Written Statements

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Written Statements

Tuesday 28 February 2023

Highly Protected Marine Areas

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

I am announcing my intention to designate the first Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) - North East of Fames Deep, Allonby Bay and Dolphin Head. These will contribute to the Government’s vision under our UK Marine Strategy for

‘clean, healthy, safe, productive, and biologically diverse ocean and seas’.

They will increase the scope and protection of protected areas at sea and will allow sites to fully recover, increasing resilience to climate change. This forms part of our commitment to deliver 30by30 under the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Between 6 July and 28 September 2022 my Department led a public consultation on five candidate HPMAs. The sites included two inshore: Allonby Bay (located in the Irish Sea) and Lindisfarne (Northern North Sea). The other three were offshore: North East of Fames Deep (Northern North Sea), Inner Silver Pit South (Southern North Sea) and Dolphin Head (Eastern Channel).

Over 900 responses to the consultation were received, and after carefully considering these and further evidence, including economic impacts, I will proceed with designating North East of Fames Deep as set out in the consultation. For Allonby Bay and Dolphin Head, I will designate modified areas.

I will not designate Lindisfarne, owing to the impacts on the local community raised during the consultation, nor Inner Silver Pit South, owing to the high costs to fishers identified during the impact analysis.

The revised Allonby Bay HPMA boundary allows for an area of recreational angling, including access for disabled anglers, and for other activities to continue due to its importance to the community and takes account of the needs of Maryport Harbour and the Port of Silloth while still delivering important biodiversity benefits. The revised boundary for Dolphin Head is to improve compliance and enforcement. The new boundary still provides high ecological benefits, whilst straightening the western most point of the site boundary.

These HPMAs will be designated as “Marine Conservation Zones” under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 by 6 July 2023.

I have asked officials to explore additional sites for consideration this year.

The Government Response will be available on www.gov.uk.

[HCWS585]

England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2023

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Social Care (Helen Whately)]

The Government have published England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan today, on international Rare Disease Day.

Approximately 3.5 million people in the UK are living with one of over 7,000 rare diseases, such as muscular dystrophies or Huntington’s disease. People living with rare diseases often face complex journeys to diagnosis, treatment and care.

Our action plan is part of our continued commitment to improve the lives of those living with rare conditions, as outlined in the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework. It follows publication of England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan in February 2022, and highlights progress made in the past year, as well as setting out 13 new actions for the year ahead.

Key achievements in the last year include:

changes to the UK National Screening Committee to support robust decision making within the constraints of more limited evidence bases, to help improve how decisions are made on newborn screening for rare diseases;

extensive public engagement to support design of a whole genome sequencing research study embedded in the NHS to screen for up to 200 rare genetic conditions in newborns where early intervention could transform outcomes;

identification of over 1,000 new, complex diagnoses for people with rare diseases, via the Genomics England Clinical Research Interface, to inform the most appropriate clinical care;

expansion of innovative digital educational resources on rare diseases, which have had strong uptake by healthcare professionals;

creation and rollout of a toolkit for virtual healthcare consultations, to improve care co-ordination for patients with complex, multi-system rare diseases;

recruitment of over 2,500 new volunteers to the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) BioResource, to increase scientific understanding of rare diseases and facilitate improved diagnostics and treatments;

completion of innovative research studies, such as the MELODY Covid-19 study, to inform targeted treatment policies for the rare diseases community.

Our second action plan will continue to build on this record, adding significant new commitments against each of the framework priorities, developed in close collaboration with members of the rare disease community. These include:

addressing health inequalities for people living with rare diseases by gathering the evidence needed to include rare diseases in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 Framework, enabling Integrated Care Systems to develop targeted actions to reduce these inequalities;

changes to commissioning of services for rare diseases within NHS England, to improve co-ordination of pathways for access to specialist care, treatment, drugs, social care, mental health and special educational support for those living with rare diseases;

seeking feedback from the rare disease community on how to improve NIHR’s Be Part of Research platform, to make it easier for people living with rare diseases to participate in clinical research.

These actions are supported by recently announced Government funding for ground-breaking research, including investment of nearly £790 million in 20 NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, and £12 million of funding to support the Medical Research Council (MRC)-NIHR UK Rare Disease Research Platform. This research forms the essential foundations to improve understanding, diagnoses and treatments of rare diseases, translating scientific breakthroughs into clinical advances.

Under the action plan, the millions of people with rare diseases in England will see more efficient and equitable access to care and new treatments introduced. Over the coming year, we will closely monitor the progress of these actions, seeking input from those living with rare diseases to ensure we are measuring the outcomes that matter most. Progress will be reported in 2024, as part of England’s commitment to report annually over the 5-year lifetime of the UK Rare Diseases Framework.

Through this second action plan, we will continue to take steps towards achieving our overarching vision—delivering improvements in diagnosis, awareness, treatment and care, and creating lasting positive change for those living with rare diseases.

[HCWS586]

Consultation on a Small Payments Scheme for the Mental Capacity Act 2005

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mike Freer)]

Today I am publishing the Government’s response to the consultation on a small payments scheme for the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is a crucial piece of legislation that protects vulnerable individuals who may be unable to make decisions for themselves. The principles of the MCA guide us in empowering these individuals to make their own decisions when possible and supports their families and carers to make decisions in their best interest when necessary.

It is a long-held principle that an adult must have proper legal authority to access or deal with property belonging to another adult. In cases where the adult lacks mental capacity, the MCA provides the framework for them to grant legal authority by appointing a lasting power of attorney (LPA) while they still have mental capacity, or for third parties to obtain legal authority through applications to the Court of Protection (CoP).

Concerns have been raised that the existing CoP process for obtaining legal authority to access accounts on behalf of individuals who lack mental capacity creates barriers to access small value assets. This has particularly been highlighted in the case of accessing matured Child Trusts Funds, where a campaign by the families of young adults with learning disabilities has led to attention in both the Lords and Commons.

In response to these concerns, the Government decided to examine whether there was a case for an alternative process to the current CoP deputyship where access to small funds was required. We consulted on a small payment scheme that would be run by financial services firms and permit access for six months to limited funds up to £2,500 from one account belonging to an individual who lacks mental capacity without an order from the CoP being sought. The scheme set out to meet three aims:

Scope: Scheme must be broad enough to be useful and avoid inadvertent discrimination;

Security: Assets of vulnerable individuals should not be subject to unacceptable financial risk; and

Simplicity: The scheme must be straightforward and allow quicker access to limited funds than current processes, while being easy for financial service firms to implement.

The consultation received 225 responses and provided the opportunity for key stakeholders from the financial, legal and disability sectors as well as parents and carers supporting those who lack mental capacity to share their concerns about the current system and opinions on the new proposal.

The consultation provided clear evidence of the challenges faced in the current system. Most consistently respondents complained of the lengthy and complex CoP application forms, and the time taken to complete the application. It has also become apparent through the consultation that there is a general lack of awareness of the MCA. In many cases families and carers are often caught off guard when their child turns 18 as they were not aware of the MCA and the need to obtain legal authority to manage another person’s financial affairs if they lack capacity.

I want to make it simpler and quicker for the people who care for individuals who lack mental capacity to access the funds on their behalf. The evidence demonstrates that legislating for a small payments scheme would fail to address the underlying challenges preventing access to small value assets. Instead, the best approach is to focus on addressing the underlying barriers in the current system to accessing small value assets. To do this, the Government will work with the Court of Protection to improve application processing times and simplify court forms, and collaborate with OGDs, charities, and the finance sector to increase awareness of the MCA among parents and caregivers of young people without capacity as they transition to adulthood.

Importantly, this approach will also maintain protections and support for vulnerable people and their rights. The steps outlined uphold the principles of the MCA to empower individuals without mental capacity to make their own property and affairs decisions when possible and support their families and caregivers to make decisions in their best interest when necessary. This is essential for protecting vulnerable individuals from fraud, abuse, and coercion.

I hope the publication of this response will demonstrate the thorough consideration given to this issue and the impact on those individuals who lack capacity. As my predecessor, now the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove), said when launching the consultation, these individuals must come first and should not lose the protections provided by the MCA. It is my belief that this response rightly honours that.

[HCWS588]

Planning System Consultations

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Michael Gove)]

Today I have launched two formal consultations on proposals to improve the planning system to support measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

Planning fees

Planning application fees provide essential income for local planning authorities to be able to deliver their planning service.

This consultation seeks views on proposals to increase planning fees by 35 per cent. for major applications and 25 per cent. for all other applications, including proposals for fees indexation, to support greater resourcing and financial sustainability for local planning authorities. The consultation also seeks views on how the Government can provide additional support for building capacity and capability in local planning authorities.

All applicants should be able to benefit from a high-quality and timely planning service, so the consultation also asks for views on new performance measures.

This consultation closes on 25 April 2023.

Permitted development rights

National permitted development rights play an important role in the planning system, providing flexibility and reducing bureaucracy. This consultation asks for views on a new permitted development right for temporary recreational campsites and changes to existing rights to further support film-making and local authority-led electric vehicle charge points.

In addition, and as committed to in the Government’s British Energy Security Strategy, this consultation seeks views on changes to the existing rights for solar equipment. As part of this, we are also proposing a new right to allow for the installation of solar canopies in ground-level off-street car parks in non-domestic settings.

This consultation closes on 25 April 2023.

A copy of both documents will be deposited in the Library of both Houses.

[HCWS587]