Alister Jack calls on all Scottish MPs to back UK-EU trade deal
Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, has called on all Scottish MPs to support the UK’s historic Free Trade Agreement with the EU when Parliament votes on it this week.
He said: “We have secured a historic Free Trade deal with the EU that delivers for Scotland and the whole of the UK. This is a deep and wide-ranging deal, covering trade, security, travel, transport, energy, health and social security.
“As Parliament prepares to vote on the deal this week, I urge all Scottish MPs to give it their wholehearted support.
“Outside the EU, the UK can sign our own trade deals around the world, bringing new opportunities for exporters and some of Scotland’s most iconic products.
“For our farmers, the deal avoids tariffs on their world-beating Scotch lamb and beef.
“For our fishermen and coastal communities, the deal delivers what we promised.
“We are regaining control of our waters, we are restoring our status as an independent coastal state and, even during the five year adjustment period, there will be a big overall increase in our share of the catch in our waters.
“As we leave the Common Fisheries Policy, our fishermen will also enjoy near-exclusive access to inshore waters up to the historic 12 mile limit.
“The deal is good news for Scotland and I believe it is now time to move on from the Brexit debate and join forces in embracing our exciting future. Whether Leaver or Remainer in 2016 we need to come to together to make the most of our new opportunities.
“The people of Scotland will expect their MPs to do the right thing on Wednesday and vote for the deal. They will not easily forgive those who reject this Free Trade Agreement or throw their weight behind a no deal Brexit.”
As the Scottish Secretary is well aware, SNP MPs will vote against the deal this week. The Tories have a big majority at Westminster, however: the deal will go through – Ed.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a Spending Review ‘for the whole of the UK’ as he laid out plans to help every corner of Scotland to build back better and fight coronavirus.
The Chancellor announced that Scotland will receive £2.4bn of new funding from the UK Government in 2021/22 through the Barnett formula for devolved areas such as health and social care, education and housing.
This is double the £1.2bn new funding provided for 2020/21 at the 2019 Spending Round.
It is also in addition to the £8.2bn guaranteed to the Scottish Government in 2020/21, above the funding allocated at the Spring Budget earlier this year, in the face of the coronavirus and its impact on the economy.
Scotland will also receive a significant boost from more than £100bn of capital investment across the UK in 2021/22, improving connectivity and productivity.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: This Spending Review will help people in every corner of Scotland. It will provide billions of pounds to fight coronavirus, deliver the peoples’ priorities and drive the UK’s recovery.
“The Treasury is, has been, and will always be the Treasury for the whole of the United Kingdom. And this is a Spending Review for the whole of the United Kingdom”.
Speaking after the Chancellor delivered the UK Government’s Spending Review, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “The UK Government’s Spending Review delivers for all parts of the UK at this challenging time. Never before has the strength of the Union, and the role of the UK Treasury, been more important.
“The UK Government pledged to bring funding decisions back from Brussels, and our plans for a new UK Shared Prosperity Fund will deliver on this promise. Communities across the UK have been hit hard by Covid, so I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement today of £220 million in additional funding in the coming financial year. This will be delivered by the UK Government across the UK, working in partnership with local authorities and communities.
“We made a commitment to maintain funding for our vital rural and coastal communities and are fulfilling that through £570 million to support farmers and our rural economy, and £14 million to support Scottish fisheries. Additional funding for broadband will help boost the economies of some of Scotland’s most remote communities.
“Accelerating the Tay, Moray, Borderlands and Islands growth deals is great news. It will help support jobs and drive economic recovery across swathes of Scotland.
“The new UK Infrastructure Bank will help support our post-covid economic recovery. A billion pounds for our net zero climate change target will ensure the UK remains a world leader in climate action, ahead of us bringing the world to Glasgow for COP26 next year. And the new counter-terrorism operations centre will help keep people in all parts of the UK safe from global threats.
“The Scottish Government will receive an additional £2.4 billion in Barnett Consequentials. This is over and above the £8.2 billion they have already been allocated since March this year. This additional funding will help support jobs and public services in Scotland while we fight the pandemic.
“The UK Government will continue to do all it can to support people in all parts of the United Kingdom.”
The Chancellor used the Spending Review to reaffirm his commitment to growth across Scotland – announcing an £11m acceleration of City and Growth Deal funding over each year remaining in four Scotland Deals.
Tay Cities, Borderlands (Scotland), Moray and the Scottish Islands will be funded over 10 years, rather than 15 years, releasing funding more quickly to enable projects to come online sooner.
By bringing forward the investment, Tay Cities will receive an additional £6.3m each year, Borderlands (Scotland) an extra £2.1m, Moray an extra £1.1m and the Scottish Islands an additional £1.7m.
Projects announced today include the Gigabit and Shared Rural Network programmes for better mobile coverage.
The Gigabit programme subsidises the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband in the most difficult to reach 20% of the UK, while the Shared Rural Network programme is a partnership with industry that will deliver high-quality 4G mobile coverage across 95% of the UK by 2025.
Investment in new green industries will support green growth clusters, offshore wind capacity, port infrastructure, Carbon Capture and Storage and low carbon hydrogen.
The global underwater hub, funded by £1.3m announced at today’s Spending Review, will eventually comprise of physical presences in the existing underwater engineering cluster in North East Scotland.
Separately, institutions and companies in Scotland will also be able to access a £14.6bn UK-wide research and development fund.
The Government today confirmed funding for the next stage of the Plan for Jobs – including £1.6bn for the landmark Kickstart scheme in 2021/22, which will see the creation of up to 250,000 government-subsidised jobs for young people.
The apprenticeship hiring incentive that launched in August will also be extended to 31 March 2021, offering employers up to £2,000 for every new apprentice they hire.
Investment from EU Structural Funds is increasing in each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 21-22 compared to this financial year.
The Spending Review provides additional UK funding to help local areas prepare over 2021-22 for the introduction of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Further details will be published in the New Year.
The UK Government has delivered on its manifesto commitment to maintain funding by providing £570m to support farmers, land managers and the rural economy, and £14m to support fisheries in Scotland.
The Government committed to boost local economies by establishing at least one Freeport in each of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with locations to be jointly decided by the UK Government and the devolved administrations.
And on the cultural front the Government announced £29.1m for Festival UK with projects expected across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The UK Government’s recent announcement of record spending on defence will also directly benefit Scotland as it finances the UK’s order of 8 Type 26 and 5 Type 31 frigates, which are currently being constructed on the Clyde, creating thousands of jobs.
At this Spending Review Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will benefit from UK-wide coronavirus support in health, including £15bn for Test and Trace with Barnett funding provided for England-only elements of the programme.
RESPONSES
Responding to Rishi Sunak’s Spending Review, Roz Foyer, STUC General Secretary, said: “This Spending Review is a kick in the teeth to those very same workers Rishi Sunak was clapping months ago.
“Despite thousands of workers in the private sector surviving on furlough pay at 80%, Rishi Sunak choose to attack public sector pay. This is a levelling down agenda, not a levelling up one.
“Very few people will be fooled by his attempts to pit care workers against shop workers or low paid council workers against low paid cleaners. All need a decent pay increase, and they all need it now. If the Chancellor wants to equalise public sector and private sector pay, he should have ensured that workers cannot be furloughed on less than the minimum wage and increased the minimum wage to at least £10 per hour. 18 pence on the minimum wage is pennies, when we need pounds.
“£250 for lower paid public sector workers is the exact same policy introduced by George Osborne in 2010 and still amounts to a pay cut for many.”
Ms Foyer also criticised other funding announcements: “This was the moment to announce a massive fiscal stimulus to drive a green recovery and the Chancellor totally missed it.
“While we await details for the new National Infrastructure Bank and funding for the devolved administrations, the figures announced come nowhere near the amount needed.
“Moreover, instead of devolving funding and power to local communities, the Levelling Up Fund centralises control in Whitehall and enables the Treasury to pick and choose which pet projects it will support.
“Cutting international development funding to 0.5% of GDP shows that for all its talk of global Britain, this Government doesn’t really care for world’s most vulnerable.
“The Chancellor’s statement also did nothing to address the gaping holes in our social safety net. With unemployment likely to rise to 7.6% next year, the Government must commit, as a minimum, to continuing the £20 uplift in Universal Credit so people can weather that storm while they look for work.
“Workers in Scotland know that key workers deserve a pay rise. They will see through Rishi Sunak’s con trick.”
Jonathan Carr-West, Chief Executive of Local Government Information Unit Scotland,said: “Scotland now knows the amount of the block grant that it will receive. Those parts of the Spending Review that apply to Scotland show that the UK Government is not learning the lessons of the pandemic and that they remain wedded to an over-centralised approach.
“Many will be struck by what was absent from Mr Sunak’s statement. For Scottish local government, it’s the big picture that matters as they wait to hear what Scottish Government allocations will be as each council decides on their budget priorities. How will the Shared Prosperity Fund be allocated? How will the impact of Brexit on local economies be mitigated? On these issues we have learnt nothing.
“When it comes to infrastructure, the centralising tendency of the British state was on full display today. The £4 bn levelling up fund is to be administered by the Treasury, MHCLG and Department for Transport. Local areas will bid against each other and Whitehall will pick the winners. Proposals must have the support of their MP, but local government once again doesn’t seem to be part of the picture.”
Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail said: “The chancellor Rishi Sunak has delivered a body blow to the public sector workers he has targeted to bear the brunt of the costs of the pandemic with a pay freeze – his so-called ‘pause’.
“It is doubly disappointing that the chancellor has adopted ‘divide and rule’ tactics over public sector pay with an award for NHS staff, but a freeze on pay for millions of others, such as teaching assistants, who are already low paid.
“The sop of £250 to the two million public sector workers earning under £24,000-a-year is insulting and compares badly with the inflated sums that the government has wasted on PPE contracts for those with links to the Tory establishment.
“This mainly female workforce already juggle work commitments, childcare responsibilities and care for elderly relatives yet kept vital services running throughout the pandemic, at times due to government failures in PPE provision, risking their own health in the service of others.
“It is also a blow to local economies and high streets where public sector workers spend a large proportion of their wages.
“The prime minister’s ‘levelling up’ agenda is in tatters as a result of the chancellor’s divisive pay announcement which does nothing to restore the ‘lost’ pay in real terms from a decade of austerity.”
Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities said:“The Chancellor’s ambition to level up the country is welcome, as is the clarity on infrastructure in the national strategy.
“But for levelling up to succeed, it needs to be about more than infrastructure and one-off funds. We need to see sustained, multi-year investment and decisions like those announced by the Chancellor today – on skills, transport and housing – devolved and joined up at a local level.”
The House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee has urged the UK Government to provide £5 million in extra funding to support those struggling to afford sufficient food this winter.
This echoes a call made earlier this year by the Committee in its report on Covid-19 and Food Supply. In a letter from the Committee’s Chair to the Secretary of State, the cross-party group of MPs show support for a FareShare scheme which redistributes surplus food from the supply chain to food charities.
FareShare estimates that the scheme would provide 47 million meals per year to the most vulnerable in society.
Chair of the EFRA Select Committee, Neil Parish MP, said: “We face a tough winter with many businesses closing and incomes reducing or disappearing, pushing people into food poverty.
“The Government must make sure that the most vulnerable members of society have access to enough healthy food. To waste food in the supply chain at such a time would be abhorrent, and this grant would provide a huge boost to the invaluable work of charities redistributing surplus food to those who most need it.”
A starter payment should be made to people claiming Universal Credit (UC) for the first time to ensure that everyone has enough money for basics such as food and heating during the wait for their initial monthly payment, the Work and Pensions Committee says.
The Committee’s report on Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment finds that the current wait of at least five weeks causes difficulties for some households. While the existing system of Advance pay-ments for those in need can provide a valuable financial lifeline, the Committee is concerned that some people are unable to afford the required repayments.
The Committee warns that this leaves people with a difficult choice: five weeks with no income, or the risk of debt and hardship later.
The report concludes that the introduction of a new payment – equivalent to three weeks of the standard allowance – would be a simple way of ensuring that new claimants had the money they needed for basic living essentials. For people moving from existing benefits, DWP should make the move seamless wherever possible—and pay a starter payment in other cases.
Advances should still be available for people who need further support to get by, but they should be renamed ‘new claim loans’ to make clear that they will need to be repaid. The DWP should also recognise that a request for a loan is a clear indication that someone is struggling and offer support as early as possible.
Reflecting evidence from Sir Iain Duncan Smith, among others, the Committee has also called for changes to the way that historic tax credit is clawed back from people when they move to Universal Credit—and for DWP’s debt collection to follow best practice in the private sector.
In addition, the Committee calls on the Government to make permanent the £20 per week increase in the standard UC allowance announced in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rt Hon Stephen Timms, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “There is a growing body of evidence that moving to Universal Credit leaves many reliant on food banks, falling seriously behind with their rent, and even experiencing increased levels of psychological distress.
“The Government’s response is that there is no proof that Universal Credit—and in particular the wait for a first payment—is the direct cause of those difficulties. So DWP needs to commission research, and quickly, to find out what lies behind these deeply worrying findings.
“Our social security system should not be leaving people without the money they need for food and heating.
“In the meantime, the Government must face up to the fact that its current system of Advance loans simply isn’t working. They leave people facing the toughest of choices: go without income for at least five weeks, or have repayments subtracted from their future UC payments—which are already barely enough to get by on.
“We cannot understand why people who are already claiming benefits need to wait for at least five weeks when they move to Universal Credit—especially when nothing in their lives has changed. Their move should be seamless.
“For people claiming benefits for the first time, or people who’ve faced a significant change in their circumstances, the Government should provide starter payments. Doing so would both cut down on the need for Advance loans and ensure that nobody is forced into debt just to be able to afford to eat and keep a roof over their heads.
“UC is a highly automated system. That has been a real strength over the last few months, with the huge influx of new claims caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But it can also be a major weakness, leaving people without the tailored support they need, and Ministers unable to make the changes they want to see.
“There is much the Government can do without completely dismantling the UC system: we hope that our proposals, taken together, offer practical solutions for making Universal Credit work for everyone who needs it.”
Key report findings and recommendations
Starter payments
All first-time claimants of UC should receive a starter payment equivalent to three weeks of the Standard Allowance.
The payment should be made two weeks after the initial claim and only once the claimant’s identity has been verified, to guard against fraud.
People claiming legacy benefits should be moved seamlessly to UC, but where they cannot be they should receive a starter payment instead.
The impact of the wait
The Committee received evidence from both organisations and individuals which suggested that a significant proportion of people face financial difficulties during the wait for a first UC payment.
Citizens Advice said that half the people it helps during the wait period are ‘unable to keep up with bills, rent or are forced to go without the essentials such as food and heating’.
The National Audit Office said that the wait for a first payment can exacerbate claimants’ debt and financial difficulties.
DWP must carry out research to develop its understanding of the possible impact of UC, particularly the wait for the first payment, on the use of food banks; on claimants’ levels of rent arrears; and on levels of psychological distress.
Advance payments
Even with starter payments, the Committee anticipates some people claiming will still need to ask for an Advance (a loan to tide them over during the wait).
The DWP risks misleading claimants, and damaging its own credibility, if it insists on denying the obvious fact that these Advances are interest free loans.
Advances should be renamed ‘new claim loans’ so it is clear that they need to be repaid.
The Department should offer support to anyone requesting a substantial Advance, as it would be a clear indication that someone is struggling with the transition to UC.
Tax credit debt
Repayments of tax credit overpayments can compound hardship for people who may already be struggling.
The Committee recommends that recovery of tax credit debt from people claiming UC should begin only when the claimant has repaid their Advance (if they have taken one out).
Repayments of remaining debts should be capped at 10% of UC standard allowance and written off entirely if they have not been pursued for more than six years.
Universal Support and Help to Claim
The DWP must invest in expanding and developing its Help to Claim service so it is closer to its original plans for Universal Support.
The service must go beyond assisting with an initial claim and should include debt advice, support for people struggling with repaying Advances and support for people with complex needs.
The Work Capability Assessment and support for disabled people
The Committee finds it troubling that, because of the time taken to complete a Work Capability Assessment, some disabled people and people with health conditions must wait much longer than five weeks to receive their full UC entitlement.
Four months, on average, is too long to wait and the DWP must work to speed up the process.
Coronavirus measures
In its report DWP’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Committee welcomed the decision to increase the standard allowance in UC and the basic element in Working Tax Credit by £20 per week.
The Government should now extend the increase past April 2021 and make the rise permanent.
Westminster’s Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee have today launched a joint inquiry into lessons to be learned from the response to the coronavirus pandemic so far.
The two Select Committees will jointly conduct evidence sessions examining the impact and effectiveness of action taken by government and the advice it has received. Each Committee will draw on specialist expertise and call witnesses to consider a range of issues including:
the deployment of non-pharmaceutical interventions like lockdown and social distancing rules to manage the pandemic;
the impact on the social care sector;
the impact on BAME communities;
testing and contact tracing;
modelling and the use of statistics;
Government communications and public health messaging;
the UK’s prior preparedness for a pandemic; and
the development of treatments and vaccines.
Joint Inquiry Chairs Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP and Rt Hon Greg Clark MP issued the following statement:
“Parliament has a crucial role in scrutinising the actions of government at a time when the country is in the grip of a crisis such as the current pandemic with its tragic impact on lives and livelihoods.
“Important lessons need to be learned that can help inform further decisions that will need to be taken in the months ahead. It is crucial to learn and apply them now since the Public Inquiry that the Prime Minister has promised is likely to be some time away.
“Our committees will jointly learn what went well, what didn’t, and what lessons must be learnt at this point in the pandemic.
“We will use the independence of our cross-party committees and weekly detailed questioning of witnesses to consider the decisions taken and the evidence they were based on and assess their effectiveness. We will develop clear recommendations so that the UK can benefit from the lessons learned for future stages of this pandemic and for future crises.”
Temporary Coronavirus Act provisions due to be debated in the House of Commons on Weds 30 September could substantially restrict or curtail important, hard-won rights that disabled people rely on for their quality of life, says a new report by Westminster’s Women and Equalities Committee.
The Committee insists that they must not become new norms, setting back disabled people’s rights by many years.
The Committee’s scrutiny has focused on three areas:
Care Act easement provisions
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have duties to assess and meet care and support needs that meet certain criteria. Where local authorities’ resources are severely affected by the pandemic, the Coronavirus Act can essentially replace these with a duty to do this only where failure to do so would be a breach of an individual’s human rights. In some cases this is a would be a greatly reduced level of support.
Temporary Mental Health Act provisions
The Coronavirus Act allows applications for temporary detention under the Mental Health Act (sectioning) to be made by a single doctor, and extends some time limits, for example the time someone can be detained awaiting medical assessment from 72 hrs to 120, and removing the 12 week time limit on remand to hospital.
Education, Health and Care Plan duties to young people with SEND
Parents of children, and young people aged 16-25, with special educational needs or disabilities, have a right to request their local authority carry out an assessment of their child’s (or their own, if aged 16-25) education, health and care needs (Children and Families Act 2014).
Where these met the threshold, local authorities have a duty to secure a package of integrated support known as the Education Health and Care Plan within 20 weeks. The Coronavirus Act gives the Government the power to modify this absolute duty to one of “reasonable endeavours”. Regulations also temporarily suspended the time limits.
The report also looks at the statutory arrangements for the six month reviews of the Coronavirus Act, arguing that the “take all or leave all” approach to continuing the provisions is unsatisfactory.
This is an interim report of the Committee’s inquiry into the impact of coronavirus on disabled people’s access to services [link]. The full report will be published [check] later in the autumn.
Chair’s comments
Committee Chair Caroline Nokes said: “Restricting disabled people’s hard-won rights must not become the new normal. This pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for Government but we must ensure that does not become a reason to turn the clock back on equality.
“The “take all or leave all” binary vote will present MPs with no real choice over provisions which have clear and obvious equality impacts for their disabled constituents, and which they may believe are no longer justified – either now or over the 2 year lifetime of the Act.
“The Government must demonstrate its commitment to equality by ensuring that any proposals which potentially restrict disabled people’s hard won rights are properly considered, and separately from the statutory vote.”
Care Act Easement Provisions
If the pandemic had been more clearly under control, the Committee would have recommended repeal of these. But given the precarious stage of the pandemic, and the fragility of the social care sector it accepts that they might need to remain over the winter. The report recommends that these should be kept under constant review, and if the pandemic stabilises or improves they should be repealed at the second six monthly review in spring 2021 – or sooner.
Detailed information about the number and groups of disabled people affected, and the impact on services, proved impossible to find. Together with a lack of published data, this left the Committee unable to scrutinise the impacts properly.
The report calls on the Government to demonstrate that it is keeping local authorities’ use of Care Act easements under thorough review and allow for proper scrutiny of data, and to publish Think Local Act Personal’s report and accompanying data on the effects of the pandemic on social care provision to inform the debate in the House of Commons on Weds 30 September.
Finally, it recommends that Government guidance to local authorities must make it clear that any pre-emptive triggering of easements would be a misuse of the provisions and could leave local authorities open to legal challenge.
The report also notes that the pandemic has brought a range of pre-existing systemic problems in the social care sector into sharper focus. There is an urgent need for a more sustainable funding solution; resolution of workforce issues including high staff turnover and low pay, and closer integration with health services, as well as a need to value this sector more highly. These issues will be covered in the main report.
Mental Health Act
The temporary provisions have not been needed in England so far, and evidence suggests that future need is unlikely. These also go against the grain of long awaited MHA reforms intended to address inequalities in the system.
The Committee recommends that the Government should either repeal these, or suspend them – leaving the option of reinstating them if they become needed; if the pandemic stabilises or improves they should be repealed at the second six monthly review in spring 2021 – or sooner.
Local authorities: Education Health and Care Plan duties to children and young people with SEND
Was it really necessary to leave many children and young people with SEND with little or no support for three months? The Committee accepts that local authorities needed some flexibility with these duties at the peak of the pandemic, but calls on the Department of Education to review its processes with a view to making faster decisions to return to full duties.
It also calls for: clearer Government guidance on fulfilling the ‘reasonable endeavours’ duty, including minimum standards and a range of examples of good practice; a clear national strategy for managing the backlog of assessments; and for any future relaxation of duties to be local, in direct response to local effects of the pandemic, rather than national.
The Committee heard evidence that the pandemic had exacerbated pre-existing and widely acknowledged systemic issues in the wider SEND system including: funding, inconsistencies in provision, poor integration of services and a lack of accountability in the system. These will be considered in detail in the main report later in the autumn.
There’s more to come
While the temporary measures discussed here are an important part of many disabled people’s concerns about the unequal impact of the pandemic, this interim report does not provided a full picture of their lived experience.
The Committee has heard a much wider range of evidence and will publish a main report later in the autumn. This will scrutinise the clarity and accessibility of the Government’s consultation and communications, and disabled people’s wider experience of accessing health and social care.
Westminster’s Petitions Committee will hold a hybrid e-petitions session tomorrow (Thursday 17 September) to put concerns to Ministers on support for households during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The session, which will be open to Members across the House, follows the Committee receiving a series of popular petitions calling for support for households in light of the pandemic.
The Westminster Hall-style debate will be held in one of Parliament’s committee rooms, with the option of participating via video-link, and will give Members across the House the opportunity to debate and question Government Ministers on the issues being raised by petitioners.
Ministers attending to answer questions will include Luke Hall MP (Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government), Will Quince MP (Minister in Department for Work and Pensions) and John Glen MP (Treasury Minister).
More than 347,000 petitioners have now signed parliamentary petitions relating to supporting households through the coronavirus crisis, as the Government continues to adapt the support system being offered across the country.
Hybrid e-petitions sessions have been devised as sittings in Westminster Hall – the traditional debating Chamber for e-petitions – are still suspended as part of Parliament’s arrangements for adapting to Coronavirus and ensuring the safety of people on the Estate.
Westminster Hall debates are anticipated to resume from 5 October.
The report, published in June, made a number of recommendations about supporting those claiming Universal Credit, as well as legacy benefits and those with no recourse to public funds due to their immigration status.
It also made recommendations on the HSE and called on the DWP to develop a strategy for dealing with the effects of the economic downturn.
Committee Chair Stephen Timms MP has now written to the Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey MP to press the Department on a number of points not addressed by the Government response.
Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said: “We don’t necessarily expect the Government immediately to accept every recommendation we make. But we do expect that it will at least explain its position. This response to our report leaves many questions unanswered.
“In the course of our inquiry, we heard concerns that the Government’s very welcome increases to some benefit rates would be undermined by the benefit cap. Ministers assured us in April that only a small number of people would be affected. In fact, DWP’s own statistics show that 84,000 households were newly capped between February and May this year.
“The Secretary of State also assured the House in May that she was looking very carefully at what could be done for people who had mistakenly applied for Universal Credit and left themselves worse off as a result. We recommended that the Government act urgently to put this right. It now seems that nothing is going to be done for these people. If that’s the case, the Government should say so clearly, and explain why.
“Just as importantly, there seems to be little acknowledgement of the role of the Department in planning for future pressure on the social security system. There needs to be a firm commitment to analysing how coronavirus has affected levels of poverty and a clear strategy—available for public scrutiny— for coordinating the employment response to the economic downturn.”
The Secretary of State for Scotland and his team ‘play a vital role in promoting the best interests of Scotland within a strong United Kingdom, and represent effectively Scottish interests at the heart of the UK Government’, according to the UK Government.
The annual report and accounts of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (OSSS) and Office of the Advocate General for Scotland (OAG) have been published today [21 July 2020].
The report provides an overview of a busy year from April 2019 to March 2020. Highlights include:
supporting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented global crisis which has profound implications for Scotland and the whole United Kingdom. This includes helping to drive our economy recovery strategy, which will be vital in the months and years ahead
delivering a public information campaign to inform and support Scottish businesses, EU nationals resident in Scotland, and the wider public on preparing for a EU exit
working with local authorities and the devolved administration in Scotland to deliver the City Region and Growth Deal programme to boost investment, create new jobs and drive forward economic growth right across Scotland
overseeing the move to Queen Elizabeth House, the UK Government’s new flagship hub in Scotland which will open in September 2020
Commenting on the report, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack (above) said: “I am very pleased to present our annual report and accounts to Parliament, for the first time since I was appointed to the role last year.
“The past 12 months have seen a period of monumental change across Scotland and the rest of the UK. We have left the EU, are tackling a global pandemic, and are getting ready for the end of the EU transition period.
“As we look forward to ensuring our economy can bounce back after coronavirus, and making the most of new global opportunities outside of the EU, the case for the Union has never been stronger. I am proud to be playing a part in sustaining and strengthening our Union”.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Gambling Commission it oversees have an “unacceptably weak understanding” of the impact of gambling harms and lack measurable targets for reducing them, according to a Westminster committee.
In a report published yesterday, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee says the Gambling Commission is not proactively influencing gambling operators to improve protections, and consistently lags behind moves in the gambling industry. Where gambling operators fail to act responsibly, consumers do not have the same rights to redress as in other sectors.
There are an estimated 395,000 problem gamblers in the UK, with a further 1.8 million people ‘at risk’. The effects can be devastating, life-changing for people and whole families, including financial and home loss, relationship breakdowns, criminality and suicide.
The Gambling Commission is a non-departmental public body funded by licence fees from gambling operators. In 2018-19 it took £19 million in these licence fees: less than 0.2% of the £11.3 billion gambling yield that year. In contrast to the Commission’s £19m fees a year, the gambling industry has agreed to spend £60m to treat problem gamblers.
‘Prevention is better than cure’
The government has approached other public health issues on the basis that prevention is better than cure. However, the Department was unwilling to accept the premise that increasing the Commission’s budget to prevent harm would be preferable to spending on treating problem gamblers.
The Commission increased the value of the financial penalties it enforced from £1.4 million in 2014-15 to £19.6 million in 2018-19, but it doesn’t know whether this has strengthened the deterrent to breaking rules for operators.
The Gambling Commission also has little understanding of the impact of its other regulatory action, including its ban on the use of credit cards for online gambling.
The Committee finds the pace of change to ensure effective regulation has been slow and the penalties on companies which don’t effectively tackle problem gambling are weak.
Failure to protect consumers
It says the Department and Commission together have “failed to adequately protect consumers” at a time of considerable change in the sector, as gambling increasingly moves online and new games become popular.
The collection of evidence has been patchy and behind the curve as the nature of gambling has changed, and the Commission has failed to develop responses even where it has identified potential problems, such as during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The temporary ban on gambling ads during lockdown has now been lifted – in its response to the report the Commission should provide an update on gambling patterns and industry behaviour during Covid-19, and any regulatory action it has taken to tackle the industry.
The Committee calls for a new, published league table of gambling operators’ behaviour towards their customers, naming and shaming poor performers. It says the Department must urgently begin its long-planned review of the Gambling Act, setting out a timetable within three months of this report.
The Committee concludes:
The Commission should develop a plan for how it will be more proactive in influencing the industry to treat consumers better, including using reputational tools such as league tables indicating how well each operator treats its customers
The Commission should urgently investigate the impact of fixed odds betting that falls under “lottery” legislation and is accessible by 16 and 17-year-olds
The Commission and the Department should urgently look at online fixed odds betting and report back to the Committee with how they intend to increase effectiveness of online harm reduction within three months.
The Commission needs to “radically improve” the data and insight it collects to know what is going wrong for consumers and develop better information on its own performance: Within three months the Department and Commission should set out to the Committee what actions they will take to ensure they have the research and evidence base needed to better understand gambling problems, and to design an effective regulatory response.
The Department and Commission should work together to strengthen consumer rights assess the impact on consumers of gaps in redress arrangements and examine options for increasing statutory protections with an individual right of redress for breaches of the Social Responsibility Code of Practice.
Chair’s comments
Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “What has emerged in evidence is a picture of a torpid, toothless regulator that doesn’t seem terribly interested in either the harms it exists to reduce or the means it might use to achieve that.
“The Commission needs a radical overhaul: it must be quicker at responding to problems, update company licence conditions to protect vulnerable consumers and beef up those consumers’ rights to redress when it fails.
“The issue of gambling harm is not high up enough the Government’s agenda. The review of the Gambling Act is long overdue and an opportunity to see a step change in how problem gambling is treated. The Department must not keep dragging its feet, we need to see urgent moves on the badly needed overhaul of the system.
“Regulatory failure this comprehensive needs a quick pincer movement to expose the miscreants and strengthen those they harm.”
