David Burton-Sampson

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) is fundamentally reforming Companies House, enabling it to play a greater role in improving corporate transparency, improving the quality of data and information on the company register and giving Companies House greater powers to contribute to our efforts in tackling economic crime.

The reform of Companies House is backed by £63 million of investment from the Department for Business and Trade and fees have been increased to fund greater investigation and enforcement capabilities.

The first phase of reforms came into force in March 2024. Further measures, including the introduction of Identity Verification, are in the process of being implemented.

To encourage uptake of lung screening, we are directly targeting activity at areas that we know will make a difference. This includes awareness campaigns such as the NHS Help Us, Help You campaign, to increase awareness of cancer symptoms, including lung cancer, and encourage people to get checked.

Latest data shows early diagnosis for lung cancer is eight percentage points higher than pre-pandemic. This improvement has largely been driven by roll out of Lung Cancer Screening Programme. The Lung Cancer Screening Programme is a national screening programme in the National Health Service designed to identify cancers at an earlier stage and has led to over 3,000 more lung cancers being diagnosed at an earlier stage. When fully rolled out, the Lung Cancer Screening Programme will detect around 9,000 cancers earlier each year and support the NHS Long Term plan to detect more cancers earlier.

The courts, as the cornerstone of the civil justice system, play a crucial role in supporting economic growth, enabling businesses and citizens to resolve disputes in a timely fashion and uphold their rights.

Though most civil claims made in the county courts result in a default judgment or out-of-court settlement, there have been long standing challenges with delays in the 3% of claims that require a full trial. HM Courts & Tribunals Service is working in partnership with the judiciary to address this.

We have increased the use of mediation, making mediation a requirement in all defended claims for under £10,000. This enables more claims to reach a consensual resolution at an earlier stage and frees up resource to deal with those claims that require judicial determination. In addition, increased digital working through our reformed systems allow money claims, including those involving businesses with legal representation, to reach trial readiness over three times quicker than paper claims.

Last year, seven women were killed in Northern Ireland and rates of violence against women are higher in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK.

In January, I was pleased to welcome the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls to Northern Ireland to meet Executive Ministers and the Police Service, and to visit the excellent Foyle Family Justice Centre. We discussed ways we can work together and share best practice to tackle violence against women and girls.