Written Statements

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

Tuesday 15 October 2024

Army Structural Change: Royal Army Medical Service

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for the Armed Forces (Luke Pollard)]

The Government are committed to ensuring a combat credible Army that is structured to meet its purpose—protecting the nation and helping it prosper by fighting and winning battles from land. I am today announcing the Government’s decision to amalgamate the Army’s current three healthcare corps into a new modern corps called the Royal Army Medical Service.

In 2021, Future Soldier set in motion changes to the Army. The Army has continued to adapt Future Soldier to account for changes in the strategic environment by refining its structures as an evolution of the plan, in response to the changing threat picture and global context.

As part of this Future Soldier modernisation programme, the Army has created a new corps, the Royal Army Medical Service, which is an amalgamation of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) and the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC). This amalgamation has no impact on workforce numbers.

The amalgamation will ensure that the next generation of the Army will continue to be supported by a modern corps capable of delivering expeditionary healthcare. The underlying ethos of its founding corps will remain.

The Royal Army Medical Service will deliver modernised, multidisciplinary healthcare offering significant scope for institutional optimisation and improved organisational culture with a shift to a unified, inclusive and representative corps. There will no longer be corps-specific limitations, allowing personnel to work across all areas of the Royal Army Medical Service. It seeks to maximise the talents of its people to enhance the Army’s fighting power and build on the successes of its forebears.

The Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) will remain an independent corps outside of the Royal Army Medical Service due to its legal and operational combatant status which differs from the special protected status of the RAMC, RADC and QARANC.

The amalgamation will deliver improvements for those serving, reduce administrative inefficiencies and promote the world-class work of those who serve in the Royal Army Medical Service. On behalf of the Government, can I thank all those who serve in the new Royal Army Medical Service for their professionalism and dedication and the care they offer?

[HCWS131]

Service Complaints Ombudsman Annual Report 2023: Formal Response

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns)]

I am pleased to place in the Library of the House today the Ministry of Defence’s formal response to the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces’ annual report for 2023 on the fairness, effectiveness and efficiency of the service complaints system.

The ombudsman’s report assessed the service complaints system and the work of her office in 2023. The response sets out the MOD’s comments to the report and includes a summary of our position on recommendations that remain open from previous annual reports.

The MOD values the strong independent oversight that the ombudsman brings to the service complaints system and remains committed to having a system in which our personnel can have confidence.

Attachments can be viewed online at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2024-10-15/HCWS136

[HCWS136]

Service Police Complaints Commissioner Annual Report 2023

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Veterans and People (Al Carns)]

I am pleased to lay before Parliament today the Service Police Complaints Commissioner’s annual report for 2023 on the service police complaints system.

This report is published by Margaret Obi and covers the operation of the service complaints system and the delivery of her functions in her first year as the commissioner.

The findings of the report will now be considered fully by the Ministry of Defence, and a formal response to the commissioner will follow once that work is complete.

[HCWS138]

Strengthening Electricity Security and Supporting Decarbonisation

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Michael Shanks)]

I am tabling this statement to inform Members of the publication of a policy update, a consultation response, a consultation and a call for evidence on 15 October 2024. This is in support of making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 and accelerating progress to net zero.

The Government are committed to delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating progress towards net zero, while ensuring the security of supply. Making Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030 is one of the Prime Minister’s five missions. To deliver this mission, we will rely even more on renewable power. The Government have set a target to double onshore wind, treble solar and quadruple offshore wind by 2030.

This will result in a wholesale shift in our long-term power system. The variable nature of renewables makes it critical that we have sufficient flexible capacity that can be ramped up quickly when generation from renewable sources is low, such as on dark, still days. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) estimates that Great Britain’s electricity system could require 40 GW to 50 GW of long duration flex capacity in 2030. This will require the accelerated deployment of low-carbon flexible technologies. The Government are already investing in low-carbon technologies to support the transition away from unabated gas.

Since its introduction in 2014, the capacity market has acted to secure sufficient capacity to ensure consistent and reliable electricity generation. The policy update that I am publishing today sets out the remaining proposals to reform the capacity market from the 2023 phase 2 consultation, aimed at aligning with the Government’s 2030 clean power and net zero goals, and improving security of supply. This document sets out policies to remove barriers for low-carbon technology to participate in the capacity market, which should accelerate investment in these technologies. This includes supporting low-carbon projects with longer build times to access support from the capacity market, enabling low-carbon technology with lower capital investment requirements to access longer-term capacity market contracts and reducing admin barriers for low-carbon technologies.

While low-carbon technologies are scaling up, we will continue to need existing flexible capacity, including unabated gas. The running hours of gas generators have already significantly reduced, and we expect that the amount of unabated gas we need will continue to decline as we deploy more low-carbon technologies. Our aim is to move unabated gas into a back-up role, primarily to ensure security of supply.

We intend to ensure that gas plants can decarbonise once low-carbon flexible technologies are available. To support the decarbonisation of unabated gas, I am today publishing a Government response to the decarbonisation readiness consultation, which will soon be followed by an accompanying statutory instrument. This will require that new build and substantially refurbishing unabated gas and other combustion power plants in England be built in such a way that they can readily decarbonise through either conversion to hydrogen-firing or by retrofitting carbon capture technology within the plant’s lifetime.

Finally, I am also publishing a capacity market consultation and a call for evidence on proposals to maintain security of supply and enable flexible capacity to decarbonise. We are seeking views on changes to the capacity market to:

Support the economic case for works to extend the life of ageing plants by lowering the scale of planned works needed to access three-year capacity market agreements;

Provide assurance that all substantially refurbishing or new combustion power plants participating in the 2026 capacity market auction have a credible plan to decarbonise before they become operational, whether through converting to hydrogen firing or carbon capture; and

Introduce exit pathways for unabated gas generators with multi-year capacity market agreements to transfer from the capacity market to bespoke support, enabling the plants to decarbonise.

These reforms will give owners and investors in gas power stations the certainty they need about future operations and their pathway to decarbonise. They come after the Government recently reached commercial agreement on the UK’s first carbon capture and industrial-scale hydrogen plants—technologies that will be critical in helping gas developers decarbonise their assets in future.

The NESO’s modelling was commenced prior to the general election and does not assume the delivery of clean power by 2030. However, these results are still likely to be informative of the level of flexible capacity that the GB system could need at this time.

DESNZ, “Capacity Market 2023: Phase 2 proposals and 10 year review—consultation”, October 2023.

[HCWS134]

Financial Services: Bank of England MREL

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Tulip Siddiq)]

The Government’s response to their consultation concerning enhancements to the special resolution regime noted that the Bank of England would consider whether any changes to its indicative minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) thresholds would be appropriate ^[1]. The Bank of England has today published a consultation, “Amendments to the Bank of England’s approach to setting a minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL)”. The consultation sets out the Bank’s intention to ensure that the MREL regime remains proportionate and evolves over time, reflecting the enhancements delivered in the Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill as well as other wider developments, and taking into account feedback from industry.

The Government welcome the publication of these proposals for consultation and recognise the importance of ensuring that the MREL regime maintains financial stability while being calibrated in a way that supports competition and competitiveness within the UK’s financial services sector. In this context, the Government note the interaction between some of the proposals set out by the Bank on its approach to setting MREL and the Bank Resolution (Recapitalisation) Bill, and welcome the Bank’s proposal to take the new mechanism for recapitalisation into account when setting MREL for firms with a preferred transfer resolution strategy. This will contribute towards ensuring that the MREL regime is proportionate, while remaining consistent with the Government’s intention that the mechanism is primarily focused on the resolution of smaller banks.

The Government are clear that the primary intent of the Bill remains to provide a new mechanism to help address the failure of smaller banks when resolution by means of a transfer to a private sector purchaser or a Bank of England-owned bridge bank is in the public interest. The Government and the Bank are also in agreement that the Bank should not assume use of the new mechanism when setting a preferred resolution strategy of bail-in and corresponding MREL requirements for larger banks, or to rely on the mechanism when resolving such larger banks unless in exceptional circumstances. The Bank’s consultation also confirms this position.

The Government intend to update the special resolution regime code of practice to make this point clear and have published draft updates on gov.uk.^[2] These and any subsequent updates will be subject to consultation with the banking liaison panel, to ensure appropriate engagement with industry.

The Government note that one of the Bank of England’s MREL proposals will require changes to secondary legislation. The Government will therefore engage with industry on the necessary changes. Subject to feedback on the Bank’s consultation and the Government’s engagement with industry, the Government will look to make the changes necessary to facilitate these proposals.

^[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66992907ce1fd0da7b59285b/Bank_Resolution__Recapitalisation__Bill_-_Consultation_Response.pdf

^[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/banking-act-2009-special-resolution-regime-code-of-practice-revised-march-2017

[HCWS135]

Innovative Finance Facility for Climate in Asia and the Pacific

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Development (Anneliese Dodds)]

It is normal practice, when a Government Department proposes to undertake a contingent liability in excess of £300,000 for which there is no specific statutory authority, for the Minister concerned to present a departmental minute to Parliament giving particulars of the liability created and explaining the circumstances, and to refrain from incurring the liability until 14 parliamentary sitting days after the issue of the statement, except in cases of special urgency.

I have today laid a departmental minute describing a new liability, the innovative finance facility for climate in Asia and the Pacific (IFCAP), which the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is undertaking to unlock additional climate finance in Asia and the Pacific. The liability is a guarantee of $280 million (£210 million) to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) IFCAP guarantee facility. The guarantee will have no up-front cost to the UK. The length of this liability is 25 years. A copy of the departmental minute to Parliament has been placed in the Library of the House.

I have separately notified the Chairs of the Public Accounts Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the International Development Committee of the UK’s intention to undertake this liability.

There is huge demand for finance, especially for climate transitions, in Asia. The ADB has pledged to become the “climate bank of Asia” and, in line with UK asks, has announced an ambition to commit $100 billion at COP26 to climate finance projects between 2019 and 2030. This will require a doubling of its climate finance commitments in the second half of this decade compared to 2019 to 2023.

IFCAP is a mechanism developed by the ADB that will support this ambition. Through IFCAP, the UK and other development partners will provide guarantees to the ADB. Together, this will unlock up to $11 billion of new affordable climate finance from the ADB to middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific—of which $1.2 billion is directly as a result of the proposed UK guarantee. The additional climate finance unlocked by IFCAP will help to mitigate carbon emissions in some of the highest polluting countries globally, and to support resilience to natural disasters in the most climate-vulnerable populations.

The UK guarantee would pay out through the ODA budget, up to a limit, the value of any missed repayment within six months if there were to be a default to the ADB by a country in the portfolio of loans guaranteed under IFCAP. The maximum total payout would be $280 million (£210 million), and the annual estimated payout for IFCAP is £6 million per year over the 25-year lifetime of the guarantee. The guarantee provides powerful credit relief to the ADB, allowing them to increase climate finance by up to $4.50 for every $1 guaranteed through IFCAP.

The impact of the guarantee on FCDO’s risk exposure has been scrutinized and approved by the FCDO accounting officer. FCDO officials have worked with the Government Actuary’s Department to model the risk of the guarantee. In the event that the guarantee is called, FCDO will have sufficient time to make the necessary budgetary arrangement to fulfil the requirements of the guarantee. Authority for any expenditure required will be sought through the normal supply procedure.

If any Member has questions, they should please not hesitate to get in touch.

[HCWS137]

Care Quality Commission: Report on Operational Effectiveness

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)]

The full findings of the review into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), conducted by Dr Penny Dash, have today been published on www.gov.uk. I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to Dr Dash for the swift and thorough job she has done on the review.

An interim report of Dr Dash’s work, published in July 2024, summarised her emerging findings to allow for early conversations on the necessary changes to improve the CQC. Those findings were shocking, and led to my conclusion that the organisation was not fit for purpose. This full report expands on that work and incorporates feedback from recent discussions with user groups and a larger number of staff.

The findings of the review highlight 10 key conclusions and provide specific recommendations for improvement, which I fully support. Notably, the review recommends that the CQC should:



Rapidly improve its operational performance.

Rebuild expertise within the organisation and relationships with providers in order to resurrect credibility.

Review the single assessment framework to make it fit for purpose.

Clarify how ratings of providers are calculated and make the results more transparent.



Continue to evolve and improve its assessments of local authorities.



Formally pause its assessments of integrated care systems (ICSs).

The review also recommends that the Department of Health and Social Care should strengthen its arrangements for sponsorship of the CQC, a recommendation upon which my Department has already acted.

Significant work is already under way to act on these findings. Last week, the CQC announced that Sir Julian Hartley will be appointed as the new chief executive of the CQC. This is a significant step forward as Sir Julian’s experience of turning around large, complex health organisations will be vital as the CQC embarks on its improvement plan. He will be supported by sector expertise through the appointment of a number of chief inspectors.

Following the publication of the interim report, the CQC commissioned Professor Sir Mike Richards to undertake a review of the single assessment framework. Findings from the first part of Sir Mike’s report will also be published by the CQC today so that both reports can be read together.

In response to the recommendations that are additional to the interim report, we are working with the CQC and the adult social care sector to ensure that local authority assessments evolve in a way that maximises their value in driving outcomes for people who draw on care and support, and their carers. I agree with Dr Dash’s recommendation to pause ICS assessments, which have not yet launched, to allow the CQC to focus on getting the basics right before introducing new functions. I am working on next steps.

By implementing Dr Dash’s recommendations, the CQC will be better positioned to fulfil its mandate of ensuring that everyone receives safe, high-quality care. A strong regulator is critical to the safety and effectiveness of our health and care system, and I am personally determined that its performance improves so that it can regain the confidence of both the public, and the health and care system.

Following the conclusion of this review, I have asked Dr Dash to lead a review of patient safety in the wider health and care landscape in England, for which I am also publishing the terms of reference today on www.gov.uk. The primary task of this review is to assess whether the current range and combination of patient safety organisations delivers effective leadership, listening, learning, and regulation to the health and care system in relation to patient and user safety.

Subject to the outcome of this second review, I will also ask Dr Dash to conduct a third review on quality and its governance. Further detail on this third review will be forthcoming in due course.

[HCWS133]

Fuller Inquiry: Response to Phase 1 Report

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting)]

On 28 November 2023, the report of phase 1 of the Fuller Independent Inquiry was published. Phase 1 of the inquiry looked into how David Fuller’s appalling crimes in the mortuaries at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust remained undetected for so long.

I wish to express my deepest sympathies to the victims’ families and reassure them that lessons will be learnt.

The inquiry found highly concerning failings in the trust’s running, management, and oversight of the mortuaries, and that it was due to this uncontrolled environment that David Fuller was able to offend undetected. Management, governance and regulation failures, alongside poor compliance with standard policies and procedures, and a persistent lack of curiosity, all contributed to the creation of the environment in which David Fuller was able to offend for 15 years without ever being suspected or caught.

The 17 recommendations—16 for the trust and the remaining one for Kent county council and East Sussex county council—made by the inquiry in phase 1 aim to prevent anything similar happening again at the trust.

Today I am updating the House on the response to those recommendations. The trust published an assurance statement in February 2024 on the implementation of the recommendations from the phase 1 report. This sets out the progress made to implement the inquiry’s recommendations.

The range of actions taken by the trust include requiring that non-mortuary staff and contractors are always accompanied by another staff member when visiting the mortuaries; controlling access to mortuaries using swipe cards; mandating contractors to renew security clearances every three years; and installing CCTV coverage monitoring access to and from mortuary areas. The trust board is also providing greater oversight and assurance of legally regulated activity in the mortuary.

I am also reassured that NHS England’s south-east regional team held monthly oversight meetings with the trust between November 2023 and April 2024—in partnership with Kent and Medway integrated care board—to ensure progress against the inquiry’s recommendations and to review evidence of the trust’s progress in delivering its action plan. Ongoing compliance with the inquiry’s recommendations will be monitored by NHS England through regular regional oversight meetings with the trust, and through other channels as appropriate.

Kent county council and East Sussex county council have reviewed contractual arrangements with the trust and confirmed that the contracts include terms requiring that licensing and regulatory requirements are met to ensure the deceased are at all times treated with dignity and respect.

Phase 2 of the independent inquiry will consider whether procedures and practices in hospital and non-hospital settings, where deceased people are kept, are sufficient to safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased.

In light of the disturbing events in Hull earlier this year, which brought into sharp focus the lack of regulation and oversight in the funeral sector, we have agreed that the inquiry will today publish an interim report on the findings from its funeral sector module. This will provide recommendations on safeguarding the security and dignity of the deceased in that sector.

The Government are committed to preventing any similar atrocities happening again and ensuring that the deceased are safeguarded and treated with dignity.

[HCWS132]

Voter Identification: HM Armed Forces Veteran Card

Tuesday 15th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Alex Norris)]

To encourage participation in our democracy, this Government are committed to ensuring all legitimate voters have the ability to vote in our elections.

Working alongside the Minister for Veterans and People, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns), we are pleased to today, 15 October, lay the statutory instrument—the Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) Regulations 2024—required to add the HM armed forces veteran card (“veteran card”) to the list of photographic identifications accepted in polling stations as voter ID, thereby fulfilling a key manifesto commitment.

Voter identification

The Government are committed to carefully and thoroughly reviewing the voter identification rules and evaluating how they impacted citizens during the general election. Work is already under way on this evaluation, using data gathered at polling stations along with public opinion survey results and qualitative research with electors and the electoral sector. We will be taking into account the findings and recommendations of the Electoral Commission, due this autumn, as part of this review and publishing our full report next year. Any reforms to voter ID in the future will always respect and promote the rights of veterans.

Reviews and major changes to electoral law, if done right, take time, research and careful consideration, and we will be bringing forward firm proposals on the wider voter ID policy in due course. However, there are some clear gaps in the existing provisions—such as the current absence of the veteran card from the accepted voter ID list—on which we can make quick progress while the evaluation is ongoing to improve consistency and widen participation.

At the heart of our security are the men and women who serve and risk their lives for this country. It was unacceptable that the previous Government failed to add the veteran card to the list of accepted voter identifications. Including the card, alongside the already accepted Ministry of Defence identification card (the MOD90 card), will bring parity between veterans and serving armed services personnel with regard to the ID they can use in polling stations. We recognise that the veteran card is a powerful symbol of veterans’ service and its addition to the list is one of the things this Government are doing to honour their contribution. The addition of the veteran card supports them engaging in the elections process and in exercising their democratic rights. We would like to thank those who have campaigned to make this change a reality.

Progress on wider electoral reform

The Government have set out their commitment to strengthen the integrity of elections and encourage wide participation in the democratic process. Fulfilling our commitment on the veteran card is only the first step in that journey. We are also making progress in several other areas to deliver on these promises. Work has begun on what is required to extend the franchise for all UK elections to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote, and legislation for this will be introduced in due course, strengthening our democracy and empowering young people to participate in it.

It is not only young people who should be encouraged to participate. While Electoral Commission reports show consistency in the accuracy and completeness of electoral registers over recent years, we know there remains a significant number of people missing from our registers and we will tackle this unacceptable participation gap by taking action to improve rates of electoral registration. We are exploring a wide range of options to deliver on this commitment, including through the use of data and online services to support electoral registration officers increase registration levels.

We are clear that electoral reform will require careful consideration and engagement with both the electoral sector and with citizens themselves.

Alongside widening participation, the Government are committed to protecting the integrity of and public trust in our electoral processes. Effective regulation and enforcement of how our politics are financed plays a key role in maintaining this trust. Foreign money has no place in the UK’s political system, which is why the law is clear that foreign donations to political parties are not permitted in the UK. However, as threats and challenges evolve, we must continue to do likewise: more can and should be done to ensure our political finance framework remains robust. We therefore committed in our manifesto to strengthening the rules around donations to political parties, and, working closely with the Electoral Commission, are considering a range of measures to achieve this. Firm proposals will be brought forward in due course.

Fixing the foundations of elections delivery

The Government are committed to supporting returning officers, electoral registration officers and their teams in their delivery of our democracy. We have heard and understood the consistent message from the electoral sector that electoral law is outdated and difficult to work with and that while elections continue at present to be delivered effectively, that is not without risk and comes at a personal and professional cost to elections teams.

The Government therefore will, alongside the work to deliver manifesto commitments, look to identify and address the biggest challenges and pain-points in the current system for electoral registration and conduct. We will do this in partnership with the elections sector, using the large body of evidence that already exists and the reflections of the sector on the reality of delivery of recent polls, to ensure we prioritise the right issues and identify solutions that work.

We will continue to provide Parliament with updates on our progress across all of these workstreams to strengthen our democracy and uphold the integrity and resilience of our elections.

[HCWS139]