Written Statements

Friday 18th March 2022 Written Statements

Friday 18 March 2022

Standards Committee Call for Evidence: Government Response

Friday 18th March 2022 Written Statements

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Michael Ellis)]

On 29 November 2021, the House of Commons Committee on Standards invited responses to its proposals for reform of the code of conduct for Members. The Government’s joint response to the Standards Committee in the name of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Leader of the House of Commons has now been published by the Committee.

The joint response reflects the Government’s view that the rules relating to Members of the Executive, in particular Ministers of the Crown, are different from those relating to Members of the legislature, in particular, Members of Parliament. The rules, and the application of those rules, are rightly separate, reflecting the different roles that these offices play and reflecting the underlying constitutional principle of the separation of powers.

The response makes clear that, first and foremost, Members have a duty to their constituents, and any outside work should be within reasonable limits, in order for an MP’s parliamentary duties to take priority. That is why the Government brought forward an amendment (which the House approved on 17 November 2021) to support the introduction of limits on Members undertaking outside work. These were that MPs should be prohibited from any paid work to provide services as a parliamentary strategist, adviser or consultant and that outside work should be undertaken only within “reasonable limits”. It is imperative that paid advocacy work is regulated in order that any employers—be they businesses, NGOs or trade unions—do not obtain undue access or strategic parliamentary advice.

The Government are also now considering with interest Sir Ernest Ryder’s review of the House’s current system of investigating and deciding upon breaches of the code of conduct and its compatibility with the principles of fairness and natural justice. The Government have previously indicated that they support the broad principle of a right to appeal.

The Government are grateful to the Standards Committee for its consideration of these important questions, await with interest its final report and look forward to further debate on the issues raised, to ensure that our standards system commands both the confidence of the public and Members on a cross-party basis.

The Government’s joint response to the Standards Committee can be found at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/106952/pdf/.

The Government are also today publishing their response to the Committee on Standards in Public Life’s review of local government ethical standards, setting out the Government’s position on the successful operation of the Localism Act 2011, which ensures transparency and accountability in local government. The Government note their willingness to take further steps to protect the home addresses of councillors, where there are concerns that disclosure could lead to intimidation.

In both cases, the Government have underlined the importance of protecting elected representatives’ rights to exercise free speech within the law. The Government express concern that some of the proposed changes to the Commons code of conduct could have a chilling effect on Members commenting on contentious matters of public policy.

It is important to distinguish between strongly felt political debate on the one hand, and unacceptable acts of abuse, intimidation and violence on the other. British democracy has always been robust and oppositional. Free speech within the law can sometimes involve the expression of political views that some may find offensive. A line is crossed when disagreement mutates into intimidation, which refuses to tolerate other opinions and seeks to deprive others from exercising their free speech and freedom of association. But standards rules should not be used to suppress the legitimate expression of different political views.

[HCWS699]

Genome UK

Friday 18th March 2022 Written Statements

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

My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Kamall, has today made the following written ministerial statement:

In September 2020, we launched Genome UK—the UK’s genomic healthcare strategy, which set out a vision to create the most advanced genomic healthcare system in the world to deliver better healthcare at a lower cost. The first implementation plan for this strategy was published in May 2021, to align with the spending review cycle.

For the UK to remain at the forefront of international competition in genomic research and healthcare, and attract investment, it is essential that we continue to deliver on the commitments set out in Genome UK.

I am therefore delighted to inform the House of the launch of a UK-wide shared commitments document which sets out how we will work together with the devolved Governments to implement the strategy over the next three years.

The commitments included in this document have been agreed by members of the National Genomics Board, a group of senior life sciences sector stakeholders, which I chair with Sir John Bell. We have worked with the devolved Governments and delivery partners over the past six months to identify commitments that we can work together to deliver by 2025.

I am pleased to announce the following UK-wide commitments:

A continued emphasis on keeping the public across the UK at the heart of genomic healthcare research programmes by providing opportunities for representatives to be involved in discussions and decision-making both in healthcare genomics and genomics research.

Ongoing review and appraisal of emerging genomic science, new clinical indications and new technologies on a UK-wide basis to enable all four healthcare systems to stay at the forefront of genomic healthcare.

Delivering on the promise of personalised medicine including in cancer diagnosis and treatment through improved access to clinical trials and targeted therapies.

Building on our successful partnership on SARS-CoV-2 sequencing to develop public health pathogen genomics services across the UK.

Establishing a clear, evidence-based position across the UK on whether and how genomic sequencing may be implemented in the newborn period, for the benefit of newborns and their parents in all parts of the UK to enable earlier detection of disease.

Continuing to explore opportunities that could support a UK functional genomics initiative to deepen our understanding of disease and assist the identification and validation of novel drug targets.

Working collectively to increase access to genomics-enabled clinical trials, linking up across the UK, to ensure research feeds back into clinical services to improve and transform patient care. For example, using “Find, Recruit and Follow up” to better identify and recruit individuals who might benefit from clinical research studies.

Supporting initiatives to link large genomic datasets across the UK to improve access for researchers. Potential examples including the Trusted Research Environments hosted by Genomics England, UK Biobank and Our Future Health.

Working together to establish a joint workforce group across the United Kingdom to share best practice and strategic priorities, ensuring consistency of capability and expertise across the UK.

Given that Genome UK runs over 10 years, some of its 45 commitments are either long term or will be delivered through cumulative action over the coming years, which is why the implementation process is phased. Genomics is a fast-moving field, and the phased approach allows us to review our commitments to reflect emerging science and the latest research findings. Our intention is to continue to align future iterations of this plan with Government funding cycles.

We will continue to work with the devolved Governments and our partners in the NHS, industry and research, including via the National Genomics Board, to ensure that we deliver on our goal to create the most advanced genomic healthcare system in the world. I also want to emphasise that engagement and dialogue with the healthcare workforce, patients and the diverse UK population, will be at the heart of the journey to reach the vision set out in the strategy.

[HCWS698]

DWP Workplace Transformation

Friday 18th March 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)]

The Department is committed to continuing to deliver for customers, families and the economy, and yesterday announced its strategic ambition for its back-of-house services, i.e. those that are delivered virtually and where customers are not seen face to face. This will not affect any public-facing roles, or any Jobcentre Plus services.

I want to provide reassurance that this is not a plan to reduce our headcount—where possible, our colleagues in offices due to close are being offered opportunities to be redeployed to a nearby site, or retrained into a new role in DWP or another Government Department. That is alongside our effort to utilise our hybrid working policy to help facilitate more inclusive workplaces, which are capable of adapting to the needs of employees and the Department.

The Department’s plans for transformational change will support delivery of the Government priorities for getting people back into employment, deliver long-term savings and meet Government modernisation commitments. The Department has developed a strategy which will, over the next 10 years, reshape how, where and when it delivers its services. Over the 10-year period the Department will transition to an estate that is smaller, greener, and better—making DWP more efficient. By having a smaller footprint, this helps us to be greener. This type of bold modernisation can support efficiencies, create value for money, reduce fraud and error, build resilience and sustainability, and achieve improved customer outcomes and experience.

To ensure that DWP can continue to build on its success, it needs to make progress over this spending review period to set the foundation for more significant changes in the future. The Department needs to take advantage of shifts in post-covid expectations around customer service delivery and ways of working, build on digital transformations of services and make use of estate lease breaks in 2023 to enable the Department to achieve its future service delivery aspirations.

The Department currently operates from over 920 buildings and employs over 92,000 people. Reducing the Department’s estate footprint will deliver value for money for the taxpayer and enable investment to improve the working environment for colleagues in our remaining buildings. Modernisation will enable a customer-focused, digital-first organisation with more self-serve and automation.

That transformation needs to be viewed alongside the massive recent investment in frontline services. Since the start of the pandemic, we have opened over 170 new temporary jobcentres as part of our rapid estate expansion programme. We have also recruited 13,500 new work coaches in order to provide our claimants with the tailored face-to-face support they need.

The plan also supports three other key Government strategies—strengthening the Union—ensuring the Department maintains a footprint in Scotland and Wales; Places for Growth—by committing to move roles out of London; and levelling up, by retaining a presence in some of the most deprived areas throughout the nations and regions.

This change to our estates will have different implications in different places, so I have sent a letter to each MP with an affected site in their constituency explaining what the change will mean in their specific case. The letters include notification of a virtual surgery I will hold on Wednesday 23 March to hear feedback from hon. Members. I have also sent a “Dear colleague” letter to all Members, which includes the detail of the sites affected.

[HCWS700]