Gove also stated that all Freedom of Information requests are treated “in exactly the same way”, denying any notion that the Clearing House works to try to withhold some information requested under Freedom of Information laws, treating some Freedom of Information requests differently to others or even blacklisting certain journalists and researchers.

Because of the lack of transparency regarding the operations of the Cabinet Office Clearing House, the truth about the operations of the unit – and therefore whether Mr Gove misled Parliament by saying that “all freedom of information requests are treated in exactly the same way” – will be revealed in the documents that the judge has ruled must now be released.

The Ministerial Code is clear that: “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation to the Prime Minister”.

As laid out in the Terms of Reference for the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests, I would urge you to consult the Cabinet Secretary and refer this matter to the Independent Adviser of Ministers’ Interests for a full investigation. This investigation must include within its scope the documents regarding the operation of the Cabinet Office Clearing House that the Cabinet Office has been ordered to release by the judge in this case, and any further documents relating to the treatment of Freedom of Information requests by the Cabinet Office Clearing House unit.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

June 11, 2021
Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Economic Support for Businesses

The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 10 June 2021.

Businesses have operated under historic uncertainty during this crisis, worsened by details of economic support playing catch up with public health announcements.

Now once again, businesses are in the dark, with a perfect storm of financial pinch points brewing and no reassurance from government that economic measures will remain in step with possible changes to the roadmap.

It is right we remain guided by the science to tackle this virus, but businesses should absolutely not be paying the price for the Government’s poor handling of our borders and the new variant.

We’ve got to back businesses on our high streets and safeguard the recovery of local economies. Businesses should not have to worry for even one day that economic support will be pulled away whilst restrictions remain in place.

June 11, 2021
Chris Evans – 2021 Comments on NAO’s Defence Estate Report

The comments made by Chris Evans, the Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement, on 11 June 2021.

The MoD has failed to reach any of its targets on reducing the size of the defence estate over the past five years, wasting money that should be spent on the frontline.

The MoD has got its priorities all wrong, it has been more focused on internal re-organisations rather than getting to grips with the huge challenges within the defence estate, no wonder they cannot achieve their targets.

There is a pattern within the MoD of setting unrealistic targets, then crossing their fingers and hoping it will be alright on the night. This has to stop, there needs to be a clear strategy in place to ensure the defence estate is fit for purpose.

June 11, 2021
Chloe Smith – 2021 Statement on the Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours Competition

The statement made by Chloe Smith, the Secretary of State for the Constitution and Devolution, in the House of Commons on 8 June 2021.

I am pleased to announce that the UK Government are today launching a civic honours competition to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. This includes competitions for city status and Lord Mayor (or Provost) status.

City status and Lord Mayor (or Provost) status are civic honours granted by The Queen acting on the advice of Her Ministers under the royal prerogative. The granting of both city status and Lord Mayor (or Provost) status is purely honorific and comes with no additional funding or powers. Since the 1970s, these awards have been granted through competitions and are usually held to coincide with jubilee years, most recently for Her Majesty’s diamond jubilee in 2012.

Entry guidelines and an application form have been published on www.gov.uk. In their applications, local authorities are being asked to give particular reference to their area’s:

Distinct identity;

Civic pride;

Cultural infrastructure, interesting heritage, history and traditions;

Vibrant and welcoming community;

Record of innovation;

Sound governance and administration;

Associations with royalty; and

Other particularly distinctive features, age, residents or communities who have made widely recognised significant contributions to society and cultural infrastructure.

All local authorities across the United Kingdom who believe that their town or city deserves consideration for these rare honours are invited to apply. The city status competition will also be open to eligible applications from the Crown dependencies and overseas territories.

The guidelines specify a standard format for entries. Local authorities are urged to use the standard format, which is intended to limit the costs of entering the competition and to introduce a fair basis for comparison between entries. The closing date is 8 December 2021.

The honours will continue to be rare marks of distinction conferred, on ministerial advice, under the royal prerogative, rather than rights to be earned by the meeting of specific criteria. All valid entries will receive individual consideration on their merits and the Government look forward to announcing the results of the competitions in 2022.

June 10, 2021
Gavin Williamson – 2021 Statement on Education Recovery

The statement made by Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, in the House of Commons on 7 June 2021.

The pandemic and its associated restrictions and disruptions have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s learning, evidenced in recent research from the Education Policy Institute.

Last week I announced the details of the next step in our efforts to make sure children and young people catch up, as part of our ongoing education recovery plans.

A further £1.4 billion will be made available to support education recovery for children aged two to 19 in schools, colleges and early years settings, focusing on two areas where the evidence is clear that our investment will have significant impact: high- quality tutoring and great teaching.

This further instalment is the third major recovery intervention in the past year, building on the £1.7bn already announced, bringing total investment announced for education recovery over the past year to over £3 billion. This forms part of the wider response to help pupils make up their learning over the course of this Parliament.

New measures include:

£1 billion for tutoring

To support those most impacted by the pandemic, particularly disadvantaged students, we will radically expand tutoring to provide up to 100 million hours of tuition for five to 19-year-olds by 2024. This will expand high-quality tutoring in every part of country so that small group tuition is available to those children who need help catching up—not just the most affluent.

In schools, we will provide up to 6 million tutoring courses for five to 16-year-olds by 2024. Children in receipt of tutoring will receive up to 15 sessions of small group or individual tuition to support them to catch up in subjects such as maths or science, delivered by a trained professional or member of school staff outside of their normal lessons. One course of high-quality tutoring has been proven to boost attainment by three to five months, so tutoring will be vital for young people in recovering the teaching hours lost in the last year. For 16 to 19-year-olds, we will extend the 16-to-19 tuition fund for a further two years. Over the coming three academic years, funding will be provided to support the equivalent of 2 million 15-hour courses to accelerate the progression of lower attaining students. Collectively 16-to-19 students will receive up to 32 million hours of small group tuition over the three years.

£400 million for teaching

£253 million new funding to provide 500,000 teacher training opportunities for teachers to access world-leading training appropriate for whatever point they are at in their career, from new teachers to headteachers through extending the roll-out of the early career framework and middle and late career national professional qualification.

£153 million new funding to provide training for early years staff to support the very youngest children’s learning and development. This will involve rolling out new training programmes so that early years staff are supported to help young children with their speech and language skills as well as their physical and emotional development. We will also provide additional support and expert advice for nurseries and other settings implementing our early years reforms, which will reduce teachers’ workloads so they can spend more time supporting children’s development.

To ensure that those with the least time left do not miss out, providers of 16-to-19 education will have the option of offering students in year 13, or equivalent, the opportunity to repeat up to one more year if they have been particularly severely affected by the pandemic.

The Government have committed to an ambitious, long-term education recovery plan and the next stage will include a review of time spent in school and college and the impact this could have on helping children and young people to catch up. The findings of the review will be set later in the year to inform the spending review.

June 10, 2021
John Whittingdale – 2021 Statement on the Regulation of Betindex

The statement made by John Whittingdale, the Minister for Media and Data, in the House of Commons on 7 June 2021.

Further to the statement of 20 April outlining plans for an independent expert review of the regulation of the Football Index gambling product, we are today announcing the full terms of reference for the review and further details.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hertsmere (Oliver Dowden) has appointed Malcolm Sheehan QC to lead the review. He will provide an independent expert account of the actions taken by the Gambling Commission and other relevant regulatory bodies, and consider the lessons to be learnt for the future. He will have access to all the necessary information held by Government and regulatory bodies to conduct the review.

As outlined in the terms of reference which we have also released in full on www.gov.uk, the review will cover the period from the granting of BetIndex’s gambling licence in September 2015 to the Gambling Commission’s suspension of that licence on 11 March this year. It will principally report on the actions of the Gambling Commission in assessing, licensing, and monitoring the operator, responding to concerns and delivering its objectives. The review will also consider how the Financial Conduct Authority responded to questions from the Gambling Commission and how it considered whether the product amounted to a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act.

It is important that former customers continue to have a voice. The Administrators should have already contacted every former customer so they can submit a claim if they think they are owed money or compensation from the company. Customers will be kept informed through the administration process, including on any opportunities they may have to vote on next steps. The Gambling Commission will also continue to consider information it receives from individuals about the actions of Football Index where it pertains to its ongoing regulatory investigation into BetIndex’s licence. While the Call for Evidence closed on 31 March, former customers can also continue to provide information to DCMS about the Football Index case to inform the Gambling Act review. Hundreds of individuals have already done so, and where relevant to the Terms of Reference for the independent review we will pass those to Malcolm Sheehan QC.

This independent review is expected to provide a report for publication in the summer, and will include recommendations as needed across the full range of questions set out in the terms of reference. Its findings will form part of the evidence informing the Government’s ongoing review of the Gambling Act 2005, which was announced in December 2020. This independent review is entirely separate from the Gambling Commission’s ongoing regulatory investigation and the administration proceedings, and will be done in such a way as to avoid prejudicing either of those processes. A copy of the terms of reference will be placed in the Library of the House.

June 10, 2021