Written Statements

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

Thursday 13 July 2023

Senior Civil Service Pay

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Jeremy Quin)]

I am today announcing the Government’s decision to accept the recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) on pay for the senior civil service (SCS) for 2023-24.

The Government received the SSRB’s 2023 report on 8 June 2023. This will be presented to Parliament and published on gov.uk.

The Government greatly value the independent expertise and insight of the SSRB and are accepting in full its recommendations on SCS headline pay for the 2023-24 pay round.

This year, the SSRB has recommended:

An across-the-board increase for all SCS of 5.5% from 1 April 2023, and a further 1% of the SCS pay bill for pay anomalies to be directed at progression increases for those lower in the pay ranges who are delivering in role and demonstrating expertise; and

Setting the following pay ranges from 1 April 2023, based on increases to the minima of £2,000 for SCS1 to SCS3 and permanent secretaries, and retaining the existing maximas:

SCS pay band 1: £75,000 to £117,800.

SCS pay band 2: £97,000 to £162,500.

SCS pay band 3: £127,000 to £208,100.

The recommendation to raise the permanent secretary pay minimum from £150,000 to £152,000 will be considered by the Permanent Secretary Remuneration Committee in due course.

In reaching this decision, the Government have very carefully considered the advice and justifications provided by the independent SSRB. This is the highest award for the SCS for many years and today’s announcement strikes the right balance between fairness and affordability for the taxpayer, the Government priority to halve inflation, and the need to maintain an effective senior civil service that is able to recruit and retain the best senior talent to support the Government’s priorities.

[HCWS940]

Women’s Football Review: Final Report and Recommendations

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lucy Frazer)]

The Government have made significant progress in recent years to advance and support women’s sport. The Lionesses’ success at the women’s Euros helped make 2022 a landmark year for women’s sport, with the country’s first major football trophy since 1966. Our efforts are focused on specific critical areas, most notably girls’ access to equal provision of sports in school. The Government are determined to build on the momentum and passion stirred by the Lionesses’ victory, and are committed to supporting women’s football and women’s sport to flourish.

The fan-led review of football governance, conducted in 2021, recommended that “given the many, but interconnected, issues affecting a meaningful future for women’s football needing to be addressed and resolved successfully, the future of women’s football should receive its own dedicated review”.

In response, the Government launched the independent review of the future of women’s football in September 2022 to examine the strategic priorities for the development of the game. The review has been chaired by former England and Great Britain professional footballer Karen Carney MBE.

Today the Government have published the final report which sets out the recommendations of the review. The report reflects hundreds of hours of evidence and engagement and the passion of those who contributed in their desire to make women’s football a sport that enhances the lives of women and girls in England. It examines in detail the opportunities and challenges for the women’s game across the elite game and the wider pyramid. It considers girls’ experiences of participating in, and watching, football, and the key issues from grassroots clubs through to the professional game. The review makes ten strategic recommendations:

1. The new entity tasked with running elite women’s football should not settle for anything less than world leading standards for players, fans, staff, and everybody involved in the women’s game.

2. The FA needs to fix the talent pathway in order to create generation after generation of world beating Lionesses.

3. Both the women’s super league and women’s championship should become fully professional environments designed to attract, develop and sustain the best playing talent in the world.

4. The FA should urgently address the lack of diversity across the women’s game—in both on and off pitch roles.

5. The FA, Premier League, EFL and broadcasters should work together to carve out a new dedicated broadcast slot for women’s football.

6. Clubs must better value and support their fans—the FA should raise minimum standards to enforce this.

7. Government must deliver on recent commitments around equal access to school sports for girls.

8. Everyone involved in funding grassroots facilities must come together to increase investment in order to accommodate meaningful access for women and girls.

9. The FA, Premier League and Football Foundation should work together to make sure that women and girls are benefiting from funding flowing into facilities across the pyramid.

10. The FA should leverage the handover of administration of the top two tiers of women’s football to even more acutely focus on grassroots clubs and the women’s national league.

I thank those who contributed to the review, whether through the call for evidence or engagement sessions. I also take this opportunity to thank Karen, the Chair and her panel of experts for their hard work and dedication.

Women’s football can be a sport that genuinely enhances the lives of women and girls in England, and has the ability to offer a unique and accessible environment for all types of fans. I agree that it has the opportunity to become a world-leading sport that can pave the way for women’s sport across the world. Football will need to carefully consider the recommendations made in this report.

The Government welcome the work of the review and will now consider the detailed recommendations before providing a full response in the autumn.

I have deposited a copy of the report in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS937]

Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report 2023

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt)]

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report (FRS) [CP 870] has been laid today. It examines three main risks to the public finances through chapters on inactivity and health, energy and debt sustainability, as well as providing an update on the other risks in its fiscal risks register. This fulfils the OBR’s obligation to examine and report on the sustainability of, and risks to, the public finances as laid out in the Charter for Budget Responsibility. I would like to thank the OBR’s staff and the Budget Responsibility Committee for their efforts in producing this report.

As the OBR highlights in its report, the UK has, in common with other countries around the world, experienced a “rapid succession of shocks” in recent years. Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine has contributed to a surge in energy prices, driving higher inflation across the world. Central banks are raising interest rates to get global inflation under control, which has pushed up the cost of borrowing for families, businesses and Governments. The Government have acted to support households and businesses through these shocks, including most recently through energy support schemes and targeted cost of living support, while taking fiscally responsible decisions that ensure the public finances are on a sustainable footing and avoiding adding to inflationary pressure.

The FRS highlights the importance of tackling economic inactivity, as helping more people into work also reduces pressure on the public finances. The Government have already started to take action to address the rise in inactivity, including through the labour supply package announced at spring Budget 2023, which includes the new 30 hours a week of free childcare for working parents of nine-month to two-year-olds and a new disability employment programme. The OBR forecasts that this package will increase employment by 0.3% by 2027-28, with an overall impact on GDP of around 0.2% in the same year. This is the largest upward revision the OBR has made to potential output within its forecast as a result of fiscal policy decisions since its creation in 2010. In June, the NHS in England published the first ever long term workforce plan, which was developed by the NHS and backed by the Government. It sets out a path to put staffing on a sustainable footing and improve patient care and the Government are backing this plan with more than £2.4 billion funding over the next five years to deliver this planned transformation in NHS training and recruitment.

While energy prices have fallen back recently, they remain above pre-pandemic levels following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In response, the Government are providing £94 billion of cost of living support, including direct help for energy bills across 2022-23 and 2023-24. Indeed, the OBR acknowledges in the FRS that the

“level of fiscal support with energy costs provided in the UK has been among the most generous in Europe”.

To increase the UK’s resilience to future energy price shocks, the Government are committed to transitioning to clean energy sources and is working to deliver tangible progress while bringing down energy bills. Between 1990 and 2021, the UK has cut emissions by 48% whilst growing the economy and decarbonising faster than any other country in the G7. The Government committed £30 billion of domestic public investment for the green industrial revolution at spending review 2021, as well as £6 billion for energy efficiency at autumn statement 2022 for the next spending review, and up to £20 billion for carbon capture usage and storage announced at spring Budget 2023. Over 80,000 green jobs across the UK economy are currently being supported or are in the pipeline as a result of new Government policies and spending since November 2020. What really matters is not just public investment, but total public and private investment. Since 2010, public and private investment alongside consumer levies has seen investment of £198 billion in our green industries. The Government have set out detail on the policies and programmes to reach net zero, including via the net zero strategy 2021, the net zero growth plan 2023, and specific sectoral strategies.



In common with many advanced economies, the UK’s level of debt remains elevated following recent global shocks, including the pandemic and energy prices. As the OBR highlights, Government spending on servicing this elevated level of debt is rising due to higher inflation and rising borrowing costs. The OBR notes that higher inflation will not erode the real value, or “inflate away”, debt. This highlights why it is important to deliver on the Prime Minister’s priority to get debt falling and to control borrowing to avoid adding inflationary pressures and risk prolonging higher inflation. That means taking difficult but responsible decisions on the public finances, including public sector pay, because more borrowing is itself inflationary.

While the start of this century has seen an increased frequency of global shocks as outlined above, there are also a wider set of risks to the public finances that the Government need to remain mindful of, which the OBR outlines in its fiscal risks register. The Government will respond to the FRS at a subsequent fiscal event, to provide an update on the actions being taken to mitigate the risks identified by the OBR.

[HCWS939]

Armed Forces Pay

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

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

I am today announcing the Government’s decision on pay for the armed forces for 2023-24.

The Government recognise that armed forces personnel continue to work with great professionalism and personal sacrifice to protect the nation, securing our allies, supporting Ukraine and aiding our own civilian authorities. On 19 June 2023 the MOD published “Agency and Agility: Incentivising people in a new era—a review of UK Armed Forces incentivisation” by Rick Haythornthwaite. While MOD is still studying the report’s recommendations, it provides a compelling vision for improving the proposition to those who serve and those who may consider serving in the future.

In the meantime, the 2023 pay award plays a vital role in continuing to support retention and wider recruitment for a smaller but increasingly highly skilled armed forces, while ensuring this is affordable within the context of broader defence priorities.

The Government received the armed forces’ pay review body (AFPRB) report on 2023 pay for service personnel up to and including 1-star rank on 25 May 2023. This has been laid before the House today and published on gov.uk. The senior salaries review body’s (SSRB) 2023 report which includes recommendations for the senior military has been laid today by my colleagues in the Cabinet Office.

The Government value the independent expertise and insight of the AFPRB and the SSRB and takes on board the recommendations outlined in the report.

The Government are accepting the AFPRB’s and SSRB’s recommendations in full for the 2023-24 pay round. Building upon the 2022-23 pay award, which was the biggest percentage uplift in 20 years for service personnel, this year’s pay award goes beyond that level, rightly recognising the vital contributions of service personnel in the interests of the nation, as well as the ongoing cost of living pressures facing service households.

The headline award recommended by the AFPRB is for a consolidated increase in base pay for all members of their remit group (including medical and dental officers up to and including three-star) of 5% plus a further consolidated increase of £1,000 for all full-time UK regular personnel with a pro-rata increase for other cohorts in their remit group. The Government are accepting this recommendation in full.

This approach rightly targets the highest pay increases towards our junior service personnel, providing effective pay increases of between 9.7% for the most junior ranks and 5.8% for officers at one-star rank.

The SSRB have recommended that all members of the senior military (two-star rank and above), should receive a 5.5% consolidated increase to base pay. The Government are accepting this recommendation in full.

The Government are partially accepting the AFPRB’s recommendations on charges for accommodation. The AFPRB recommended a 4.5% increase to the top level of service families accommodation (SFA) and single living accommodation (SLA) charges. The Government accept the AFPRB’s recommendation for SLA charges. However, SFA charges will remain fixed at the 2022 rates throughout FY23-24 and not be increased in line with the rental element of CPI as expected. This decision has been taken by the Defence Secretary in recognition of the significant underperformance of the Future Defence Infrastructure Services (FDIS) accommodation delivery contract since its introduction in April 2022.

In addition to the pay award, the MOD has continued to freeze the daily food charge for our personnel, and the availability of free wrap-around childcare is increasing across Defence with families able to save around £3,400 per child per year. Any service families facing hardships, of any kind, should approach their welfare officer so that further support can be discussed.

While both pay awards are above the MOD’S original levels of affordability, this pay award has been made affordable by reprioritising spending within the existing Defence budget, ensuring that we continue to recognise that our people are our most important asset. It is affordable in the context of the spending review 2020 settlement which saw a £24 billion cash increase to the Defence budget, the largest sustained increase since the cold war, and the further £5 billion over the next two years provided at spring Budget 2023. It is consistent with the Government’s priority to halve inflation.

The complete recommendations of the AFPRB for pay round 2023 are as follows:

A headline consolidated increase in base pay for all members of their remit group (including medical and dental officers) of 5% plus a further consolidated increase of £1,000 for all full-time UK regular personnel with a pro-rata increase for other cohorts in their remit group.

Officers commissioned from the ranks (OCFR).

Agreed to MOD’S proposals for OCFR pay from 1 April 2024:

Introduction of a two-year pay dwell on commissioning, mirroring that required under pay 16 for direct entry officers moving from OF1 to OF2;

Reduction of the minimum pay rise on promotion from OF2 to OF3, from 5% to 2%, mirroring wider policy and reducing the standstill period required by some who promote above increment level OF3-01; and

To re-establish a more cost-effective bridge following pay 16 changes, cut the uppermost OCFR pay increment (increment 15), and introduce five new OCFR pay increments below increment 1, creating a new 19-increment OCFR pay spine.

Cyber

Agreed to the introduction of competence-based cyber payments from 1 April 2023 at the following levels: level 2 £6,000; level 3 £15,000 and level 4 £25,000.

Recruitment and retention payments (RRP).

Agreed with MOD’S proposals to increase levels 1 to 3 of RRP (Hydrographic) to £4.04, £6.60 and £7.63 respectively (Levels 4 to 6 are unchanged) and to bring forward the next review of the RRP.

Agreed with MOD’S proposals to increase the initial and enhanced rates of RRP (Mountain leader) to £19.85 and £23.75 respectively.

That the following rates of RRP should increase by 5.8% from 1 April 2023 in line with the main pay award recommendation: RRP (Flying), RRP (Flying crew), RRP (Diving), RRP (Submarine) (including submarine supplement and engineer officers supplement), RRP (Nuclear propulsion), RRP (Special forces), RRP (Special forces communications), RRP (Special reconnaissance), RRP (Special intelligence), RRP (Special communications), RRP (Parachute) (including RRP (High altitude parachute), RRP (Parachute jump instructor), RRP (Explosive ordnance disposal), RRP (Weapons engineer submariner), RRP (Naval service engineer) and RRP (Nursing),

Compensatory allowances

All rates of compensatory allowances should increase by 5.8% with effect from 1 April 2023, in line with the main pay award recommendation.

X-factor

No change to the rate of X-factor at 14.5%.

That the rates of X-factor for service personnel of OF5 and OF6 rank, regular personnel on flexible service, full time reserve service of all commitments, part time volunteer reserves and military provost guard service are unchanged.

That the rates of X-factor for the Royal Gibraltar Regiment Regulars should increase from 6.5% to 11.5%.

That the rates of X-factor for Royal Gibraltar Regiment Reserves should increase from 3.25% to 5%.

Volunteer reserves training bounty

That the rates of the volunteer reserves training bounty should increase by 5.8% from 1 April 2023 in line with the main pay award recommendation.

Defence medical services—Pay for medical and dental officers (MODO)

A consolidated uplift of 5% for all ranks within the MODO cadre, with a consolidated increase of £1,000 for all full-time UK regular personnel and a pro-rata increase for other cohorts from 1 April 2023.

Agree in principle to the introduction of a bespoke pay spine for allied health professionals in the initial unified career management group (degree and diploma qualified), targeted for implementation in January 2024, in conjunction with changes to terms and conditions.

That the value of clinical excellence awards should increase by 5.8% from 1 April 2023 in line with the main pay award recommendation.

Accommodation charges

That service family accommodation (SFA) combined accommodation assessment system band A charges should increase by 4.5% (in line with the CPI annual rents for housing component at November 2022) from 1 April 2023. This recommendation would affect the rents of lower bands differently, as they are set in in descending increments of 10% of the band A rate.

This recommendation is not being accepted and instead SFA charges will be frozen at 2022 rates.

That furniture charges (for all SFA types) should increase by 4.5% (in line with the CPI annual rents for housing component at November 2022) from 1 April 2023.

This recommendation is not being accepted and instead charges will be frozen at 2022 rates.

Single living accommodation (SLA) rental charges for grade 1 should increase by 4.5% from 1 April 2023, with increases of 3% to grade 2, 1.5% to grade 3 and no increase to grade 4 accommodation.

That charges for standard garages and carports should increase by 4.5% from 1 April 2023, with no increases for sub-standard garages and substandard carports.

This recommendation is not being accepted and instead charges will be frozen at 2022 rates.



The SSRB has recommended the following:

That all members of the senior military should receive a 5.5% consolidated increase to base pay.

That there should be no change to the current pay arrangements for medical officers and dental officers (MODOs):

Two-star MODOs should continue to be paid 10% above the base pay at the top of the MODO 1-star scale, plus X-factor.

Three-star MODOs should continue to be paid 5% above the base pay at the top of the MODO 2-star scale, plus X-factor.

In the last five years the armed forces have received a cumulative pay award of 14.9%. It is hoped that, combined with the 33% of service personnel also benefiting from incremental pay rises, the increase to starting salaries (after training) to £23,496 and the freeze on SFA and food charges,, this represents a fair settlement for the armed forces and demonstrates how much the Government value their service and families.

The attachment can be viewed online at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2023-07-13/HCWS943/.

[HCWS943]

Teacher Pay Award

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)]

The 33rd report of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) is being published today, setting out their recommendations on teacher pay from September based on evidence provided from statutory consultees, including teaching unions.

I am pleased to confirm that the Government have today accepted the STRB’s recommendations for 2023-24 teacher pay awards in full. This means that teachers and leaders in maintained schools will receive an increase of at least 6.5%, the highest STRB award in three decades. This comes on top of the increases already received last year, and for many teachers will also be accompanied by additional pay rises due to progression, recognising the hard work of our teaching profession. Further information about the implementation of this can be found in the annex to this statement.

These recommendations also include higher uplifts to starting salaries outside London, which mean that as of September, the Government will have delivered its manifesto commitment of starting salaries of £30,000 or more for teachers in all areas of the country.

The award is fully funded, and we will be providing an additional £525 million of funding in 2023-24, and £900 million in 2024-25. That is equivalent to the full costs of the pay award over 3.5% which our evidence states is affordable to schools nationally, and in line with the evidence the Government submitted to the STRB. This Government are committed to living within its means and delivering value for the taxpayer, and therefore we are reprioritising within the Department for Education’s existing budget to deliver this additional funding to schools, while protecting frontline services. The award is consistent with the Government priority to halve inflation.

This support is being provided in respect of mainstream and special schools, as well as school-based early years and post-16 provision. Every school will benefit from this additional funding. We have also published details of its distribution (which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-additional-grant-2023-to-2024 ) providing schools with the information they need to finalise their budgets. I recognise that this will not mean that no school will face financial challenges and I will also extend the support currently available to individual schools facing the most difficult financial circumstances by up to £40 million.

This support comes on top of the £2 billion a year provided for schools in our autumn statement. As a result, the core schools budget will now total more than £59.6 billion in 2024-2, its highest ever level, in real terms per pupil, as confirmed by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies.

I am also announcing today other measures to promote recruitment and retention across schools which remains a priority for this Government. We will convene a workload reduction taskforce to explore how we can go further to support trust and school leaders to minimise workload for teachers and leaders. We want to build on previous successes and aim to reduce working hours by five hours per week. We also plan to reinsert a revised list of administrative tasks that teachers should not be expected to do into the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD).

We know that flexible working opportunities can help to recruit, retain, and motivate teachers and leaders and help promote staff wellbeing. Last month we appointed seven flexible working ambassador multi-academy trusts and schools to offer practical advice to school leaders on implementing flexible working and we are currently in the process of recruiting more. This is part of a wider programme, funded by the Department, to help embed flexible working in schools and trusts.

[HCWS942]

Air Quality Update

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

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

Air quality in the UK has improved significantly in recent decades. We have seen a decrease in emissions of major air pollutants: for instance, emissions of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), the most damaging pollutant to human health, decreased by 10% between 2010 and 2021. Reductions in these pollutants have produced significant benefits for our health and environment.

These significant reductions in emissions mean that the UK as a whole has achieved the current domestic and international emission reduction commitments for emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and non-methane volatile organic compounds. The UK has also achieved the emission reduction commitments for ammonia with the inclusion of an approved adjustment. The latest figures for other pollutants are published on Gov.uk.

We remain committed to further reducing these levels. This year we have strengthened our stringent standards by setting two legally binding long-term targets for England to reduce concentration levels and exposure to PM_2.5. The figures published today show our continued progress to delivering on these targets: the maximum concentration levels measured have decreased to 12 micrograms per cubic metre. They also confirm that, as we said at the time of publishing the targets, while we would like to see quicker progress, in certain parts of the country this is not realistic.

We have set out our ambitious pathway to improve air quality through the environmental improvement plan and air quality strategy. These documents recognise the essential role of local authorities and set out our progress in meeting our air quality objectives across a range of sectors including from domestic use, roadside emissions, agriculture and industrial processes.

Including:

phasing out the most polluting solid fuels burnt at home,

requiring National Highways to work with local authorities on their local air quality action plan to tackle roadside emissions from the most polluting roads,

continuing to help local authorities develop and implement local N02 reduction plans and to support those impacted by these plans,

rolling out the UK ‘Best Available Technique’ system, by which industry and regulators are able to collaborate to improve standards, technologies and methods in industrial processes,

incentivising ammonia reduction, through our new farming schemes by investing £34 million in slurry storage infrastructure in 2023 and an additional £31 million, a proportion of which is for equipment that will help reduce ammonia emissions,

allocating £4 million to Innovate UK to develop products or services which reduce air pollution emissions from domestic burning and agricultural practices, and

expanding the PM_2.5 monitoring networks across England.

Air quality in England is improving and we have set out an ambitious pathway in the environmental improvement plan to drive down pollution further. As required under the Environment Act 2021, I will provide a further update to the House on our progress in 2024.

[HCWS934]

Human Rights and Democracy Report 2022

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

My noble Friend the Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and United Nations, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, has made the following written ministerial statement:

I have today laid before Parliament a copy of the 2022 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report on human rights and democracy (CP number 886).

The report monitors human rights developments overseas in 2022 and, 75 years on from the signing of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, demonstrates the Government’s continuing commitment to promote and defend human rights and open societies. This includes our work to stop sexual violence against women and girls in conflict, and our actions to promote media freedom and freedom of religion or belief, all with a particular focus on the vulnerable. The report also highlights the UK’s work with the international community in 2022 to bring Russia to account for its atrocities in Ukraine.

The UK remains resolute in our commitment to protect and promote human rights and to use the international system to hold perpetrators to account for their human rights violations.

[HCWS944]

Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Steve Barclay)]

The 51st report of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB), the 45th report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB), and the 36th report of the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) are being published today. The reports will be presented to Parliament and published on gov.uk.

This is further to Staff Council accepting the offer made to “Agenda for Change” staff, which was announced to the House on 3 May 2023.

I am grateful to all the chairs and members of the DDRB, SSRB and NHSPRB for their reports. I am accepting their pay recommendations in full, recognising the vital contribution that NHS staff make to our country.

The DDRB has recommended a 6% increase to national salary pay scales, pay ranges or the pay elements of contracts for all groups included in their remit this year, with a further consolidated uplift of £1,250 for doctors and dentists in training.

The SSRB recommended a 5% uplift for very senior managers (VSMs) and executive senior managers (ESMs) for 2023-24, and that an additional 0.5% of the ESM and VSM pay bill in each employing organisation is used to address pay anomalies.

These recommendations are broadly in line with pay growth in the private sector.

Doctors and dentists

After careful consideration of the pay review body reports, we have decided to accept their pay recommendations in full. In doing so, we have committed to:

uplifting pay points for doctors and dentists in training (c. 67,000 doctors) by 6% plus £1,250 on a consolidated basis;

uplifting the salaries of consultants (c. 55,000 doctors) by 6% on a consolidated basis;

uplifting the pay range for salaried GMPs (c. 15,000 doctors) by 6% on a consolidated basis;

uplifting the pay element of the general dental practitioners contract (c.24,000 dentists) and the minimum and maximum pay scale for salaried dentists by 6% on a consolidated basis;

uplifting the pay scales of specialist and associate specialist (SAS) doctors on pre-2021 contracts (c.6,000 doctors) by 6% on a consolidated basis and uplifting the salaries of SAS doctors on the 2021 contract (c.4000 doctors) by 3% on a consolidated basis on top of the increase for 2023-24 already agreed as part of the multi-year deal.

Senior managers

After careful consideration, we have decided to accept the pay recommendations of the SSRB in full. In doing so, we have committed to:

Uplifting the salaries for VSMs and ESMs in the NHS by 5%;

Recommending 0.5% of the ESM and VSM pay bill in each employing organisation is used as a pot to address specific pay anomalies.

Additionally, the SSRB recommend that central approval or rejection of proposed VSM or ESM pay is provided within four weeks of submission of the pay case. I agree that improvements should be made to the process, but cannot accept this recommendation in full as the Department will need sufficient time to review and scrutinise any bid we receive.

All pay awards will be backdated to 1 April 2023. This pay award is only applicable to NHS staff in England. The 2023-24 pay uplift for NHS staff directly employed by NHS providers will be funded by NHS England through system allocations.

While it is right we accept the PRB recommendations, this needs to be proportionate and balanced with the manage the country’s long-term economic health. Sustained higher levels of inflation would have a worse impact on people’s real incomes in the long run, which is why we need proportionate and balanced pay increases as recommended by the independent pay review bodies.

In written and oral evidence to the pay review bodies, the Government set out what was affordable within the NHS spending review settlement. The pay review bodies have recommended pay awards above this level. This Government are committed to living within our means and delivering value for the taxpayer. More borrowing would add pressures on inflation at exactly the wrong time, risking higher interest rates and higher mortgage rates. We plan to increase the main rate of the immigration health surcharge—to ensure it covers the full healthcare costs of those who pay it, having been frozen for the last three years despite high inflation and wider pressures— to £1,035, and the discounted rate for students, their dependents, those on youth mobility schemes and under-18s to £776. We will fund this pay award through prioritisation within existing departmental budgets and will protect frontline services.

Accepting the full DDRB recommendations is the fair and reasonable way to determine pay for doctors and dentists across the country. Ongoing industrial action should now be urgently called off, to avoid any further unnecessary disruption to NHS services. We expect that the medical trade unions’ trade disputes with the Government should cease.

[HCWS946]

Late Night Levy: Commencement of 2017 Changes

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire (Chris Philp)]

The late night levy, introduced in 2011, is a discretionary tool that local authorities may introduce to assist with the costs associated with premises opening between the hours of 12 am and 6 am and which sell alcohol.

Under section 142 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, several changes to the late night levy were introduced. This will allow licensing authorities the power to apply the levy to late night refreshment premises to assist with the cost of policing the night time economy if they choose to do so and dependent on the outcome of a local consultation.

These changes were not commenced at this time following recommendations from the House of Lords Select Committee which carried out post-legislative scrutiny of the Licensing Act 2003. It requested that the Government delay the commencement of the 2017 Act provisions until they had considered the Committee's recommendations. As a result of these recommendations, the Government committed to consult on the application of the levy to LNR providers prior to commencing the changes that the 2017 Act would make. The consultation was delayed largely due to the pandemic but is now complete. The outcome of the public consultation was to give local authorities the option to offer a 30% reduction to late night refreshment providers that qualify for small business rate relief. This reduction is already available in relation to premises that supply alcohol.

Now that the consultation is complete, we are commencing the wider changes made via the Policing and Crime Act 2017 which will come into effect as of today. These include permitting PCCs the right to request that a licensing authority formally propose a levy and will require licensing authorities to publish information about how the revenue raised from the levy is spent. These changes will make the levy more flexible for local areas, fairer to business and more transparent. The levy will be an optional tool that local authorities can utilise to address alcohol-related crime and disorder.

Updated guidance to reflect the changes will be published on gov.uk.

[HCWS935]

Police Update

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Suella Braverman)]

The ninth report of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) was published today. The review body considered the pay and allowances for police officers up to and including the chief officer ranks in England and Wales. The Government thank the Chair and members for their independent and expert advice.

Our police officers work tirelessly to keep this country safe and play a vital role in society. The Government are grateful for their dedication.

The PRRB has recommended a consolidated increase of 7% to all ranks up to and including assistant chief constables and commanders, with a corresponding increase to London weighting and the dog handlers’ allowance; removal of pay point 0 of the constables’ pay scale to bring starting salaries for constables up to £28,551; and an increase to pay point 3 of the chief superintendents’ pay scale by £2,838 from 1 September 2023 and £2,837 from 1 September 2024.1 have accepted these recommendations in full.

The 7% consolidated pay award will support forces to continue to maintain their officer workforce, following the successful recruitment of 20,000 additional officers.

The PRRB considered proposals for a new pay structure for chief constables and deputy chief constables. It recommended it is implemented for new appointments with effect from 1 September 2023, with existing chief constables and deputy chief constables transitioning to the new structure over at least three years. It recommended those transitioning to the new structure receive a pay increase of between 5% and 7%. To ensure the pay differentials between chief constables, deputy chief constables and other chief officer ranks in the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police are maintained, the PRRB further recommended those ranks receive a pay increase of between 5% and 7%.

I have accepted the recommendation to implement a new pay structure in principle, subject to the development of a full and coherent implementation plan. In the interim, all chief constables and deputy chief constables, and ranks above commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police, will receive a pay award of 7% in line with that for all other ranks.

As of 31 March 2023, there are 149,572 officers that will receive a consolidated increase of 7% to their pay as a result of the Government’s acceptance of the PRRB’s recommendations.

In determining the 2023-24 police pay award, the Government have carefully considered the PRRB’s report. However, the recommendations the PRRB makes are above affordability and therefore the Government have had to make difficult trade-offs in accepting this award whilst ensuring it is consistent with the Government priority to halve inflation.

Police officers across England and Wales play a critical role in reducing crime and keeping the public safe. The Government are committed to maintaining the additional 20,000 police officers recruited under the police uplift programme, and therefore the Home Office will provide additional funding for police forces over the spending review period of £330 million in 2023-24 and £515 million in 2024-25. This comes on top of the funding confirmed at the police funding settlement at which we announced that funding available to police and crime commissioners will increase by up to £550 million in 2023-24, including an increase of £174 million in Government grants.

The Home Office will achieve this by striving for offsetting savings in other programmes and working with forces to make efficiencies in meeting these exceptional financial pressures. The independent policing productivity review is due to report to the Home Secretary this autumn, and we expect policing to take all opportunities, including those identified by the review, to improve productivity and maximise the impact of the significant investment made in policing. The Home Office is also working hard to maximise its other income streams in order to reduce reliance on taxpayer funding in other vital areas of delivery.

The PRRB also asks policing parties to bring forward proposals for a review of the existing power of PCCs to increase and decrease base pay of chief constables by plus or minus 10% on appointment. While I am content to receive proposals on this matter, I do not accept the PRRB’s recommendation that the Home Office should issue guidance to PCCs advising them against exercising their power to vary starting salaries on appointment until the review is concluded. It is right that PCCs continue to use their discretion while this matter is considered.

The PRRB further recommends the relocation allowance for chief officers is amended as proposed by the chief officer remuneration review; and that the impact of the scheme is reviewed within three years of implementation. I accept the recommendation in principle, subject to the development of more detailed proposals to inform the amendments to the Police Regulations 2003.

I welcome the PRRB’s recommendations that: policing parties should bring forward proposals to improve the independence, transparency, and consistency of determining and reporting on chief officer pay and allowances, including proposals on how to place in the public domain on an annual basis a consistent set of data on the total pay and allowances received by each chief officer in each force; and that the National Police Chiefs’ Council should provide an interim report by 30 November 2023 on its progress to develop a long-term pay and reward strategy, which should include an update on the work on constable base pay and a back to first principles review of the P-factor.

[HCWS945]

Prison Staff and Judiciary Pay Awards

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Alex Chalk)]

I am today confirming the Government decision on pay awards for both prison staff and the judiciary.

Prison staff pay award 2023-24

Having carefully considered the Prison Service Pay Review Body’s (PSPRB) recommendations on the 2023-24 pay award, we are accepting in full the 13 recommendations made by the PSPRB for all staff within their remit for implementation in this financial year. The pay award will also apply to some non-remit group staff within the Prison Service grading structure. Nearly 39,000 staff will benefit from the pay award, based on internal estimates.

I am grateful for the continued hard work and dedication of all Prison Service staff, who play a vital role in helping to rehabilitate prisoners and keep the public safe.

The award delivers headline pay increases of:

7% for prison officer grades (bands 3 to 5)

5% for managerial and prison governor grades (bands 7 to 12)

£2,000 for our lowest paid staff, band 2 operational support grades.

This pay award will be paid this autumn and will be backdated to 1 April 2023.

Accepting all recommendations from the PSPRB in full reflects my commitment to supporting the recruitment and retention of prison staff and recognises the essential contribution they make every day. In recognition of the significant cost-of-living pressures on staff, this pay award especially targets the lowest grades.

The pay award this year has been made affordable by reprioritising spending within the existing budgets, including at the efficiency and savings review, with consideration of the inflationary pressures across the Department’s budget, the wider economic position, and alongside the additional cost of the pay award in 2022-23. It is affordable in the context of the Department’s spending review settlement, which provided an extra £3.2 billion across this Parliament, taking total funding to £11.5 billion in 2024-25. This award is consistent with the Government’s priority to halve inflation and recognises the primacy of investing in people.

I would like to thank the PSPRB for its valuable advice and response to the Government’s evidence.

The report has been laid before Parliament today, 13 July 2023. I am grateful to the chair and members of the review body for their report.

Judicial pay award 2023-24

The Government received the Senior Salaries Review Body’s (SSRB) report on 8 June 2023. This will be presented to Parliament and published on gov.uk.

The Government value the independent expertise and insight of the SSRB and have considered the advice in the report.

The recommendation made by the SSRB for the judiciary is for a pay award of 7% for all judicial office holders within the remit group for 2023-24. I have decided to accept this recommendation, which will be applied equally to all salary groups backdated to April 2023.

This award is over double that of last year and will apply to 1,922 salaried judicial office holders. The award will help address judicial recruitment shortfalls, and I have considered affordability and the Government priority to halve inflation alongside the need for ongoing investment into improving the wider criminal justice system.

This increase demonstrates the value the Government place on our independent judiciary and their crucial role as we continue to deliver court reform and tackle the outstanding caseload.

[HCWS941]

Elections Act 2022: Implementation

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Dehenna Davison)]

Statutory guidance on digital imprints introduced by part 6 of the Elections Act 2022

My hon. Friend the Minister for Faith and Communities (Baroness Scott of Brybrook) has made the following written ministerial statement:

Digital technology is an important tool in political campaigning and having an active online presence has become crucial for political parties and campaigners to connect with the public and get their message heard. The Government are committed to supporting campaigners in making the most of digital campaigning tools, while balancing those needs with the public’s legitimate expectation that digital campaigning be more transparent. To this end, the Government recently introduced as part of the Elections Act 2022 one of the most comprehensive “digital imprint” regimes that operates in the world today.

Digital imprints will increase transparency for voters and empower them to make informed decisions about the campaigning material they see online. The new rules will require those promoting certain digital campaigning material aimed at influencing the UK public’s views to state who they are and anyone on behalf of whom they are promoting material.

The new rules will, for the most part, apply all year round, UK wide, and regardless of where in the world content is promoted from.

To support compliance with the new regime, the Act includes a provision for statutory guidance to be prepared by the Electoral Commission and be approved by the Secretary of State and Parliament. The Electoral Commission ran a public consultation on an earlier draft version of the guidance towards the end of last year. As set out in the Electoral Commission’s response to that consultation, responses were received from a range of groups including political parties, academics and trade unions, and overall, the feedback was positive.

The Government have considered the draft guidance provided by the Commission and are today laying the guidance, with no modifications, before Parliament for approval. This draft guidance offers comprehensive guidance on how to follow the new rules, and will be a useful resource in supporting campaigners, candidates, and political parties in understanding and complying with the new rules. It also offers guidance to the relevant authorities (the police and the Electoral Commission) on the enforcement of the rules. The Government expect this will support the authorities in enforcing the new digital imprint rules effectively including when considering whether to impose a sanction depending on the facts of each case and where it is necessary and proportionate to do so.

If the guidance is approved by Parliament, it will come into force alongside the new digital imprint rules, later this year. To facilitate parliamentarians’ access to the guidance, the document has been deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS936]

Intelligence and Security Committee Report: China

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Rishi Sunak)]

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) has today laid before Parliament a report examining the threat posed by the Chinese authorities and the United Kingdom’s response. I welcome the report and thank the Committee for its efforts.

China poses an epoch-defining challenge to the international order. Under the Chinese Communist party (CCP) it is becoming more authoritarian at home and more assertive overseas. We have been clear that our approach to China must therefore be rooted in our national interest and co-ordinated with like-minded partners.

The Committee’s inquiry began in 2019 and took the bulk of its evidence in 2020, predating both the integrated review 2021 and the integrated review refresh 2023. These are both comprehensive national security and international policy reviews that considerably strengthen our position on China. The Government have already taken actions that are in line with many of the Committee’s recommendations.

The integrated review 2021 articulated the United Kingdom’s robust stance towards China. It highlighted China’s increasing international assertiveness and identified it as the biggest state-based comprehensive threat to the United Kingdom’s economic security. It placed greater emphasis on defending our interests and values while preserving the potential for co-operation on shared interests.

The integrated review refresh 2023 went further still, responding to subsequent changes in the strategic environment. In the IRR, the Government recognised China as a systemic challenge with implications for almost every area of Government policy and the everyday lives of the British people. The IRR also recognised China’s size and significance on almost every global issue, and set out the UK’s preference for better co-operation, understanding, predictability and stability with China.

Responding to this systemic challenge, the Government committed to:

greater national security protections to safeguard the United Kingdom’s people, prosperity and security, including to communities now at home in Britain;

deeper co-operation and closer alignment with allies and partners to push back against behaviours that undermine international law, violate human rights and seek to coerce other sovereign nations; and

engagement with China bilaterally and in international fora to preserve and strengthen open, constructive, predictable, and stable relations.

We are improving our understanding of interference in our society and our values and taking action to address it, whatever its source.

We have passed the National Security Act 2023, which, in addition to helping us meet several of the Committee’s recommendations on China, fulfils a number of commitments we made following publication of the Committee’s 2020 Russia report. The Act constitutes the most significant overhaul of our national security law in more than a century. It will put us ahead of many of our partners in enabling our law enforcement agencies and the security and intelligence services to deter, detect and disrupt the full range of modern day threats, including from China. In addition to modernising the offence of espionage, it introduces a range of new offences for foreign interference, assisting a foreign intelligence service, sabotage and theft of trade secrets; creates modernised and extended “acts preparatory” offences; and creates enhanced investigatory powers.

The foreign interference offence created by the National Security Act will be added to the list of priority offences in the Online Safety Bill. This means social media platforms, search engines and other apps and websites allowing people to post their own content will have a legal duty to take proactive, preventive action to identify and minimise people’s exposure to state-sponsored or state-linked disinformation aimed at interfering with the United Kingdom, including from China.

We set up the defending democracy taskforce in 2022 to lead work across Government to secure the integrity of our democracy. This includes co-ordinating work to ensure the safety and security of our elections; tackling disinformation, working with Parliament on enhanced cyber security measures for parliamentarians; and leading a review into how we can protect diaspora communities in the United Kingdom from foreign attempts at control (so-called transnational repression).

We passed the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 to further protect our campuses from threats to lawful freedom of speech, whether those relate to China or any other source. We have already appointed the first Director for Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom at the Office for Students. The remit of this new role is to promote the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom on campus and to have responsibility for investigating infringements of freedom of speech duties in higher education, with new sanctions or options for individual redress. We are also removing all Government funding from Confucius institutes in the United Kingdom.

We have protected against threats to our economic security, wherever they come from. This includes taking steps to reduce reliance on Chinese technology and secure our critical national infrastructure against interference and evolving cyber threats.

We have tightened our scrutiny of foreign investment in the United Kingdom, through the creation and use of new powers under the National Security and Investment Act (NSIA) 2021, allowing us to take a broader approach than many other countries. Our annual report shows that in 2022-23 we received 866 notifications and issued 15 final orders blocking, unwinding or attaching conditions to deals, of which eight had an acquirer linked to China.

We have banned Huawei from the nation’s 5G network, creating one of the toughest telecoms security regimes in the world.

We have reduced Chinese involvement in the civil nuclear sector, including taking ownership of the stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power project previously held by the Chinese state-owned company CGN.

We are committed to removing surveillance technology from sensitive areas of the government estate.

We have created the National Protective Security Authority to help British start-ups, academia and other organisations defend themselves against national security threats, by providing training and advice on how to harden their defences against threats posed by states, including theft of international property, exploiting academic research and deceptive use of professional networking sites to acquire sensitive information.

We signed a bilateral agreement setting out acceptable behaviour in cyberspace with China in 2015. As a responsible cyber power, we will continue to hold China accountable. This includes in July 2021, joining with international partners to publicly confirm that Chinese state-backed actors were responsible for the Microsoft Exchange servers attack that took place in early 2021, as well as other malicious cyber activity.

Our National Cyber Security Centre has shared regular technical advisories, drafted in close partnership with our international partners, to identify and provide the technical insight to detect and remediate specific state-sponsored malicious cyber activity. This includes working with agencies in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to issue a technical advisory in May 2023 to help organisations detect Chinese state-sponsored activity against critical national infrastructure networks.

We have protected our academic and research sectors and addressed the risk of sensitive technology transfer.

We have led the international community by tightening our export controls regime and adding China to the list of destinations subject to military end-use controls.

We launched the trusted research initiative to secure the integrity of international research collaboration, which is vital to the nation’s research and innovation sector.

We have established the Research Collaboration Advice Team (RCAT) to provide tailored advice to researchers and institutions on how to manage national security risks in international collaborations. Since its launch in March 2022, RCAT has engaged over 130 research institutions and addressed over 350 specific queries, resulting in targeted mitigations of national security concerns.

We have expanded the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) to include new areas of sensitive technology and to cover both researchers and postgraduate students. This allows us to tighten the screening of academics and researchers in sensitive fields and avoid transfer of sensitive material and knowledge.

We continue to act in concert with our international partners, including to highlight and address human rights issues.

We have continued to raise concerns about China’s human rights violations, including leading international condemnation of China over Hong Kong with G7 and Five Eyes partners, securing joint statements on Xinjiang at the UN and sanctioning Chinese Government officials for violations against Uyghurs and other minorities.

We also introduced a bespoke immigration route for British National (Overseas) status holders from Hong Kong. As of 31 March 2023, we had approved 166,420 applications from BN(O) status holders to live in the United Kingdom. We also have suspended our extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extended our arms embargo on China to include Hong Kong.

To support all this, we have increased investment in the capabilities that help us to understand and adapt to China, doubling funding for these across Government. We have made particular efforts to align our approach with our closest allies and partners, including those in the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan.

We are grateful for the tireless work of our security and intelligence services to protect national security at home and abroad.

We are not complacent and we are keenly aware that there is more to do.

Wherever China’s actions or intent threaten the national interest, we will continue to take swift action. We welcome the Committee and Parliament’s scrutiny and the proposals for further action. They are rightly challenging. We are alive to the need to make effective use of the new legislation and powers that we have introduced and to continue adapting our approach and actions to meet the challenge that China presents. In concert with our international partners we will continue to engage with China to preserve and create space for open, constructive, predictable and stable relations that reflect China’s significance in world affairs and to ensure our interests and those of our allies are best advanced.

The Government will consider the Committee’s recommendations and conclusions with care to assess where further action should be taken. We will publish a full response in due course and in the usual manner.

[HCWS938]

Rail Infrastructure Update

Thursday 13th July 2023 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Mark Harper)]

Yesterday, Wednesday 12 July, HS2 Ltd announced that its Chief Executive Officer Mark Thurston would step down after six and a half years at the helm of Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

I want to thank him for his work over the last six years on progressing Britain’s most transformative rail project. He successfully oversaw the start of construction and drove the project to full scale with HS2 supporting tens of thousands of jobs, including apprenticeships, across the country. The Government and I are grateful for his service.

HS2 continues to represent a strategic investment into our national infrastructure, connecting our biggest cities and injecting more innovation and skills into the UK’s construction sector.

Mark will leave HS2 Ltd at the end of September this year, when Sir Jon Thompson will become Executive Chair for an interim period while a new Chief Executive is recruited.

[HCWS947]