Written Statements

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

Wednesday 27 April 2022

Energy Update

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

[The Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change (Greg Hands)]

Today I will lay before Parliament a departmental minute describing a contingent liability arising from the issuance of letters of credit for the energy administrators acting in the special administration regime for Bulb Energy Limited (Bulb)—These letters of credit replace previous ones provided in January, announced within a written ministerial statement on 6 January, which has now expired.

It is normal practice when a Government Department proposes to undertake a contingent liability of £300,000 and above, for which there is no specific statutory authority, for the Department concerned to present Parliament with a minute giving particulars of the liability created and explaining the circumstances.

I regret that, due to negotiations with the counterparties only concluding late and parliamentary recess, I have not been able to follow the usual notification timelines to allow consideration of these issues in advance of issuing the letter of credit.

Bulb entered the energy supply company special administration regime on 24 November 2021. Energy administrators were appointed by court to achieve the statutory objective of continuing energy supplies at the lowest reasonable practicable cost until such time as it becomes unnecessary for the special administration to remain in force for that purpose.

My Department has agreed to provide a facility to the energy administrators, with letters of credit issued, with my approval, to guarantee such contract, code, licence, or other document obligations of the company consistent with the special administration’s statutory objective. I will update the House if any letters of credit are drawn against.

The legal basis for a letter of credit is section 165 of the Energy Act 2004, as applied and modified by section 96 of the Energy Act 2011.

HM Treasury has approved the arrangements in principle.

[HCWS789]

Plan for Protecting the Taxpayer

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

[The Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency (Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg)]

The Efficiencies and Value for Money Committee, established at the request of the Prime Minister and chaired by the Chancellor, is meeting for the first time today.

At the Committee, the Chancellor will launch his plan for protecting the taxpayer which will drive efficiency, effectiveness, and economy across Government. This efficiency drive will ensure that Government Departments justify their projects with clear value for money and will challenge departments that are not delivering.

As part of this plan, the Government are developing a new counter-fraud body which will tackle economic crime across the public sector. The new authority will be funded with £25 million, as announced by the Chancellor in the spring statement. The authority will bolster the existing Government counter-fraud function, based in the Cabinet Office, to create the new Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA), which will jointly report to HM Treasury.

The new authority will be staffed by fraud experts and backed by cross-Government data analytics tools. It will focus on increasing counter-fraud performance across the public sector. This data driven focus on countering fraud is in line with business best practice and will improve fraud prevention and the pursuit of fraudsters for both the opportunistic individual and organised economic crime.

The efficiency drive will also include reviews that scrutinise the work and effectiveness of public bodies, aiming to identify a minimum of 5% savings for each organisation, and doubling the NHS efficiencies target.

The full membership of the Efficiencies and Value for Money Committee, confirmed today, is the right hon. Steve Barclay MP (Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster), the right hon. Oliver Dowden CBE MP (Minister without Portfolio) and the right hon. Michael Ellis QC MP (Minister for the Cabinet Office and HM Paymaster General). The Committee is chaired by the Chancellor and is deputy co-chaired by Simon Clarke (Chief Secretary to the Treasury) and myself.

[HCWS794]

Correction to PQ62745

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

[The Minister for Health (Edward Argar)]

I would like to inform the House that I wish to correct the formal record in relation to written answer 62745 to the hon. Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) on 28 October 2021.

The reply stated that neither the Department nor the former Public Health England has any collaborative, commercial or contractual links to the Beijing Genomics Institute or its subsidiaries.

The correct answer is that BGI Genomics UK Limited was awarded a call-off contract from a framework contract held by Public Health England in August 2021 following a mini competition. This call-off contract lapsed on 14 November 2021 and no further contract with BGI has been let.

[HCWS793]

Impact of the Ending of Freedom of Movement on the Adult Social Care Sector: Independent Review

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Kevin Foster)]

Today, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published its independent review into the impact of the ending of freedom of movement on the adult social care sector. This report (CP 665) has been laid before both Houses today, and it will also be published on www.gov.uk.

This review came about during the passage of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020, when the Government committed to commission and publish an independent report into the impact of ending free movement on the adult social care sector.

In July 2021, the Government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee—as experts in both the immigration system and wider labour market issues—to undertake this review. The MAC has been working closely with the social care expert advisory group, utilising its insight and experience, to produce this report.

The MAC made an interim recommendation, in its annual report published on 15 December 2021, to add care workers and home carers to the shortage occupation list as well as making them eligible for the health and care visa. On 24 December, the Government announced we were accepting this recommendation.

We laid revised immigration rules on 24 January 2022, and these came into force on 15 February. We are already seeing many providers seeking to take advantage of the new rules, to become sponsors and to bring in much needed additional care workforce capacity.

I would like to thank Professor Brian Bell and the MAC for their continued work. I would also like to thank all those who have been involved in this report for their valuable contributions.

The Government will consider the report and its recommendations carefully before deciding what steps to take next.

[HCWS792]

Forensic Information Databases Strategy Board Annual Report and Updated Governance Rules

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

[The Minister for Crime and Policing (Kit Malthouse)]

I am pleased to announce that I am today publishing the annual report of the forensic information databases strategy board for 2020-21 and the updated Governance rules. This report covers the national fingerprints database and the national DNA database (NDNAD).

The strategy board chair, DCC Ben Snuggs, has presented the annual report of the national DNA database to the Home Secretary. Publication of the report is a statutory requirement under section 63AB(7) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 as inserted by section 24 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

The report shows the important contribution that the NDNAD and the national fingerprint databases (policing collections) make to supporting policing and solving crimes. I am grateful to the strategy board for their commitment to fulfilling their statutory functions.

Both the report and governance rules have been laid before the House and copies will be available from the Vote Office.

[HCWS791]

Terrorism in Prisons Update

Wednesday 27th April 2022 Written Statements

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Dominic Raab)]

In accordance with section 36 of the Terrorism Act 2006, Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation (IRTL), has prepared a report on terrorism in prisons which was laid before the House today.

Today, I am publishing our response to the IRTL’s report, setting out how we are implementing the changes that he has recommended. This will also be published on gov.uk.

I welcome the IRTL’s review of terrorism in prisons, and thank him for carrying out such a detailed and thorough review. His findings present an invaluable opportunity for us to assess progress and further strengthen our approach in prisons, covering areas including terrorist risk behaviour, governor accountability, separation centres, joint working and legislation.

In his report, the IRTL acknowledges the significant improvements made to the counter-terrorism system since the horrific terrorist attacks in 2019-20 at Fishmongers’ Hall, Streatham, Reading and in HMP Whitemoor. We have already strengthened the law through the Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020 and the Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021, putting an end to the automatic early release of terrorist offenders and introducing tougher sentences for the most serious terrorist offences. We have also invested in our ambitious step-up programme which provides a step change in our counter-terrorism capabilities through a raft of improvements including a joint intelligence hub to boost information sharing between security partners, a counter-terrorism assessment and rehabilitation centre to research, implement and evaluate rehabilitative interventions, and overhauling our counter-terrorism training offer to frontline staff.

These measures are critical to strengthening our approach to fighting terrorism in prisons, but we are determined to go further. That is why I have accepted 12 of the IRTL’s recommendations, partially accepted another, and in some areas propose going beyond them.

We will invest an additional £1.2 million over three years to create a new separation centre and high-risk casework team. The specialised team will ensure that decisions to place prisoners in separation centres are taken in an effective and targeted way, in order to avoid the dissemination of poisonous ideology, prevent terrorist recruitment, and more generally protect the public.

We will also invest £6.1 million over three years to create a new close supervision centre unit with an extra 10 cells, increasing our capacity by 20%. These will hold some of the most violent men in the prison system who pose a significant risk of harm to our staff and other prisoners.

We have collaborated widely in considering each of Jonathan Hall’s recommendations, and I am grateful to the Home Secretary and partners across the criminal justice system for supporting this work. We honour the victims, families and communities that have been traumatised by terror by doing all we can to prevent future atrocities.

[HCWS790]