Written Statements

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

Thursday 24 October 2024

UK Biological Security Strategy

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Pat McFadden)]

I want to update the House on the implementation of the 2023 UK biological security strategy. The strategy’s ambition is to ensure that, by 2030, the UK is resilient to a spectrum of biological threats and a world leader in responsible innovation.

In adopting the strategy, this Government have reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to improving our preparedness for future pandemics and infectious disease outbreaks, countering proliferation of biological weapons and mitigating the risks of biological accidents and incidents, prioritising a holistic approach to developing national capabilities to shore up our defences, and learning and applying lessons from covid-19.

Over the past year, the strategy has delivered impact across short, medium and longer-term commitments, including:

Delivering system-wide leadership across the UK including by establishing a lead Minister, senior responsible owner and a dedicated team in the Cabinet Office;

Enhancing the UK’s early warning capabilities, including a prototype biothreats radar and pilots for a new national biosurveillance network;

A new UK Biosecurity Leadership Council, bringing Government together with business and academic leaders, developing responsible innovation practices and policies with the biotech sector;

Publishing voluntary screening guidance for providers and users of synthetic nucleic acid to guide use for legitimate purposes, while also mitigating risks of malicious or accidental misuse;

A new UK-wide Microbial Forensics Consortium to develop new tools and capabilities to attribute biological incidents and deter the use of biological weapons;

Funding for the international biosecurity programme which supports international projects to enhance global biosafety and biosecurity, reducing deliberate and naturally occurring biological risks to the UK;

Building new standing capabilities to carry out sensitive testing of biological risks in AI models;

Establishing a chief scientific advisers group dedicated to chemical, biological and radiological security to provide holistic, expert advice to underpin policy development and delivery;

Launching the US-UK strategic dialogue on biological security, reflecting our shared ambition and approach to protect against a growing and diverse spectrum of biological threats.

To get ahead of future threats, we need to continue to innovate to understand, prevent, detect and respond to biological threats. We will ensure that we have the capabilities we need to protect the public from a spectrum of biological threats, no matter how they occur and no matter who or what they affect.

[HCWS161]

Interim Compensation Payments for Victims of Infected Blood

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Nick Thomas-Symonds)]

In May, the infected blood inquiry produced its final report, and the country heard the full extent to which thousands of men, women, and children had their lives overturned by the use of infected blood and blood products in the NHS. The infected blood scandal is a shameful mark on our national history. I pay tribute to the courage and determination of every single person who has suffered because of the use of infected blood and to those who have taken tireless action to ensure their community is heard. Every death that results from the infected blood scandal is a tragedy, and this Government are committed to acting on the findings of the infected blood inquiry to ensure swift resolution for all of those impacted.

The principal recommendation from the infected blood inquiry was that the Government compensation scheme for victims of infected blood should be established “now”. The infected blood compensation scheme was legally established for people who are infected and claiming compensation through the core route in regulations laid on 23 August. We expect the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to people who are infected by the end of this year, and last week the Infected Blood Compensation Authority reached out to the very first claimants under the scheme. However, there is still more to do. Subject to parliamentary approval, the Government are aiming for a second set of regulations to be in force by 31 March 2025. This will support our shared aim to begin payments to people who are affected in 2025.

The Government also recognise that people have waited far too long for compensation payments. That’s why interim payments are crucial for supporting people until the Infected Blood Compensation Authority is up and running. In October 2022, interim payments of £100,000 were made to living infected beneficiaries or bereaved partners registered with the infected blood support schemes. In June this year, further interim payments of £210,000 were made to living infected victims of infected blood. Through these interim payments, over £1 billion has been paid to people who are infected or their bereaved partners.

The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 placed a statutory duty on the Government to deliver interim payments of £100,000 to estates for deaths not yet recognised through financial compensation. This followed the recommendation in Sir Robert Francis’ compensation framework study that interim payments should be made

“to recognise the deaths of people to date unrecognised and thereby alleviate immediate suffering”

and achieves the spirit of recommendation 12 of the infected blood inquiry’s second interim report in the most practicable way.

On 26 July, I informed the House that the applications for interim payments due to be made to estates of deceased infected persons were scheduled to open in October, and that further details were to follow. Today, I can announce that the process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments has now opened. For many people, this is the first substantial compensation payment they will benefit from to recognise the lives of people they have lost as a result of the use of infected blood and blood products.

This is a £100,000 interim payment, and as with any compensation payment related to infected blood, it will be exempt from income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax and disregarded from means tested benefit assessments.

As with the previous interim payments, these payments will be delivered through the existing infected blood support schemes. These payments are to be made to the estates of deceased infected persons, where interim payments have not already been received, in those cases where the deceased infected person was registered with an existing or predecessor scheme on or before 17 April 2024.

Those who were not registered with an existing or predecessor scheme on or before this date may still be eligible for compensation. For these cases, estate representatives will need to apply to claim compensation with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority, once applications open. I will provide a further update on this in due course.

Where an interim compensation payment has already been made directly to the infected person, to their bereaved partner, or their estate, an estate will be ineligible for this interim payment.

Only the personal representative of the estate is able to make the application. Applicants will need a grant of probate, letters of administration, or a grant of confirmation —specific to Scotland—to evidence entitlement to claim interim compensation on behalf of the estate. To assist the legal process of obtaining this evidence as quickly as possible—for those that do not already have it— applicants can claim back their exact legal costs up to £1,500.

The application form is available to download online at gov.uk, together with full guidance on how to apply. Applicants may request a hard copy of the application form from the UK infected blood support scheme operating in the nation of the UK where the deceased infected person was infected. The completed form and supporting documents should be sent to the relevant infected blood support scheme.

[HCWS164]

Internet Television Equipment Regulations 2024

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

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

The Media Act 2024, which received Royal Assent on 24 May, introduces a new online prominence regime. The regime will require particular TV platforms, referred to in the Act as “regulated television selection services”, to give prominence to designated public service broadcaster services—referred to as “designated internet programme services”.

Today the Government have laid the first statutory instrument that will start the implementation process of the new regime.

In particular, these regulations specify which categories of TV devices are to be considered as “internet television equipment” for the purposes of this new prominence framework. This is the first step required to start the designation process.

The next step is for a further set of regulations to be developed, following advice from Ofcom, and establishing which television selection services—used in conjunction with internet television equipment—should be regulated under the new prominence regime.

The purpose of this approach is to ensure that regulation is both targeted and proportionate, and, in particular, that only those devices used by a significant number of UK viewers as a main way of accessing TV will be captured.

The regulations laid today specify smart TVs and streaming devices, including set-top boxes and streaming sticks, as internet television equipment.

However, the Government recognise that, as viewing habits change and new technology emerges, the devices considered internet television equipment may change in the future. Therefore, we will review the list a year after implementation to ensure that it remains fit for purpose.

The Internet Television Equipment Regulations 2024 have been published and can be viewed online at

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/1056/contents/made

An accompanying policy statement can be viewed online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prominence-specifying-internet-television-equipment-a-policy-statement

[HCWS166]

Sudan

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Development (Anneliese Dodds)]

I would like to update the House on the situation in Sudan since the outbreak of conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April last year. Eighteen months on, this senseless war has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe and led to the world’s largest displacement crisis.

More than 24 million people—over half of Sudan’s population—are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. In August, a determination was made that famine existed in the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people, where 500,000 people live. Famine is also likely to exist elsewhere across Sudan. This is just the third time such a determination has been made in the 21st century. The situation has been exacerbated by deliberate efforts by the warring parties to obstruct aid reaching those who need it the most. Health systems have been decimated and disease outbreaks continue to spread unchecked.

On 6 September 2024, the UN-mandated fact-finding mission in Sudan released its inaugural report, highlighting the unprecedent scale of atrocities committed by the warring parties against civilians, in particular in Darfur. Women and girls are subject to rape and sexual violence. Houses are being burnt to the ground. People’s livelihoods are being destroyed.

Over 10 million people have been forced to flee their homes, with many seeking refuge in neighbouring countries facing their own crises, such as Chad and South Sudan.

In August I visited South Sudan, where I saw at first hand the harrowing consequences of the conflict. I spoke to many of the refugees and returnees who had fled violence in Sudan and heard how the UK can work to better respond to the obvious regional implications of the conflict.

The UK continues to work relentlessly to ensure that the international community does not turn its back on Sudan.

On 9 September 2024, in our role as one of the co-leaders of the UN Human Rights Council core group on Sudan, the UK led the adoption of a resolution to extend the work of the independent fact-finding mission on Sudan. This mission is critical to documenting, reporting and investigating evidence of human rights abuses and war crimes by all parties, and ensuring that those responsible for unimaginable suffering are held accountable.

In collaboration with our international partners, the UK was able to successfully extend the vote margin in favour of this critical mission. It is notable that a greater number of African states supported the extension of the mission this year. This underlines the growing global consensus that the situation in Sudan requires sustained international attention. We are committed to ensuring that the fact-finding mission gains the access it needs to Sudan to investigate properly, and continues to provide the evidence needed to bring justice to the victims of this brutal conflict.

On 26 September 2024, as world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly, the Minister for Africa hosted an event with his Dutch and Swiss counterparts to discuss the alarming rates of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan and the inadequacy of current responses. This event spotlighted the situation for women and girls on the ground, ensured a platform for Sudanese civil society figures, explored the gaps in the ongoing response to CRSV in detail, considered the role of the international community in supporting and facilitating local and women-led efforts, and highlighted the urgent need for accountability.

In response to the obstruction of aid by the warring parties, the UK has convened international partners to build pressure on the warring parties to increase aid routes both into Sudan and across lines of conflict. At the UN General Assembly, I made the UK’s position clear: starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime. On 18 October 2024, the UK led a joint statement with 10 other donors to condemn the obstruction of humanitarian efforts and to call upon the warring parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

The UK remains a committed donor to Sudan and has spent £113.5 million this financial year in response to the conflict in Sudan and the resultant regional refugee crisis. This includes our bilateral official development assistance to Sudan, which stands at £97 million, together with our support to Sudanese refugees in the neighbouring countries of Chad, South Sudan and Libya.

Looking ahead, the UK will assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council in November 2024. During our presidency, we will convene UNSC members for a debate on Sudan. This will focus on translating the United Nations Secretary-General’s recommendations on protecting civilians, as requested in UNSC resolution 2736, into tangible action.

As the Prime Minister noted in his UNGA remarks, the situation in Sudan remains one of the world’s most pressing humanitarian emergencies.

The UK’s response remains robust and unwavering. We will continue to work through the United Nations, the Human Rights Council and other international forums to push for peace, accountability and humanitarian relief. The people of Sudan deserve a future free from violence and oppression, and we are committed to supporting them in their pursuit of peace, dignity and justice.

[HCWS165]

Windrush

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Yvette Cooper)]

The Windrush scandal saw Windrush and Commonwealth communities who have the right to live in this country victimised because they were unable to prove that right, through no fault of their own. However, the justice and change that victims deserved have not been delivered, and some are still waiting for the compensation that they are due.

I want to update the House on the Government’s progress in fulfilling our manifesto commitment to the Windrush generation, ensuring that they receive the support they deserve quickly and efficiently. Additionally, we are reigniting the vital transformation work from Wendy Williams’ Windrush lessons learned review, in order to embed lasting changes in how the Department serves all communities.

We are establishing a Windrush commissioner, an independent advocate for all those affected. This role will oversee the compensation scheme’s delivery and the implementation of the Windrush lessons learned review, and will act as a trusted voice for families and communities, driving improvements and promoting lasting change.

As promised, we have re-established a Windrush unit in the Home Office, reporting to the departmental ethics adviser and dedicated to driving forward the action needed to ensure that what happened to the Windrush generation can never happen again to any part of our society. The new unit stands ready to support the Windrush commissioner when they are appointed.

This renewed work and the recruitment of a dedicated Windrush commissioner must drive enduring change that matters to the Windrush community and has wider impact across the whole Department and across Government.

Regarding the Windrush compensation scheme, during the lead-up to the general election, we frequently heard from the community and stakeholders that the application process is too complicated and the available support for making a claim is inadequate. This is discouraging some people from seeking the compensation they deserve. To address this, we are injecting a £1.5 million spend into a program of grant funding for organisations to provide essential advocacy and support for applicants who need additional help with the application process, ensuring that claimants feel supported. For many, filing a claim is intimidating and requires them to revisit past traumas. By sharing their experiences with impartial community members, we want to make this process as supportive as possible. This assistance will be offered alongside but separate from existing claims support, giving claimants flexibility and choice regarding the type of help they want and where they can access it.

We are also rapidly reviewing the issue of private and occupational pensions losses which has caused real frustration and concern.

Finally, this Government are determined to hear at first hand and to learn from the Windrush generation and their families. We know that for some the hurt and trauma is too much. But, as we look to turn the page and embark on the reset we promised in opposition, we want those who want and are able to tell their story to be heard.

Only by hearing and reflecting on the impact that policy making had and continues to have on their and their families’ lives can the Government ensure that we never let such an injustice happen again.

[HCWS167]

Phone-paid Services Authority: Transfer to Ofcom

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms (Chris Bryant)]

Premium-rate services will be familiar to anyone who watches prime-time Saturday night television, enters competitions on the radio or donates to charity via their phone. Premium-rate services are provided where goods or services are charged to one’s telephone bill and include premium-rate phone calls, for example, to directory enquiries.

Premium-rate services are used by millions of people, but the ability to simply text or make a call and be charged a potentially significant sum for such a small act makes these services prone to abuse, and therefore requires proportionate regulation.

The Phone-paid Services Authority, under different names including the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of the Telephone Information Services and Phonepay Plus, has been the regulator of the premium-rate services sector since 1986. It has been largely successful in discharging its duties and establishing a compliant and productive market. However—like much of the telecoms landscape—the premium-rate services sector and the role of the regulator have changed since the mid-1980s.

Where once the PSA’s focus was largely on setting standards for the providers of premium-rate services, such as information lines and chat lines, the scope of the regulator’s remit has grown significantly. Consumers are now also able to pay for subscription streaming services, purchase apps and give money to charity via text message, with the charges being added to their phone bills. The sector has evolved and continues to evolve, and so must its regulation if consumers are to remain protected into the future.

The Government will be laying the Regulation of Premium Rate Services Order 2024 (SI 2024/1046), a statutory instrument to confer the regulatory functions of the kind exercised until now by the PSA on Ofcom. This decision reflects the continued commitment to streamlining regulatory oversight, enhancing consumer protections and ensuring the efficiency and coherence of our regulatory framework.

The transfer of regulatory responsibility will lead to the closure of the PSA, which is a private company, and Ofcom’s assumption of direct day-to-day regulatory oversight of the premium-rate services sector. To ensure consistency, the Regulation of Premium Rate Services Order 2024 largely replicates the existing code of practice, currently on its 15th version, which governs the sector. However, the order makes a number of minor changes, including extending requirements to all PRS providers to take steps to identify and mitigate risks posed by their services to those who are vulnerable.

To ensure that the specialist and dedicated staff of the PSA are retained and able to continue in their work, the Government will be laying the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Transfer of Staff to the Office of Communications) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/1047), a statutory instrument to ensure that the employment of the staff continues, and they are not disadvantaged by the transfer. PSA employees have been consulted about the transfer.

We recognise the significant contributions made by the PSA in safeguarding consumers to date. However, the time has come for a more integrated approach, and we believe this consolidation is the right step to ensure that the regulatory framework is fit for purpose in the digital age.

I will provide further updates to the House as we progress with this transition. We remain committed to ensuring a smooth handover and maintaining the highest standards for consumer protection throughout the process.

[HCWS163]

Office for Nuclear Regulation Annual Report and Accounts

Thursday 24th October 2024 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Andrew Western)]

Later today I will lay before this House the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s annual report and accounts for 2023-24. 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 document on the grounds of national security.

[HCWS162]