Written Statements

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

Tuesday 21 May 2024

National Security and Investment Act: Statement for the Purposes of Section 3

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Secretary of State in the Cabinet Office (Oliver Dowden)]

On 18 April I published the Government’s response to the national security and investment call for evidence, which sought feedback from stakeholders on how the Government can increase understanding of the National Security and Investment Act 2021 and the risks it seeks to address. As part of the Government’s response, I committed to publishing an updated section 3 statement setting out the factors I expect to take into account when exercising the call-in power under the NSI Act. I also committed to publish further guidance on a range of topics to help stakeholders understand how the Act works.

Today I have fulfilled both of those commitments by laying an amended section 3 statement before Parliament and publishing updates to the extensive market guidance the Government have published on www.gov.uk.

The previous version of the section 3 statement was published in November 2021, ahead of the NSI Act’s commencement. While this updated version has a high degree of continuity with the previous version, several key changes have been made to better explain how the Secretary of State has used, and will continue to use, the Act’s powers.

These changes include further information on the approach the Government take to assessing risk in relation to:

Trigger events—including the circumstances in which certain acquisitions could be considered under the NSI Act, including the incorporation of new entities, formation of joint ventures, and outward direct investment.

The targets of acquisitions—including how the Government may consider technology transfer risks when reviewing asset acquisitions.

Acquirers—including where the Government may see risk from UK acquirers or acquirers that have previously been cleared through the NSI system.

The control being acquired—including how the Government may consider control risk in cases involving passive and non-controlling investments.

How decisions are made—including improved examples of how the Government assesses target risk, acquirer risk and control risk.

Today I have also updated the guidance for the NSI system, which is published on www.gov.uk. This includes additional guidance for higher education institutions as well as new guidance on how the Act can apply to outward direct investment and how statutory timelines are calculated. A full summary of the changes is available on www.gov.uk.

I will place a copy of the updated NSI statement for the purposes of section 3 in the Libraries of both Houses.

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UK Youth Parliament: British Youth Council Closure

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stuart Andrew)]

The UK Youth Parliament was formed in 1999 and is made up of 300 Members of Youth Parliament aged 11 to 18, who represent thousands of young people from their communities across the UK. MYPs are elected to represent the views of their young constituents both to the Government and to national and local decision makers. They meet regularly to hold debates and plan campaigns at a local, regional and national level, which includes an annual debate in the House of Commons.

The British Youth Council, which had delivered the UK Youth Parliament since 2011, announced its closure on 21 March 2024. Since then, we have been doing all we can to ensure that the UKYP can continue with minimum disruption. In the immediate weeks following the announcement, I met with key regional delivery organisations, Members of Youth Parliament, interested MPs, youth organisations and other relevant parties.

Today, less than two months after the closure of the BYC and following extensive assessment of providers’ capability and capacity, the Government are announcing they have appointed the National Youth Agency to deliver the UKYP programme for the remainder of the financial year 2024-25, in partnership with a range of organisations based across the United Kingdom.

My Department will now begin a formal review of the UKYP to help inform the longer term future of the programme, and will work closely with young people throughout this process. In addition, my Department is exploring its role in supporting the delivery of other youth voice activities which were previously facilitated by the BYC. We remain open to proposals from organisations or sector bodies on how these might be delivered by others in the future.

I hope that Members of Youth Parliament will feel encouraged by this news and will continue to be involved in the UKYP.

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Nuclear Test Veterans: Atomic Weapons Establishment Records

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Defence People and Families (Dr Andrew Murrison)]

On 28 November 2023, I made a commitment during the debate on Nuclear Test Veterans: Medical Records (Official Report, column 245WH) to personally review records held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment relating to nuclear test veterans. Having reviewed 151 records, I am today publishing those papers on www.gov.uk and also placing them in the Library of the House.

The titles of 151 records were promulgated in responses provided by the AWE to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests on 5 July and 12 September 2023, following a search for records using the terms “blood” and “urine” within a database named Merlin.

The Merlin database contains over 28,000 records relating to historical technical and scientific documentation on the UK’s nuclear testing programme. It is held and maintained by AWE and was developed to store relevant factual documentary evidence considered during nuclear test veterans’ legal action for compensation.

The Merlin database does not contain, and AWE does not hold, any medical records for any former service personnel. Any medical records taken either before, during or after participation in the UK nuclear weapon tests should be held in individual military medical records in the Government’s archives, which can be accessed on request. A veteran, or representative acting on their behalf, can make a subject access request to gain access to records held on them. The records of deceased veterans can be requested by surviving family members through an FOI request. Guidance is set out on: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/requests-for-personal-data-and-service-records.

AWE does hold, and routinely responds to requests for, the dosimetry data of nuclear test veterans and will continue to do so. Further information on submitting a SAR or FOI to AWE for this data can be found here: https://www.awe.co.uk/freedom-of-information-act/.

Concurrently, the Ministry of Defence is also conducting a review of around 74,000 historic files in the ES and AB series relating to the UK’s nuclear weapons programme. There has been speculation that this work relates to the concerns of nuclear test veterans, which is not the case. The files were withdrawn from the National Archives to be reviewed due to emerging national security considerations. To date, approximately 68,000 files have been released back to public access. As this security review has progressed, those records which may relate to historic testing have been, and will continue to be, prioritised.

I would like to make clear that the Ministry of Defence, including its agencies and arm’s length bodies, does not withhold any personal data or medical records from nuclear test veterans.

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Third Carbon Budget: Final Statement

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero (Justin Tomlinson)]

I am making this statement for the benefit of hon. and right hon. Members to bring to your attention the publication of the final statement of the third carbon budget today. The third carbon budget, which ran from 2018 to 2022, was set in 2009 according to what was considered an ambitious but technically feasible emissions reductions trajectory at the time. This statement confirms we have not only achieved, but also over-delivered on the target for this period by 15%.

By the end of the period in 2022, UK net greenhouse gas emissions were 50% lower than the base year emissions, and provisional data for 2023 shows we have gone even further. This makes the UK the first major economy to halve its emissions since 1990, while also growing its economy by around 80%.

The Climate Change Act was passed in 2008 and amended in 2019 to increase the ambition of our 2050 target to net zero. The Act sets out the legal framework to keep us on track to net zero, with carbon budgets setting interim targets over five-year periods. It also includes flexibilities to support the delivery of carbon budgets, such as the use of international carbon units and ability to carry forward over-performance from one carbon budget period to the next to incentivise early delivery of emissions savings. The statement published today confirms that we have not relied on international carbon units to meet the third carbon budget.

When the Climate Change Act was being passed, the then Government insisted that the option to carry forward over-delivery was essential to incentivise early action. I am also pleased to confirm today that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Claire Coutinho) has decided to forgo the option to carry forward any over-performance from the third carbon budget to the fourth carbon budget. We are already on track to over-deliver once again in the fourth carbon budget without the need to carry-over.

The performance and the decision I have announced today demonstrate this Government’s unwavering commitment to meeting our ambitious emissions targets, including the legislated carbon budgets and net zero by 2050, as well as our delivery on emissions reductions, which go well beyond what any other major economy has achieved, all the while taking a pragmatic, proportionate and realistic approach to doing so, easing burdens on families and businesses.

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Expanding the Sustainable Farming Incentive Offer

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries (Sir Mark Spencer)]

Today, the Government will publish the details of the expanded sustainable farming incentive offer, providing significant improvements and expansion to the scheme, so that they work for farmers and their businesses.

In six months, almost a quarter of all farmers have applied to join the SFI. This is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ most popular agri-environmental scheme to date. This level of interest underscores the importance of schemes that are flexible and straightforward, qualities we have worked to incorporate based on the direct input of the farming community.

From July, farmers and land managers will have the opportunity to access an expanded offer, bringing together and enhancing the SFI and countryside stewardship mid tier. This will simplify and streamline the application process, allowing farmers to focus on what they do best: producing food. For the first time, the SFI is available to those who did not receive basic payment scheme payments.

The expanded SFI offer will increase the number of actions to 102, covering a wide range of themes. The 102 actions comprise of all the actions currently available in the SFI offer, 23 new actions including agroforestry, precision farming and no-till practices for the first time, a new and improved offer for upland farmers, a much wider range of actions accessible to tenants, and 57 improved versions of actions currently in countryside stewardship mid tier, including one endorsed action initially—species-rich grassland—which will come online when the offer opens. New actions will support flood and water management, helping businesses to become more resilient to the changing climate and challenging weather conditions. We are developing even more actions to be added to the expanded SFI offer later this year, including 16 more actions that were announced in January’s agricultural transition plan update.

To safeguard domestic food production, in March 2024 we placed limits on the amount of land farmers can enter into six SFI actions. In the expanded SFI offer, we are placing limits on an additional four actions to further safeguard domestic food production.

We are doubling the management payment, recognising the work farmers do to enter these schemes. From summer, those with existing agreements will receive up to an additional £1,000 in the first year of their agreement, paid quarterly. The management payment will pay £40 per hectare for up to the first 50 hectares entered into an eligible agreement and £20/ha for the first 50 hectares for years two and three.

On average, farmers taking part in the SFI are receiving more money than they would have done through the BPS. The average value per hectare of applications so far is £147. Alongside delinked payments for small farms this year —£115/ha—this adds up to more than the value of BPS per hectare. Farmers received £233/ha through BPS but are receiving an average of £262 through delinked payments and the sustainable farming incentive.

We have designed the SFI so that it works for small farms. In addition to the increased payment for the management payment, which favours smaller farms, we have extended eligibility to new entrant farmers and smallholders and quadrupled the number of actions available.

Our aim is to provide farmers with the necessary tools, funding and support to navigate the challenges posed by the changing climate, such as the recent prolonged wet weather. This will ensure their businesses remain resilient and productive while delivering environmental benefits. The expanded sustainable farming incentive offer and the protection of the farming budget at its current level is a clear indication of our dedication to the agricultural sector, and we are confident that it will contribute positively to both our environment and food security.

DEFRA invites all eligible farmers and land managers to explore the new expanded offer and take advantage of the benefits it provides.

This summer, we will publish information on countryside stewardship higher tier, including details of each higher-tier action, eligibility, how to apply and how to request specialist advice. From later this summer, farmers will be able to start working with Natural England or Forestry Commission advisers to prepare to apply. Online applications for higher tier will open in the rural payments service this winter. Applications will then stay open on a rolling basis, so farmers can choose when to apply.

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Lord Walney’s Report into Political Violence and Disruption

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (James Cleverly)]

The Government appointed Lord Walney in 2019 to advise the Government on political violence and extremism. During his review, he has engaged Government, public bodies, international partners, academia, civil society and those personally affected by violent disruption and extremism, and has thoroughly explored the evidence. The report he has provided to Government is extensive and compelling.

The report has been laid before Parliament today and it will also be available on www.gov.uk.

Lord Walney’s timely report identifies a rising extremist trend in this country. Its central finding is that political intimidation and the incitement of hatred by extremist groups and individuals are inhibiting the essential rights and freedoms of the general public and their representatives in politics. In recent months in particular, we have too often seen intimidatory and aggressive protest activity, with frequent disruption to our peaceful democratic process: be that protests outside MP’s home addresses, council meetings interrupted, or speaking events shut down.

Unfortunately, this has a very real impact on the elected representatives who choose to serve in public life. Lord Walney highlights a 2023 Local Government Association survey finding that 70% of local councillors

“felt at risk at least some of the time while fulfilling their role”.

We must be prepared to stand up for our shared values in all circumstances, no matter how difficult.

As Home Secretary, I will take every possible step to safeguard the people and institutions upon which our democracy depends. The Government recently committed an additional £31 million to bolstering the protection of elected representatives and our democratic processes, an investment which will be used to enhance police capabilities, increase private security support for those facing a higher risk, and expand cyber-security advice. This investment is underpinned by the defending democracy policing protocol, agreed with police chiefs, to ensure a robust policing response to disruptive activity, including the provision of dedicated, named police contacts for all elected representatives and candidates to liaise with on security matters.

As Lord Walney sets out, it is vital that we take action to manage and limit the impact of protests that descend into violence and disruption. In recent months, we have seen too often vile displays of antisemitism on our streets and aggressive, disruptive tactics deployed by some protesters. That’s why, over the coming weeks, the Government will look at Lord Walney’s recommendations on public order and changing the thresholds for imposing conditions on protests and the way in which they are applied. This includes amending the threshold to prevent protests from going ahead on account of the cumulative impact of serious disruption, or where there is the threat of intimidating or abusive conduct based on the persistence of previous arrests. In addition, we will consider his recommendation for greater responsibilities being put on the organisers of protests to limit disruption, and to allow the police to account for demands on their resource in setting conditions to ensure wider public safety in their jurisdictions beyond protests. I will be considering the merits of these suggestions across the coming weeks.

I am already introducing measures through the Criminal Justice Bill that will crack down on dangerous disorder, many of which were inspired by close working with Lord Walney over recent months, as well as ensuring that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and Public Order Act 2023 are implemented at pace. The Government have also introduced serious disruption prevention orders to allow courts to place requirements or prohibitions on an individual aged 18 or over which they consider necessary and proportionate to prevent that individual from causing serious disruption.

We must go further in tackling the root causes. In this vein, the Government have updated the definition of extremism to be used by Departments and officials, alongside a set of engagement principles. This is to ensure they do not—inadvertently or otherwise—provide a platform, funding, or legitimacy to groups or individuals who attempt to advance extremist ideologies that would deny our fundamental rights and freedoms.

I thank Lord Walney for his tireless effort in bringing the report together and will continue to work with him to ensure his report informs ongoing policy development. I will update Parliament on the Government’s progress on the issues raised in Lord Walney’s report in due course.

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Post-legislative Scrutiny of the Criminal FinancesAct 2017

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Security (Tom Tugendhat)]

The Government have today submitted a memorandum to the Home Affairs Committee regarding post-legislative scrutiny of the Criminal Finances Act 2017.

The Home Office has carried out the post-legislative scrutiny, which includes an assessment of how the Act has worked in practice, and set out its findings in a Command Paper to the Committee.

The memorandum has been laid before the House as a Command Paper (CP 1088) and published on www.gov.uk. Copies will also be available from the Vote Office.

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Tackling Illegal Migration

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Countering Illegal Migration (Michael Tomlinson)]

The Government’s No. 1 priority is keeping the UK safe and our border secure. Illegal migration reduces our capability and capacity to help those who most need our support. It puts lives in danger by placing vulnerable people into the hands of smugglers.

We are tackling the evil people-smuggling gangs behind the deadly small boats crossings. We are utilising a range of activity: legislative, operational, and diplomatic. I want to provide an update on key operational lines of effort where we are delivering on our promise to tackle illegal migration.

So far this year we have already returned over 10,000 people who were in the UK illegally. As of 19 May, provisional data shows 10,789 returns in 2024. This is over 2,000 more returns than the same point last year. This includes the removal of 1,708 foreign national offenders from the UK, which is over 400 more than the same point in 2023.

Returning people with no right to be here is only one part of our plan and we continue to deliver on wider enforcement action.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 gave the Government new powers to tackle criminality, secure our borders and deter people from making dangerous journeys to the UK. Provisional data shows that:

The Home Office Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation teams have arrested over 1,000 persons in connection with various offences under the Act.

Of these, over 750 have been charged and over 540 have been convicted, resulting to date in over 460 years sentencing in total.

This includes the arrest of over 190 individuals identified as small boat pilots. Of these, over 160 have been charged and over 110 have been convicted, resulting in over 75 years in sentencing in total.

In 2023, the NCA conducted the biggest ever international operation targeting networks suspected of using small boats for people smuggling with 136 boats and 45 outboard engines seized. In total, over the last year over 352 boats and 113 engines have been seized by the NCA and international partners.

This comes as an additional £25 million is given to the National Crime Agency to sustain, and scale up, these efforts to disrupt people smugglers and their operations.

The Government doubled the funding available to the National Crime Agency in 2023 to prevent the supply of boats and engines.

Our work across all of these fronts will continue to stop the boats and tackle illegal migration and all of the harms it causes.

Official Statistics:

The Home Office regularly publishes data on immigration on gov.uk. Quarterly statistics can be found in the immigration system statistics quarterly release, and irregular migration to the UK statistics releases. The next update to these publications will be on 23 May 2024.

Additional data is available in the migration transparency data and statistics relating to illegal migration.

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Prison Safety: Wet-shave Razors

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice (Edward Argar)]

Safety in prisons continues to be of paramount importance, and we remain committed to tackling violence against both staff and prisoners. When the Government launched the Prisons Strategy White Paper in 2021, we pledged to look at alternatives to the use of wet-shave razors in prisons, which can be used to self-harm and to carry out assaults. Recent serious assaults on prison staff illustrate the potential danger posed by wet-shave razors in prisons.

With this in mind, over the past six-month period we have undertaken pilots of electric shavers as an alternative to wet-shave razors at HMP Leicester and HMP Swansea, with a view to eliminating razor attacks on staff and prisoners.

Following these pilots, I am pleased to announce that my Department has decided to implement a phased removal of wet-shave razors from the adult male closed estate. This phased removal will start with 30 prisons in the adult male closed estate with the highest levels of violence, with the intention of a subsequent roll-out across the whole adult male estate, subject to available funding.

We will initially invest over £1.5 million this year for the first tranche of 30 prisons to provide prisoners with alternative electric shavers, which have been developed specifically for the Prison Service. We will work closely with key stakeholders, including trade unions, on the planning and implementation of this work.

My Department is committed to delivering on the promises we made in the Prisons Strategy White Paper and to tackling violence and self-harm in our prisons.

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Move to Universal Credit: Delivery Update

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Employment (Jo Churchill)]

Universal credit supports over 6 million people, providing critical financial support and tailored Work Coach services that meet the needs of individual customers. It removes the “cliff edge” for those working up to 16 hours, allowing customers to increase their earnings, while supported by a generous taper rate. This ensures that it pays to work and gives customers increased financial security as they move into work.

In April 2022 we estimated that there were 2.6 million households on legacy benefits in scope to “Move to Universal Credit”. Since July 2022, we have smoothly migrated over 275,000 households from legacy benefits, predominantly tax credit households, to universal credit. By the end of March 2024, we had issued migration notices to over 540,000 households—exceeding our ambition to send 500,000 migration notices by that point.

On 19 April, the Prime Minister announced that we would build on this strong delivery and accelerate the movement of the remaining employment and support allowance and ESA with housing benefit customers to universal credit. Our exact delivery approach and timelines will be informed by detailed planning and ongoing engagement with stakeholders. Backed by additional funding from the Treasury, we expect plans to be agreed by summer 2024. Our current planning assumption is that we would begin notifying this group in September 2024, with the aim of notifying everyone to make the move by December 2025.

Department for Work and Pensions officials have already written to all chief executives of local authorities and members of the well-established universal credit stakeholder network comprising over 200 representatives across the charity, welfare rights and social rented sector landlord community. We also wrote to officials in the devolved administrations and to Citizens Advice given its important role as a delivery partner for Help to Claim.

We estimate that around half of ESA customers will receive over £100 a month more on universal credit, as well as benefiting from the improved work incentives and better labour market support it provides.

The Government have given a commitment that, at the point of transition, no eligible customers who are invited to “Move to Universal Credit” and whose circumstances remain the same will have a lower entitlement to universal credit than they had to legacy benefits. Where necessary, eligible customers will be awarded transitional protection.



Accelerating the “Move to Universal Credit” allows us to build on the strong progress to date, utilising the expertise and knowledge of key programme and operational staff, to transition these households.

The Department has also developed and tested a new “enhanced support” journey for income support and ESA customers who require additional assistance. This process is now in place for these customer groups and involves outbound telephony, system checks and home visits, tailored to individual needs.

The Department has full confidence in its ability to successfully move the final group of legacy benefit customers to the simpler, more effective support system that is universal credit.

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Office for Nuclear Regulation Corporate Plan 2024-25

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Paul Maynard)]

Later today I will lay before this House the “Office for Nuclear Regulation Corporate Plan 2024-2025”. This document will also be published on the ONR website.

I can confirm, in accordance with paragraph 25(3) of schedule 7 to the Energy Act 2013, that there have been no exclusions to the published documents on the grounds of national security.

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