Written Statements

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

Thursday 10 July 2025

Grenfell Tower: Procurement Act 2023 Investigations

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

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

We will never forget the 72 lives lost following the Grenfell Tower tragedy eight years ago. The Government are grateful to Sir Martin Moore-Bick and the Grenfell Tower inquiry team for laying bare the truths in their reports.

When the Grenfell Tower inquiry published its final report, the Prime Minister made clear the whole Government’s commitment to pursuing full accountability, including through the criminal justice process. Further to the statement made by the Parliamentary Secretary, Minister Gould, on 26 February 2025, formal notices were issued to the seven suppliers named in that statement commencing debarment investigations under new powers in section 60 of the Procurement Act 2023.

Since that notification, my officials have been working to progress these investigations, which has included seeking views from relevant stakeholders. The Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police Service have made me aware that they have significant concerns that the debarment investigations could lead to unintentional prejudice to both the criminal investigation and to any future criminal proceedings and the Government have accepted their representations that the criminal investigation must take priority.

At the request of the CPS and MPS, I have therefore decided to pause these seven debarment investigations until criminal investigations and any prosecutions are concluded. I recognise that this decision will feel like yet another delay in the community’s long wait for justice, and I have not taken this decision lightly. I understand how important the criminal investigation is to the bereaved families, survivors and the wider community, which is why I am taking this action to protect the integrity of any subsequent criminal proceedings in pursuit of delivering justice. The Government fully support the MPS in its investigation.

The debarment investigations are being paused without any conclusion having been reached. The pause does not in any way prevent contracting authorities from making their own decisions in respect of the eligibility of these suppliers to bid in their procurements and be awarded public contracts, provided they do so in accordance with the Act. The Government remain committed to holding organisations to account and I am considering what other steps can be taken to ensure meaningful action to address failings related to the Grenfell Tower fire. We will continue to engage with the MPS and CPS to ensure any future action does not impede the work of the police.

If the criminal process results in convictions, where appropriate, I will recommence or launch new investigations which may enable stronger action in relation to procurement than could be taken at the present time. The Government will continue to address all of the inquiry’s recommendations and the issues the tragedy exposed.

[HCWS802]

Public Libraries: Usage in England

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)]

I am repeating the following written ministerial statement made today in the other place by my noble Friend, the Minister for Gambling and Heritage and DCMS Lords Minister, Baroness Twycross:

This year will be the 175th anniversary of the very first Public Libraries Act—an Act which established the principle of free public libraries for the

“instruction and recreation of the people”.

This principle has supported the creation and development of the public library network across England. Over 2,500 library branches make up the statutory library provision in this country—one of the most extensive networks of local community assets we have.

Libraries reach millions of people every year, providing inspiration, education and entertainment in free-to-use, safe, trusted and welcoming spaces. But use has declined over the last decade, and we want to better understand why that is the case and what, together, we can do to tackle this.

Last October we published the first phase of our research to consider this question. That work used in-depth focus groups to question what prevents people from using public libraries and what might support them to re-engage. We committed to commissioning further research to test these findings at scale; this work took place between December 2024 and March 2025.

Today’s report provides a comprehensive picture of people who do not use public libraries in England, exploring who they are, what their perceptions of libraries are, the barriers that might be preventing them from using the library, and the services or approaches that might entice them back. For the first time we have a picture of the complex landscape of people who do not use libraries, noting five distinct groupings whose experiences and views of public libraries vary and who may require different interventions.

Barriers that were consistently noted included:

Lack of personal relevance and availability of services elsewhere;

Lack of awareness of the full range of library offerings and outdated perceptions;

Accessibility challenges including opening hours and parking.

The work then drew on the involvement of library staff, at both senior leadership and branch management levels, to identify potential actions and interventions that could be explored to reach different target groups and turn the tide on the use of public libraries. Some of the potential interventions explored were:

Widening the library reach by seeking to engage those who do not currently use libraries through social media channels;

Bringing those who do not use libraries to the library space through hosting other services or working with partners to use library space—e.g. health, breakfast clubs, early years;

Encouraging people who do not use libraries to re-engage with the library by increasing their understanding of why using libraries is beneficial—e.g. sustainability, money saving—and targeting these messages to specific groups.

We know that implementing these or other potential actions will look different depending on place and that it will be important to tailor interventions to specific audiences and local context.

Since I became libraries Minister I have met with representatives of the public library sector to discuss the challenges in the sector, reflect on priority policy areas and consider how best we can support the sector, drawing on this research. I know the wider sector is already aware of this work and keen to see this final report so that library services can actively consider how they might use the results.

DCMS will continue to encourage and support local activity. We will also consider what action the Government might take to reinvigorate library use. With their extensive network of trusted spaces, used by all kinds of people, libraries are uniquely placed to reach into communities and to support us to deliver on our plan for change.

I will place a copy of the “What works to engage library non-users” report in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS806]

Service Police Complaints Commissioner: Annual Report 2024

Thursday 10th July 2025 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 2024 on the Service Police complaints system. The report is published by Margaret Obi and covers the operation of the service complaints system and the delivery of her functions in her second year as commissioner. I am grateful for her work and independent oversight of the Service Police complaints system. 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.

Attachments can be viewed online at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2025-07-10/HCWS804/

[HCWS804]

Electricity Market: Review

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)]

Today my Department is announcing the final decision of the review of the electricity market arrangements (REMA) programme.

The REMA programme was launched in 2022 to consider how to reform Great Britain’s electricity market to deliver a fair, affordable, secure, and efficient clean power system.

On taking office, we inherited a decision on whether to retain the current national system in which all areas in Britain pay the same wholesale price for energy or undertake a major overhaul to split the country into different pricing zones depending on their proximity to where energy is generated.

The central challenge we face as a country is the urgent need to get off expensive, insecure fossil fuels and deliver an electricity system that meets double the level of today’s electricity demand by 2050. In doing so, we have to design the network in a way to ensure that generation and transmission is built in the right places, so that we can effectively provide power to where it is needed, minimise network constraints, and keep bills as low as possible.

This Government have shown already we are not content to accept the slow and unco-ordinated pace of planning and decision-making of the past. We know reform is needed.

Throughout the decision-making process I was guided by three key priorities: identifying which option would be the fairest outcome for families and businesses in the near and long term; which reform can deliver energy security, will best protect consumers and ensure bill savings as soon as possible, as part of accelerating to clean power by 2030; and, which is the approach that will do most to ensure the investment, jobs and growth we need right across the economy.

We have weighed the options carefully. The Government have decided to reform the system while retaining a single national wholesale price, which I have concluded is the best way to achieve a clean power system that is fair, affordable, secure, and efficient. This will see Government take on more responsibility in planning the system and determining where clean energy infrastructure is located, based on what is needed where in the long-term—rather than the fragmented, ad hoc approach that this Government inherited.

This will complement the fundamentally different approach to building the energy system and infrastructure that this country needs. After years of delay that has seen consumer costs and constraint payments rise, the Government are rapidly making possible the building of the network, reforming the planning system, and finally transforming the grid connections queue to get the projects we need for clean power and growth moving.

These changes will make it possible to bring down energy bills for good, by making the current system more efficient, ensuring low-cost investment into homegrown clean energy projects, and keeping down the costs of running the electricity network.

The key elements of reformed national pricing will include:

Effective planning of renewable energy infrastructure through the upcoming strategic spatial energy plan, to be consulted on and published next year;

National pricing reforms, such as making transmission network use of service (TNUoS) charges more effective and predictable, and taking relevant powers through Parliament to do so;

Improving the operation of flexibility and balancing markets through working with Ofgem and NESO, that will help to reduce the need for constraint payments, which are ultimately paid for by consumers.

Later this year we will publish a reformed national pricing delivery plan, focused on design and delivery and giving market participants and investors clarity on next steps for delivering these reforms. We will also publish the final REMA analysis later this year.

Reformed national pricing will ensure the benefits of clean power are felt by consumers in every part of the country, while giving businesses the stability and certainty they need to continue investing to upgrade our infrastructure to boost our national energy security, create tens of thousands of jobs and grow the economy.

[HCWS799]

Syria: Visit by Foreign Secretary

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Mr David Lammy)]

I am today updating the House following my visit to Syria, where I met President Al-Sharaa and renewed the bilateral diplomatic relationship. This was the first visit by a UK Minister in over 14 years and marks the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship with Syria.

Eight months on from the fall of Assad, who subjected the Syrian people to 14 years of brutal civil war, it is right that we engage with the new Government. A stable Syria is in the UK’s interests: peace means fewer people being exploited by people smuggling gangs in Europe and making perilous journeys on small boats to Britain. By engaging with the Syrian Government, the UK is helping to ensure the protection of human rights, the safe destruction of Assad’s chemical weapons programme, and progress towards combating terrorism and extremism, including from Daesh.

I had a productive meeting with President Al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani, during which we discussed the full breadth of the UK-Syria relationship. We discussed the importance of stability, and a political transition that delivers for the Syrian people. I stressed the importance of tackling security threats to the UK, reducing the drivers of irregular migration and improving the conditions to enable Syrians in the UK and across the region to return home.

The pace of change in Syria has been encouraging. I welcome the commitment to hold free and fair elections and the representative appointments made to the Cabinet in March. It is important that the transition proceeds in a genuinely inclusive and representative way and respects the rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnic or religious background.

The Syrian Government have committed to a brighter future. Immediate priorities should include the implementation of a deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces, a focus on social cohesion and an improved response to sectarian violence, and the protection of human rights.

There still remains much to do. We will continue to judge the new Government on the action they take to deliver on these commitments.

We welcome the commitment made by Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani to co-operate fully with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to ensure that Assad’s chemical weapons programme is finally declared and destroyed. During my visit, I announced a further £2 million to support the OPCW in this vital work. This follows an earlier UK contribution of £837,000, part of which helped facilitate three OPCW deployments to Syria. The UK has also developed a further package of logistical and technical support for OPCW and Syria, and continues to encourage partners to follow our lead in supporting this essential work. The MOD, with FCDO, will provide a further update on this activity in due course.

The UK has long stood by the people of Syria and will continue to do so. The scale of the challenge facing the Government and ordinary Syrians, as they emerge from almost 14 years of conflict, is immense: the economy is broken, 90% of the population are in poverty and over 16 million people require humanitarian assistance. While in Damascus, I announced a further £94.5 million to provide urgent humanitarian aid to Syrians, and to support Syria’s longer-term recovery through education and livelihoods, and countries hosting Syrian refugees in the region.

The UK was one of the first to relieve sanctions—and lifted several sanctions on key sectors in April, and asset freezes in March on entities including the Central Bank of Syria. Our focus now is on supporting Syrians to rebuild their country and economy and to create the conditions to boost trade and investment. In my meeting with Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani, we agreed to work together on establishing a UK-Syria business council.

As I said on my visit, the UK is re-establishing diplomatic relations because it is in our interests to support the new Syrian Government to deliver their commitment to build a stable, more secure and prosperous future for all Syrians.

[HCWS801]

Murder of Jalal Uddin: Public Statutory Inquiry Report

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)]

Today the independent report of the inquiry into the death of Jalal Uddin was published by His Honour Thomas Teague KC.

Retired imam Jalal Uddin was brutally murdered in Rochdale on 18 February 2016, and in November 2023 the then Home Secretary asked HH Thomas Teague KC to investigate how and in what circumstances he came by his death.

The Government will review this report and consider how to respond in due course.

I would like to thank His Honour Thomas Teague KC for his work to understand what happened to Mr Uddin and to identify what we can learn from it that will help to prevent a recurrence of such an horrific event in future.

The report has been laid before the House and copies will be available from the Vote Office. It will also be available to view both on gov.uk and on the inquiry website at: https://www.jalaluddin.public-inquiry.uk/

[HCWS805]

Building Safety Levy

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

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

The Government are committed to securing the swift remediation of buildings with historical building safety defects. The building safety levy is a key part of the remediation funding package, which protects leaseholders from costs and ensures taxpayers are not further burdened. We currently estimate the levy will need to raise £3.4 billion over 10 years or more. Today we took an important step towards implementing the levy and will lay the draft Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations in Parliament as we committed to do in the statement I made to the House on 24 March. The draft regulations are subject to the affirmative parliamentary procedure. Subject to parliamentary approval and the making of the regulations, the regulations provide for all aspects of the levy including how the levy will be calculated and administered, and provide that the levy will start being charged on certain applications and notices from 1 October 2026.

Alongside the regulations, to help stakeholders prepare, we have also published operational guidance explaining how the levy is intended to be charged, collected and passed back to central Government. The guidance is aimed at a broad range of users, including the housebuilding sector, local authorities, registered building control approvers and the Building Safety Regulator to help users understand their roles and obligations. Stakeholders involved in the building safety levy now have the information they need to prepare in earnest for its launch on 1 October 2026. My officials have a comprehensive engagement programme planned and will work with stakeholders to support them to be ready for levy launch next year. This includes regular meetings and webinars with local authorities, as well as targeted support for RBCAs and developers.

Local authorities with building control responsibilities will act as collecting agents for the levy. New burdens funding will be provided to local authorities for set-up costs. Collecting authority administrative costs will be recovered from levy revenues received, with the balance transferred to central Government.

Subject to parliamentary approval, and as previously announced, the levy will be charged on certain building control applications and notices. Applications and notices for the provision of new dwellings or student accommodation in England submitted on or after 1 October 2026 will be subject to the levy regime. Exemptions from the levy charge include affordable housing, supported housing and developments of fewer than 10 dwellings. Any housing built by non-profit providers of social housing will be exempt. The levy rates vary by local authority area to take account of differences in housing development economics across different local authority areas and across previously and non-previously developed land. These rates were published on 24 March this year and are set out in the regulations. A 50% discount rate will be charged for development on previously developed land, to reflect the often higher cost of such development. The levy will need to be paid before the earlier of first occupation and submission of the notice or application required at completion stage.

I will also publish an assessment of impact and rates methodology note for the levy. The assessment sets out the expected operational impacts on local authorities and house builders, among other things. The methodology note sets out the five-step approach taken to calculate the levy rates that are set out in the regulations.

[HCWS808]

Supported Housing Regulation Consultation

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

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

The Government recently consulted on their proposals for implementing the measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. The Act aims to improve quality in supported housing. The consultation included detail on the proposed licensing regime, the national supported housing standards for the support provided, and housing benefit content.

While the consultation was open, officials held a number of stakeholder engagement sessions and consulted statutory consultees. There were just under 600 responses from local authorities, providers, residents and others with an interest in supported housing, demonstrating the interest from those involved in supported housing, who wanted to have their say on the changes we proposed.

It is clear from the consultation responses and engagement with the sector that elements of the licensing regime design will need to be refined before regulations can be laid and work is now under way to achieve this. As I recognised in my written ministerial statement of 5 November 2024, there continue to be cases of residents finding themselves at the hands of exploitative landlords. However, it is extremely important that we ensure that the licensing is effective, not overly burdensome, and that it ultimately achieves the right result: residents living in appropriate, good-quality supported housing with the right support provided to residents.

I would like to thank those who responded to the consultation for their constructive feedback.

We will aim to publish a full Government response after summer recess, in advance of consulting on the draft regulations in early 2026 and implementing the Act as soon as practicably possible.

[HCWS800]

Intelligence and Security Committee: Iran Report

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Prime Minister (Keir Starmer)]

The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament has today laid before Parliament a report entitled “Iran”, which examines the Iranian threat to the UK and the UK’s response.

The Committee’s inquiry began in 2021 and concluded taking evidence in August 2023.

The Government recognise and welcome the independent and important oversight provided by the Committee. I thank the Committee for the comprehensive and detailed nature of the report and the extensive work behind it.

The Government will consider the Committee’s recommendations carefully and respond in full, in due course.

[HCWS803]

Space: UK-France Collaboration

Thursday 10th July 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (Peter Kyle)]

The Government will be joining Eutelsat Group’s capital increase today with a UK investment of €163 million.

Eutelsat announced the €1.35 billion capital increase, led by the French state and other existing shareholders, on 19 June 2025. The Government have announced their participation in the capital increase, taking it to a total of €1.5 billion, as part of the UK-France summit.

Satellite connectivity is strategically important to the UK. The investment in Eutelsat is a demonstration of our commitment to this important low Earth orbit technology, alongside commitments from the French Government and other existing shareholders.

The Government’s objectives for this investment are threefold. First, there are strategic security and resilience benefits to a competitive low Earth orbit market for satellite communications. Secondly, there is an opportunity for a company, with key technology developed and delivered from the UK, to be successful in future and support the growth of the UK space sector. Since HM Government made their earlier investment in 2020, the global satellite communications market has evolved, and the importance of resilient space capabilities and services has grown. Thirdly, this investment will establish a closer security and defence collaboration between the UK and France. Based on these objectives, the investment is value for money.

This investment means that the UK will retain its 10.89% shareholding in Eutelsat Group and it will support the company to extend its ambitious low Earth orbit services into the future. The UK retains its rights negotiated in 2023 as part of the merger between OneWeb and Eutelsat to form Eutelsat Group, and the company has made commitments to provide certain benefits to the UK including opportunities for university students, guaranteeing a number of jobs and providing Government with priority access to services in certain contracts.

The Government will continue working closely with Eutelsat Group, and the French Government, to ensure the company’s commercial success as part of a strong UK space sector.

[HCWS807]