Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

The UK, alongside partners, continues to urge all stakeholders and regional actors to avoid escalation and any action that threatens stability in the wider Horn of Africa. We hear downstream nations' concerns about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), and we continue to urge all parties to reach a mutually acceptable agreement through negotiation and dialogue. To further address the rising tensions in the Horn of Africa, we have tabled a debate on 29th October in the House of Lords.

The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force on 10 January 2024. All businesses within scope of the Money Laundering Regulations are now required to ensure that their starting point for assessing the risk posed by domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs), and the extent of the enhanced customer due diligence measures to be applied in relation to that customer, is that they present a lower level of risk than a non-domestic PEP.

The Government has been working closely with the FCA to follow up on the findings of its review into the treatment of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs by financial institutions) and to ensure firms improve their practices where necessary. The FCA is in the process of updating its guidance on PEPs to reflect the findings of its review and the changes made by The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The FCA’s revised guidance will be published in due course.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is a statutory duty set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, which applies to public authorities and other bodies who exercise public functions.

The monitoring and reporting criteria for funding programmes is determined by the awarding body based on an overall assessment of the fund objectives. If the funded organisation is a public authority or a body that exercises a public function, then that organisation will be legally obliged to comply with the PSED as a result of section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

Parkrun does not provide participation data by sex or gender to Sport England.

The Financial Conduct Authority is currently consulting on changes to its guidance on the treatment of politically exposed persons (PEPs) for anti-money laundering purposes, following a review of the treatment of domestic PEPs by financial institutions. The consultation closes on 18 October 2024. The FCA expects that the revised guidance will be published and brought into effect in the first half of 2025.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO) places a range of legal duties on Responsible Persons (the person in control of a premises), chief among which are the need to undertake a fire risk assessment to identify any general fire safety precautions that need to be taken to ensure that the premises, and people within it, are safe from fire.

In order to help Responsible Persons discharge their duties we publish a range of guides that include an explanation of their legal duties, how to complete a fire risk assessment in specific types of premises including purpose-built blocks of flats and guidance on specific issues such as how to undertake checks on fire doors. Responsible Persons have a duty under Article 18 of the FSO to appoint a competent person to assist them in implementing any preventative and protective measures identified in the fire risk assessment and our guidance provides advice on when and how to do this.

Managing agents perform a critical role in managing and maintaining buildings, so it is vital that they provide a good service and are accountable to leaseholders for their actions. Many agents do so and with a high level of professionalism. The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of the qualifications that managing agents must hold but we welcome the work of the industry itself to drive up standards across the sector. This includes ongoing efforts to encourage greater take up of professional qualifications and the development of Codes of Practice.

The Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including those designed to increase service charge transparency.

Over the course of this Parliament, the Government will further reform the leasehold system. We will enact remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework, and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.