Written Statements

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Written Statements

Wednesday 8 July 2020

Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Written Statements

[The Minister for Patient Safety, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (Ms Nadine Dorries)]

I am today informing the House of the publication of the report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, chaired by Baroness Cumberlege.



I would like to thank Baroness Cumberlege for her dedication to listening to the experiences of patients and their families. She has acted with compassion and thoroughness and gone to great lengths to ensure that those who have felt unheard have had a voice. She has also been diligent in looking across the system at possible improvements.



The Government also thank those very same patients and their families who have contributed their time and energy to the review. We know that in some cases it has been a physical and psychological challenge to attend the meetings that the review set up.



The review was commissioned by the Government in February 2018 and its terms of reference required it to explore how the health system responds when patients and their families raise concerns about the safety of treatments.



While the review has progressed, the Government and the NHS have already taken a number of steps that are relevant to the issues the review raises. However, there is always more we can do more to make the NHS systems more responsive to peoples’ concerns when they are first raised.



It is imperative for the sake of patients that we now give the recommendations from this independent review the full consideration they deserve.



I can assure you that patient safety remains a key priority for the Government and we are committed to the NHS being the safest healthcare system in the world.



I will give an oral statement in Parliament.



A copy of the report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS347]

Park Homes

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Luke Hall)]

I am today publishing the Government response to our consultation “Mobile Homes—a fit and proper person test for park home sites”. I am placing copies of the response in the Libraries of both Houses, and it will also be available on gov.uk.

As part of our ongoing commitment to improving protections for park home residents, the Government undertook a two-part review of park homes legislation in 2017. In the response published on 22 October 2018, we committed to introduce the fit and proper person test, subject to a technical consultation. This consultation was undertaken between 25 July and 17 September 2019 and received 370 responses, the majority of which were highly supportive.

The purpose of the test is to improve the management of park home and other residential caravan sites. By introducing an assessment that the person responsible for managing the site is suitable to do so and of good character, this will help target and remove the worst offenders from the sector. The test will be an important tool for local authority enforcement and marks an important milestone in my Department’s work to protect residents of park homes and other residential caravan sites, who are often elderly and vulnerable, from unscrupulous site owners.

I am today laying the required regulations bringing the test into effect. They will mandate that

each local authority must set up and maintain a register of people who are fit and proper to manage a park home site in their area. A site owner, or an appointed manager, must appear on the local authority register in order to manage a site;

when an applicant applies for registration, a local authority must consider, among other details, the applicant’s criminal record and details of all sites in which the applicant has an equitable interest; and

if convicted of any offences under the regulations the site owner would face an unlimited fine. Offences include operating a site without being on the local authority register, breaching the conditions attached to an entry on the register, and providing false information in an application.

The regulations will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure so will require the approval of both Houses.

The Government are dedicated to improving protections for park home residents and these regulations are an important step towards delivering on that commitment.

[HCWS348]