Written Statements

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Written Statements

Tuesday 11 July 2023

Companies House Public Targets 2023-24

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kevin Hollinrake)]

I have set Companies House the following targets for the year 2023-24:

Remove in excess of 16,000 pieces of information relating to identity details and/or addresses used without permission, in order to minimise the risk of records kept by the registrars creating a false or misleading impression to members of the public.

Register of Overseas Entities: Issue financial penalties for non-compliance in cases that we have identified and prioritised.

Ninety-seven per cent of companies on the register have filed an up-to-date confirmation statement.

Digital services are available for a minimum of 99.5% of the time.

Eighty per cent of customers satisfied with Companies House.

Increase the resource in the operations and intelligence teams by up to 241 new posts to enable legislative reform.

Manage expenditure within budgetary limits and utilise central Government funding.

[HCWS926]

National Security and Investment Act 2021

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Deputy Prime Minister (Oliver Dowden)]

I am today laying before Parliament the annual report covering the operation of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSI Act) for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. A copy of the report will also be published on www.gov.uk. My actions today fulfil the requirements under section 61 of the NSI Act for this year.

We promised to deliver a regime that is as business friendly as possible while protecting our national security. This annual report demonstrates that we are succeeding in that mission. The vast majority of businesses in the UK had zero interaction with this screening process during the last financial year, nor any need to do so. Of those who did, we have made the system as fast, predictable and transparent as possible.

Of the notifications that I and previous decision makers reviewed, we cleared the vast majority—92.8% —within a rapid 30 working days. We met statutory deadlines for all notifications that were reviewed in this period, called in 65 acquisitions for scrutiny, and ultimately made proportionate interventions through 15 final orders to protect national security.

These statistics show that notifications, call-ins, final orders and final notifications were distributed across a wide range of different origins of investment, across a wide variety of sectors and from many different countries. Defence-related acquisitions featured prominently at call-in and final orders, but acquisitions across communications, energy, advanced materials and computing hardware sectors were also subject to final orders.

This demonstrates that risks can arise from a variety of sources and are judged case-by-case in accordance with the statement made under section 3 of the NSI Act.

I am personally committed to ensuring this process is as smooth and transparent as possible. So, in addition to fulfilling my section 61 obligations, this year’s report includes further information not required by the NSI Act itself. For the first time, I include information on the geographic origins of investment. I hope this will help stakeholders’ engagement with the NSI Act.

I am pleased to lay this NSI annual report in Parliament today and I look forward to continuing to update the House as appropriate over the coming years.

[HCWS925]

Financial Services Reforms

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt)]

On 10 July 2023, I set out in a speech at Mansion House the Government’s progress in delivering a financial services sector that is globally competitive, while retaining our commitment to high international standards.

Building on the Edinburgh reforms announced in December 2022, the Mansion House reforms will enable our financial services sector to unlock capital for our most promising industries and increase returns for savers, supporting growth across the wider economy.

First, I announced a series of measures to boost outcomes for savers and increase funding liquidity for high-growth companies through reforms to the UK’s pension market.

Secondly, I set out ways the Government are incentivising companies to start and grow in the UK by strengthening our position as a listing destination.

Finally, I set out the Government’s action to seize the opportunities of the future by reforming and simplifying our financial services rulebook to ensure we have the most growth-friendly regulation of any financial services centre.

These plans have the potential to increase retirement income by over a £1,000 a year over the course of a career and unlock up to £75 billion of additional investment from defined contribution and local government pensions.

The full list of the measures launched at Mansion House, along with supporting technical documents, can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/mansion-house-2023.

[HCWS927]

Key Stage 2 Attainment

Tuesday 11th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)]

The key stage 2 (KS2) statistics released today show an increase in this year’s mathematics and writing attainment compared with 2022. More pupils met the expected standard in mathematics—73% in 2023, up from 71% in 2022—and writing—71% in 2023, up from 69% in 2022—than last year. The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in all of reading, writing and mathematics— combined—at age 11 was 59% in 2023. This is unchanged from last year. The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in science has also risen—80% in 2023, up from 79% in 2022—and those meeting the expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling remains unchanged from 2022—72%.

While those meeting the expected standard in reading is down from 2022 from 75% to 73%, it remains higher compared with 2016—66%—and is in line with pre-pandemic standards—73% met the expected standard in reading in 2019. This stability compared with pre-pandemic results was also reflected in the Progress in international reading literacy study (PIRLS) results released in May. Despite the disruption of the pandemic, England’s score remained stable, following significant improvements in 2011 and 2016, coming fourth out of the 43 countries that tested children of the same age. England’s score of 558 was well above the international average of 520 and the European average of 524.

This is the second publication of KS2 attainment since the beginning of the pandemic, as there were no KS2 assessments taken in 2020 and 2021. Following the impact of the pandemic, it was expected that there may be lower levels of attainment while children caught up on lost learning. The progress that has been made in recovering from the pandemic is testament to the hard work of teachers and teaching assistants across the country.

The Government are determined to build on the significant progress that has been made over the past decade in raising standards in reading through the tried and tested approach of phonics. It places great focus on ensuring early reading is taught well because children can only begin to articulate their thoughts in writing when they have a good grounding in early reading and spoken language. This is why today, we are announcing an updated version of our reading framework. This will provide teachers and school leaders with evidence-informed guidance on good practice in reading in primary schools and for those key stage 2 and secondary school pupils who still need support. We are also announcing today our intention to launch an evidence review of best practice in the teaching of writing. This will be a valuable resource for schools and will inform further research and guidance.

The Department also continues to invest in English hubs and Maths hubs. These programmes enable high-performing primary schools to spread their exemplary practice in the teaching of reading and mathematics across more primary schools. Furthermore, the Government are investing an extra £2 billion into our core schools funding this year and the year after, meaning school funding will be at its highest level in history next year, as measured by the IFS. This increase builds on our continued efforts to embed tutoring and provide targeted support for schools and children in need.

There will be a further statistical release in September setting out a more granular breakdown of the KS2 results and that will include statistics at regional and local authority levels and for pupil characteristics such as disadvantage.

[HCWS928]