Written Statements

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

Wednesday 23 February 2022

Restoration and Renewal Programme: Essential Scheme Initial Assessment of Cost and Schedule and Continued Presence Impact Study

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside), representing the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body]

The Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body has today deposited a paper in the Library of both Houses, entitled “Essential Scheme: Initial Assessment of Cost and Schedule; and Continued Presence: Impact Study”, following the request of the House of Commons Commission to make available this information for consideration by both Houses. This has also been published on the Restoration and Renewal website at: https://restorationandrenewal.uk/resources/reports/essential-scheme-initial-assessment-of-cost-and-schedule.



The Sponsor Body and Delivery Authority have been working to the mandate set out in the resolutions of both Houses in early 2018 and the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019 to prepare a detailed and costed plan, known as the Programme Business Case, for the works to restore and renew the Palace of Westminster.



The approach to developing a Programme Business Case, and objectives for key aspects of the two potential schemes, were confirmed and agreed with the House Commissions following a Strategic Review of the Restoration and Renewal Programme in early 2021. That Programme Business Case was planned to be presented to both Houses in 2023 and, as part of the normal process of developing such a Business Case, information has been regularly shared between the Delivery Authority and Sponsor Body for review, scrutiny, challenge and guidance.



In recent months, the Sponsor Body and the Delivery Authority had, for the first time, brought together an initial consolidated view of a preliminary cost and schedule range for an option known as the R&R Essential Scheme. This initial assessment reflects emerging thoughts, approximately half way through the planned period for developing the Programme Business Case. This does not represent a formal cost estimate and remains subject to a considerable amount of further work, which had been planned for the year ahead.



The deposited paper sets out the initial assessment of cost and schedule for the essential scheme and also the continued presence impact study, which sets out the potential impact on the programme, including its cost and schedule, were the House of Commons to maintain a presence in the Palace during the building works. The potential cost and schedule ranges include significant allowances for cost and schedule contingency to allow for the range of risks inherent in such a complex programme of works, and to account for the early stage of the analysis. The estimates of contingency for the schedule and cost were derived following good practice guidance in the development of business cases.

[HCWS626]

Non-UK Service Personnel Settlement Fees: Public Consultation Outcome

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ben Wallace)]

This is a joint statement with the Secretary of State for the Home Office (Pritti Patel).



Last year we announced that a public consultation would be held seeking views on a policy proposal for the Government to waive settlement fees for non-UK service personnel who met certain criteria should they apply to remain in the UK at the end of their military service; views were also sought on the scope of the policy.



The public consultation ran for six weeks from 26 May to 7 July 2021 and attracted a significant amount of interest from Service Personnel, veterans, families, service support organisations and members of the public. The level of interest demonstrates how important this issue is to many and confirms that the Government’s policy proposal to waive settlement fees for non-UK service personnel who meet certain criteria is the right thing to do.



After careful consideration of the responses, the Government have decided that a fee waiver will be introduced and will apply to:



Non-UK service personnel who have served for at least six years and meet all other Home Office suitability criteria;

non-UK service personnel discharging due to an illness or injury which is attributable to service, irrespective of the length of their service and providing they meet all other Home Office suitability criteria; and

non-UK veterans who are currently living in the UK who have not regularised their immigration status and had served for at least six years or had been discharged due to an illness or injury which was attributable to service and meet all other Home Office suitability criteria.

The Government response to the consultation will be published on the gov.uk website on 23 February 2022. The fee waiver will be implemented by the Home Office in the spring 2022 fees regulations changes and there will be further communications explaining the changes in due course.



We welcome this change and believe it is a positive step which will assist those non-UK service personnel who wish to remain in the UK after their service in the armed forces to do so.



Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2022-02-23/HCWS624

[HCWS624]

Culture in England: Levelling Up

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Ms Nadine Dorries)]

The “Levelling Up” White Paper outlined the Government’s intention to tackle cultural disparities and ensure that everyone, wherever they live, has the opportunity to enjoy the incredible benefits of culture in their lives. I am therefore pleased to announce a series of measures which will transform the landscape for arts and culture, to ensure that it benefits everyone. These measures build on a range of funding provided by the Government to support culture, including the unprecedented culture recovery fund—the largest investment in the arts in this country’s history—and are as follows:



Increased funding for Arts Council England to support Levelling Up

The “Levelling Up” White Paper explained that additional funding announced at spending review 2021 for Arts Council England will be invested in creativity and culture. This extra funding will be invested in levelling up areas over the next three years, including via the Arts Council’s 2023-26 national portfolio funding round. The national portfolio is a group of organisations that gets regular funding from taxpayers via the Arts Council.



Levelling Up for Culture Places

DCMS and Arts Council England have identified over 100 Levelling Up for Culture Places, based on areas of historically low cultural engagement and spending. Where possible, Arts Council England will prioritise its increased spending in these places over the spending review period, April 2022 to March 2025. This will ensure that more people and places have access to cultural and creative opportunities. A list of these places will be published on Arts Council England’s website.



Increasing support for Levelling Up

The organisations which receive the greatest level of public subsidy, all of which are nationally and internationally renowned, will be expected to increase the total proportion of their combined impact in Levelling Up for Culture Places by 15% by March 2026.



Support for expansion outside London

Arts Council England will detail plans to support London-based applicants which wish to move, expand, or establish new activity outside London. For some organisations, this will be an opportunity to establish themselves in some of the many other brilliantly creative parts of the country. It is right that organisations which constitute the national portfolio help to deliver a truly national cultural offering.



We want arts and culture to be open and accessible to everybody. Cultural funding comes from taxpayers across the country, so people across the country should all have the opportunity to enjoy it—whether as artists, audiences, educators, or the new generations of talented people who will help to sustain and extend the creative brilliance for which our country is rightly renowned. The measures we are announcing today will help to make that happen.

[HCWS621]

Covid-19 Vaccine Programme

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maggie Throup)]

The covid-19 vaccination programme continues to protect the nation against the virus. As of 19 February 2022 over 139 million doses have been provided, including 52.5 million first doses, 48.8 million second doses and 37.9 million third primary and booster doses in the UK. This represents uptake of 91.4% for the first dose, 85% for the second dose and 66.1% for the third primary and booster doses thus far.



Vaccines remain the best protection against the virus and have enabled the gradual and safe removal of restrictions over the past year. As the Government published their “living with covid-19” strategy earlier this week, vaccines continue to be at the heart of the Government’s approach to living with the virus in the future. Therefore, we urge everyone to play their part by taking up the covid-19 vaccine and booster offer without delay.



The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has published further advice on the covid-19 vaccination programme. Her Majesty’s Government (HMG) has accepted this advice and I am informed that all four parts of the UK intend to follow the JCVI’s advice.



Universal Offer to Children aged 5 to 11:



Children without underlying health conditions are at low risk of serious illnesses from covid-19 and the priority remains for the NHS to offer vaccines to adults and vulnerable young people, as well as to catch-up with other childhood immunisation programmes.



At this time, the JCVI has advised a non-urgent offer of two 10 micrograms doses of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine to children aged five to 11 years of age who are not in a clinical risk group. The two doses should be offered with an interval of at least 12 weeks between doses. This offer will continue to ensure good protection against potential future waves of covid-19 as we learn to live with this virus.



The NHS is working through updated guidance and will set out how this is going to be operationalised, with deployment expected to begin in due course.



As we learn to live with covid-19 in the UK, the JCVI will review whether, in the longer term, an offer of vaccination to this, and other paediatric age groups, continues to be advised.



As we have done throughout the covid-19 vaccination programme, we will continue to provide information and encouragement to the parents and carers of eligible children to ensure that they make the best decision for their children, whatever it may be. Every parent will have the opportunity to make an informed choice based on their own personal circumstances.



Spring and autumn vaccination programmes:



We know that winter is a time when the threat from covid-19 could be greatest both for individuals and for the NHS. The JCVI has given interim advice that there should be an autumn 2022 programme of vaccinations for those who are at higher risk of severe covid-19; such as the elderly and in clinical risk groups. The JCVI will be offering definitive advice on any recommended autumn programme nearer the time.



However, many of the oldest, and therefore most vulnerable, will have received their most recent vaccine dose in September and October 2021. These individuals are at higher risk of severe covid-19 due to waning of vaccine-induced immunity prior to an autumn programme.



As a precautionary strategy, and to maintain protection in the most vulnerable, the JCVI advises that a spring dose, around six months after the last vaccine dose, should be offered to:



adults aged 75 years and over, and residents living in care homes for older adults; and

individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in in the UK

Health Safety Agency’s (UKHSA) Green Book.

Eligible individuals aged 18 years and over may be offered a booster vaccination with 30mcg Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine or 50mcg Moderna (Spikevax) vaccine. Eligible individuals aged 12 to less than 18 years may be offered a booster vaccination with 30 mcg Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine.



With the vaccine offer to all those aged five to 11 years and the spring dose offer to the most vulnerable, I am now updating the House on the liabilities HMG has taken on in relation to further vaccine supply via this statement and the Departmental Minutes laid in Parliament containing a description of the liability undertaken. The agreement to provide indemnity with deployment of further doses increases the statutory contingent liability of the covid-19 vaccination programme.



Deployment of effective vaccines to eligible groups has been and remains a key part of the Government’s strategy to manage covid-19. Willingness to accept the need for appropriate indemnities to be given to vaccine suppliers has helped to secure access to vaccines, with the expected benefits to public health and the economy alike, much sooner than may have been the case otherwise.





Given the exceptional circumstances we are in, and the terms on which developers have been willing to supply a covid-19 vaccine, we along with other nations have taken a broad approach to indemnification proportionate to the situation we are in.



Even though the covid-19 vaccines have been developed at pace, at no point and at no stage of development has safety been bypassed. The MHRA has approved the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) and Moderna (Spikevax) covid-19 vaccines. These vaccines have satisfied, in full, all the necessary requirements for safety, effectiveness, and quality.



We are providing indemnities in the very unexpected event of any adverse reactions that could not have been foreseen through the robust checks and procedures that have been put in place.



I will update the House in a similar manner as and when other covid-19 vaccines or additional doses of vaccines already in use in the UK are deployed.



HM Treasury has approved the proposal in principle.

[HCWS628]

David Fuller: Independent Inquiry

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

Following my statement on 16 December 2021 I wish to update the House about the independent Inquiry which is investigating the circumstances surrounding the offences committed by David Fuller at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust. The inquiry will help us understand how these offences took place without detection, identify any areas where swift action is necessary and consider wider national issues, including for the NHS.



Sir Jonathan Michael, who chairs the independent inquiry, developed draft terms of reference in January 2022 which set out the scope of the inquiry. He has since sought the views of affected families on the draft terms of reference.



The Inquiry has today, 23 February 2022 published its final terms of reference which can be found at: https://fuller.independent-inquiry.uk/terms-of-reference.

I have placed a copy of the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS625]

Maternity Services Improvement: Update

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)]

Following the Baby Loss Awareness Week debate on 23 September 2021, I wish to update the House on progress with work to improve safe and equitable outcomes for women and families using maternity services.



The Government’s maternity ambition is to halve the 2010 rates of stillbirth, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries in babies occurring during or soon after birth by 2025. The ambition also includes reducing the rate of pre-term births from 8% to 6%. Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK (MBRRACE-UK) have published several reports which provide some insight on progress towards meeting our ambition.



The last two years have been challenging but I am pleased to report on the good progress made with reducing stillbirths and neonatal deaths. According to Office for National Statistics data, the stillbirth rate has fallen 25% from 5.1 stillbirths per 1,000 in 2010 to 3.8 stillbirths per 1,000 births in 2020—unchanged since 2019—and the neonatal mortality rate for babies born from 24 weeks gestation has fallen 36% from 2.0 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010 to 1.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2020.



In their perinatal mortality report published on 14 October 2021, MBRRACE-UK analysis has shown that the variation in stillbirth rates between NHS trusts has significantly reduced with 97% of trusts in England having stabilised and adjusted stillbirth rates within 5% of other trusts of similar size and case mix. The report suggested that this demonstrates “equitable healthcare provision across providers”.



Maternity services are also getting better at improving and learning from cases of perinatal deaths. The MBRRACE-UK third annual report on use of the perinatal mortality review tool (PMRT), published on 13 October 2021, that the proportion of deaths reviewed has increased with an estimated 83% of cases of babies who died in the perinatal period having been reviewed during March 2020 to February 2021. The report also found an increase of multidisciplinary teams carrying out reviews and an increase in parent engagement during the reviews.



The MBRRACE-UK maternal mortality report, “Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care 2021: Lessons learned to inform maternity care from the UK and Ireland Confidential Enquiries in Maternal Death and Morbidity 2017-2019”, published on 11 November 2021, found that the maternal mortality rate in the UK was 8.8 per 100,000 in 2017-19, compared to 10.6 per 100,000, which shows a 17.4% decrease from the 2009-2011 baseline.



More progress is needed to meet our ambition to reduce the rate of brain injuries in babies occurring during or soon after births. On 5 November 2021, I announced that £3 million has been awarded to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in collaboration with the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and the Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute at the University of Cambridge (THIS Institute) to deliver the second phase of a brain injury reduction programme.



Phase one of this programme, also being led by the RCOG, RCM and THIS Institute, is focusing on developing national consensus on how best to monitor a baby during labour and to escalate any concerns about deterioration. Phase two will focus on developing the clinical tools and training approaches needed for future implementation to standardise the identification and escalation of a deteriorating baby.



Despite the reductions in stillbirth, neonatal mortality and maternal mortality rates seen since 2010, the MBRRACE-UK surveillance reports show us that women and babies of black or Asian ethnicity or those living in the most deprived areas are more likely to die from causes linked to pregnancy and birth compared to women and babies of white ethnicity or those living in the least deprived areas.



I am committed to tackling disparities in health outcomes and experience of care. On 6 September 2021, equity and equality guidance was published which includes an analysis of evidence, interventions to improve equity and equality, resources, indicators and metrics. The guidance asks local maternity systems to submit an equity and equality analysis—covering health outcomes, community assets and staff experience—and co-produce equity and equality action plans.



In conjunction with the guidance, four pledges for women, babies and staff were also published. The four pledges include:



Pledge 1: The NHS will take action to improve equity for mothers and babies and race equality for NHS staff.

Pledge 2: Local Maternity Systems will set out plans to improve equity and equality.

Pledge 3: Local Maternity Systems will receive support to improve equity and equality.

Pledge 4: the NHS will measure progress towards the equity aims.

I am also pleased to announce that I am establishing a maternity disparities taskforce to tackle disparities and reduce maternal and neonatal deaths by improving access to effective preconception and maternity care for women from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas. This taskforce will also aim to address the wider social determinants that are linked to poorer outcomes such as poverty, housing and smoking, drinking and obesity in pregnancy.



We know that improving women’s health in the run-up to pregnancy and improving the support they receive are vital to improving health outcomes for mothers and their babies. The taskforce will bring together experts from across the health system, Government Departments and the voluntary sector to address disparities in maternal and neonatal outcomes. The taskforce will work to consider and support evidence-based individual, community, and targeted population interventions to tackle disparities and will develop key priorities that will be included as commitments in the women’s health strategy.



I hope to hold the first meeting of the taskforce in early March, and plan to hold the meetings every two months afterwards to maintain progress with delivery of actions and interventions to tackle disparities in maternal and neonatal outcomes.



Finally, as a nurse who worked during the pandemic, I know how incredibly challenging the last two years have been. Therefore, I would like to say a personal thank you to all maternity staff for their hard work and dedication throughout the covid-19 pandemic to provide safe and personalised care for all mothers and their babies.



I hope to update the House again regarding the progress towards the Government maternity ambition and progress of the maternity disparities taskforce in due course.

[HCWS623]

Prime Minister’s Oral Statement on Ukraine: Clarification

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)]

Further to my answer to the right hon. Member for Barking (Dame Margaret Hodge) during my oral statement on Ukraine, it is the position that oligarchs at the heart of Putin’s inner circle and banks which have bankrolled the Russian occupation of Crimea have been targeted by the first wave of UK sanctions in response to Russia’s further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. As I said in my answer, these include Gennady Timchenko, Russia’s sixth richest oligarch, to whom she referred in her question, and Boris and Igor Rotenberg, two long-standing associates of the regime. In the event of further aggressive acts by Russia against Ukraine, we have prepared an unprecedented package of further sanctions ready to go. Further details can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-hits-russian-oligarchs-and-banks-with-targeted-sanctions-foreign-secretary-statement



Roman Abramovich has not been the subject of targeted measures.



More generally anyone who comes to this country on an Israeli passport is a non-visa national. Israelis are required to obtain a visa if they want to live, work or study in the UK.

[HCWS627]

Light Dues 2022-23

Wednesday 23rd February 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Robert Courts)]

A strong and growing maritime industry is vital to the economy of the United Kingdom and it is critical that we treasure and protect this vital artery if we are to remain a world-leading maritime centre.



The work of the general lighthouse authorities, which provide and maintain marine aids to navigation and respond to new wrecks and navigation dangers in some of the busiest waters in the world, is crucial to underpinning that vision while maintaining our vigorous safety record and continuously improving safety standards.



Light dues are paid by the shipping industry such that the general lighthouse authorities’ costs are met without the need to call on the UK Exchequer.



Light dues have reduced by 40% in real terms since 2010 due to significant efficiency, and other, savings made by the general lighthouse authorities.



However, the unprecedented covid-19 pandemic has both added additional operational costs and led to a significant reduction in light dues income, reflecting the major impact it has also had on the shipping industry.



To ensure the general lighthouse authorities have the funding they need to complete their vital maritime safety work, I have therefore made the difficult decision to increase the light dues rate by two and a half pence to 41% per tonne for 2022-23.

Light dues remain lower than they were in 2010 in real terms and will continue to be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that the general lighthouse authorities are challenged to provide an effective and efficient service which offers value for money to light dues payers.

[HCWS622]