HM Government

With permission Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and our safety inspections of cladding in other buildings.

Introduction

I know I speak for the whole House when I express my heartfelt grief at the Grenfell Tower catastrophe.

Almost a fortnight has passed but the shock has not subsided.

I have visited Kensington and witnessed the terrible anguish of those who have lost so much.

In some cases people will have lost literally everything.

I am sure that, like me, many members have returned from their constituencies this morning with the anger and the fears of residents still ringing in their ears.

Anger that a tragedy on this scale was ever allowed to happen in 21st century Britain, and fear that it could happen again.

It is this fear I want to address first today Mr Speaker.

Cladding checking process

I know the entire country is anxious to hear what we are doing to reassure residents about fire safety in similar blocks around the country.

My department has contacted all councils and housing associations asking them to identify all tall residential buildings in England that they’re responsible for, which have potentially similar cladding.

We estimate this number to be around 600.

On 18 June we wrote to them and asked them to start sending samples, and on 21 June our combustibility testing programme for Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding started, run by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

On 22 June the government provided advice to all these landlords about interim safety measures where a building has ACM cladding that is unlikely to be compliant with Building Regulations.

This advice was recommended by an independent panel of experts and includes advice based on the emerging findings from the Metropolitan Police investigation into Grenfell Tower.

I can inform the House that as of midday today, the cladding from 75 high-rise buildings, in 26 local authority areas, has failed the combustibility test.

I know members will rightly want to know if their local residents are affected, and my department will publish regular updates on GOV.UK.

The combustibility test has 3 categories rated 1 to 3, and it is judged that cladding material in category 2 or 3 does not meet the requirements for limited combustibility in Building Regulations.

I can also confirm to the House that so far, on that basis, all samples of cladding tested have failed.

The fact that all samples so far have failed underlines the value of the testing programme and the vital importance of submitting samples urgently.

The testing facility can analyse 100 samples a day and runs around the clock.

I am concerned about the speed at which samples are being submitted. I would urge all landlords to submit their samples immediately.

In every case of failed tests landlords and local fire and rescue services are alerted, and we are supporting and monitoring all follow-up action, including by a dedicated caseworker in my department.

Landlords for all affected buildings have informed or are informing tenants and implementing the interim safety measures needed, working with fire and rescue services.

At this time the safety of people living in these buildings is our paramount concern.

I am determined residents have as much peace of mind as possible in such worrying times.

Landlords must keep residential buildings safe for their tenants.

Where they cannot satisfy that obligation with appropriate mitigating measures, we expect alternative accommodation to be provided while the remedial work is carried out.

That is exactly what has happened in Camden and I’d like to pay tribute to the residents for their brave response in such a distressing situation.

Other residential buildings and public buildings

Mr Speaker, it is obvious the problem of unsafe cladding may not be a problem unique to social housing, or residential buildings.

We have asked other owners, landlords and managers of private sector residential blocks to consider their own buildings and we have made the testing facility freely available to them.

My department is also working with the Government Property Unit to oversee checks on wider public sector buildings.

Hospitals are well prepared – each one has a tailored fire safety plan.

But nothing is more important than the safety of patients and staff, so on a precautionary basis we have asked all hospitals to conduct additional checks.

The government will continue to work closely with fire and rescue colleagues to prioritise and conduct checks based on local circumstances.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency are contacting all bodies responsible for safety in schools instructing them to carry out immediate checks to identify any buildings which require further investigation. We will have more information this week.

Across the wider government estate 15 buildings have been identified as requiring further investigation.

Victims and survivors

Now while that work continues it is vital we offer every assistance to the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

As of this morning, 79 people have been confirmed dead or listed as missing presumed dead. Sadly, it is believed that this number will increase.

Mr Speaker, as the Prime Minister told the House last week, the initial response of the emergency services was exemplary, but the immediate support on the ground was simply not good enough.

A remarkable community effort sprung up overnight, while official support was found wanting.

That failure was inexcusable, and it is right that a new team and approach is now in operation.

We have activated the Bellwin Scheme and sent significant central government resource including:

• a single point of access into government provided by the Grenfell Tower Victims Unit, operating from my department

• staff from 6 government departments offering support at the Westway Assistance Centre

• and a family bereavement centre in Holborn

The government has set aside a £5 million Grenfell Tower Residents’ Discretionary Fund and more than £1 million has been distributed.

Each household affected is receiving £5,500 to provide immediate assistance, and so far 111 households have received payments.

The British Red Cross are operating an advice line for anyone affected or in need of support.

They are just one of many charities, faith organisations, and businesses that have provided invaluable assistance to victims.

Mr Speaker, I can announce to the House today that the government will contribute £1 million to support their efforts.

This money will be new money; it will be distributed by the local consortium of charities, trusts and foundations who are working together to respond to this tragic event.

Update on re-housing

Our other priority has been to find survivors a safe and secure place to live.

The Prime Minister made a clear commitment that a good quality temporary home would be offered for every family whose home was destroyed in the fire, within 3 weeks.

Every one of those families will also be offered a permanent social home in the local area.

This work is underway, and the first families moved into their homes over the weekend.

Last week I also announced that the government had secured 68 homes in a new development in Kensington to rehouse local residents.

We will do everything we can to support the victims of the Grenfell fire now and in the future, and I will regularly update the House on our progress.

Building Regulations / Expert Panel/ Public Inquiry

Mr Speaker, as the Prime Minister said in her statement to the House last week, the disaster at Grenfell Tower should never have happened.

There is an ongoing police investigation, and there will be an independent judge-led, public inquiry, to get to the truth about what happened and who was responsible.

Building Regulations and the system for ensuring fire safety in buildings have been developed over many decades.

Until the Grenfell Fire many experts would have claimed that system has served us well.

But now we have witnessed a catastrophic failure, on a scale many thought impossible in 21st century Britain.

It is clear that this failure must be understood; it must be rectified without delay, and the government is determined to ensure that happens.

As an initial step I can inform the House today that I am establishing an independent expert advisory panel who will advise the government on any steps that should immediately be taken on fire safety.

Further details of the panel including its members will be released shortly.

Mr Speaker, this tragedy must never be forgotten, and it should weigh heavily on the consciousness of every person tasked with making the decisions that ensure it can never, ever happen again.

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Speaking in the House of Commons, the Prime Minister said that EU citizens make an invaluable contribution to the UK and the government wants to provide them with certainty about the future of their lives.

Theresa May said a policy paper published by the government would make clear the UK’s ‘fair and serious offer’ to maintain EU citizens’ rights, which will be enshrined in UK law.

The Prime Minister once again made it clear these proposals should be part of a reciprocal agreement for EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in Europe, which the government wants to agree as quickly as possible.

The Prime Minister said:

EU citizens are an integral part of the economic, cultural and social fabric of our country and I have always been clear that I want to protect their rights.

That is why I initially sought an agreement on this before we triggered Article 50. And it is why I am making it an immediate priority at the beginning of the negotiations.

That agreement must be reciprocal because we must protect the rights of UK citizens living in the EU too.

Our offer will give those 3 million EU citizens in the UK certainty about the future of their lives. And a reciprocal agreement will provide the same certainty for the more than 1 million UK citizens who are living in the European Union.

In its policy paper, Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU, the government makes clear how EU citizens looking to remain in the UK can do so.

The paper confirms the creation of a new ‘settled status’ for EU citizens who arrive before a cut-off date, which is yet to be specified and will be agreed as part of the negotiations with the EU.

Applicants who already have 5 years’ continuous residence in the UK will be immediately eligible for settled status. Those who arrived before the specified date but do not yet meet the 5 year threshold by exit day will be allowed to stay until they reach that milestone and can also secure settled status.

Those EU citizens who are granted settled status will be treated like a comparable UK national, entitled to broadly the same rights and benefits.

And a grace period of up to 2 years will be in place for all EU citizens, including those who arrive after the cut-off date, allowing them to regularise their status to remain in the country.

All those applying to remain in the UK will undergo full criminality checks.

The paper also confirms:

• family dependants who join a qualifying EU citizen in the UK before the UK’s exit will be able to apply for settled status after 5 years
• EU citizens looking to remain in the UK will be asked to apply for documentation under a new streamlined, user friendly scheme
• protection for the existing healthcare arrangements for both EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU. This includes seeking continued participation in the European Health Insurance Card scheme for all UK nationals and EU citizens, including for temporary visits
• the UK intends to provide certainty by continuing to export and uprate the UK State Pension within the EU, as well as offering reassurance that those exporting a benefit at the specified date will be able to do so, subject to ongoing entitlement
• EU citizens who arrived before the specified date should be able to continue to be eligible for Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) student loans and ‘home fee’ status.
• the UK intends to continue to recognise professional qualifications obtained in the Member States prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This would be part of a reciprocal deal which ensures professional qualifications obtained in the UK and EU Member States continue to be mutually recognised.

Notes for editors

In addition to the publication of the policy paper, the government has updated its advice for EU citizens living in the UK.

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Ofqual responds to alleged malpractice in Edexcel (Pearson) exams.

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The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS), the independent adviser to government on simplifying the UK tax system publishes its first annual report today Monday 26 June 2017.

The report, a feature of its new statutory footing, also covers the period since it was set up on an informal basis in July 2010 and looks forward to the full and challenging agenda ahead.

On the publication of the OTS’s annual report, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General, Mel Stride, said:

The Office of Tax Simplification makes a valuable contribution to the public debate around tax, supporting the creation of a simpler tax code and challenging the government to deliver it.

To date we have implemented over 200 of the OTS’s recommendations and will continue to carefully consider its advice.

The tax profession is strongly supportive of tax simplification. The new president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, John Preston, spoke in his inaugural address of:

… the unquestionable need to simplify the UK tax system.

The work of the OTS

The OTS represents the first endeavour in the world to bring a systematic and thoroughly researched approach to advising government on tax.

To date the OTS has made over 450 recommendations, with over half accepted and another quarter remaining under consideration, improving the user experience of millions of UK tax payers. It has built up a strong reputation with individuals, businesses and professional advisers as well as within government.

The OTS provides:

• reports offering practical recommendations (such as a cash basis for calculating the tax for the smallest unincorporated businesses)
• analysis that shines a light on challenging structural issues (such as its reports on where the key hurdles and costs lie in the options for aligning income tax and national insurance contributions)
• insight into wider changes in the economy (such its focus paper on the Gig economy)
• an important conduit into government to raise tax complexity issues

The OTS is in unique position to highlight issues, stimulate debate and act as a catalyst for positive change, being strongly connected within government, having exceptionally wide access to a range of deep expertise from outside government and speaking with an independent voice.

The OTS has developed ground breaking ideas on complexity, put forward ideas that have beneficially affected millions of taxpayers, brought a range of difficult areas into the open for debate and emphasised the importance of simplification being integral to tax policy thinking.

Looking ahead

The OTS’s next reports, due out within the next few weeks, will cover routes for simplifying the corporation tax computation and reform of the out of date paper stamping procedures still required for some transactions that attract stamp duty.

The OTS is also currently working on a report on VAT, for publication in the autumn and planning how best to address the full and challenging agenda that lies ahead.

Notes for Editors

The OTS advises the Chancellor on tax simplification; it does not implement changes – these are a matter for government and for Parliament.

The OTS team is led by Chairman Angela Knight CBE and Tax Director Paul Morton and has a small staff drawn from HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs and the private sector.

The work of the OTS is rooted in improving the experience of all who interact with the tax system. It aims to reduce the administrative burden – which is what people actually encounter in practice – as well as simplifying the rules. Simplification of the technical and administrative aspects of tax are each important, both to taxpayers and HMRC.

The Office is particularly indebted to John Whiting CBE who led the OTS from the summer of 2010 until March 2017 and to the Rt Hon David Gauke MP (now Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions), whose support helped establish it as a statutory part of the tax landscape in the UK.

Press Enquiries only please contact Ed Rowley, OTS Press Officer Phone: 03000 585 028

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With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on last week’s European Council – and the proposals we are publishing today which, on a reciprocal basis, seek to give reassurance and certainty to EU citizens who have made their homes and lives in our country.

Mr Speaker, this Council followed the formal start of the negotiations for the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, as well as marking the first anniversary of the referendum that led to that decision.

In that referendum, the British people chose to take back control of our laws, our money and our borders; to restore supremacy to this Parliament and to reclaim our sense of national self-determination. And this government will fulfil the democratic will of the British people.

But, Mr Speaker, the referendum was not a vote to turn our backs on our friends and neighbours.

Indeed, as we become ever more internationalist in our outlook, and as we build the global Britain we want to see, we will continue to be reliable partners, willing allies and close friends with all the member states of the European Union.

We want to work with one another to make sure we are all safer, more secure and more prosperous through our continued friendship.

We want to buy each other’s goods and services and trade as freely as possible.

And we will continue to celebrate and defend the liberal democratic values that we share – and to project those values that are the foundation of our freedoms and our way of life.

In short, we want to build what I have described as a new, deep and special partnership between a confident, self-governing global Britain and all our friends and allies in the European Union.

Mr Speaker, that is the positive and constructive spirit in which my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union began the formal negotiations last week – and it is the same spirit in which the United Kingdom made a full contribution to all the issues at this Council – including on security, migration, climate change and trade.

Security

On security, I thanked our European partners for their condolences and for their resolve in standing with us following the appalling terrorist attacks that the UK has suffered in recent weeks.

Those attacks have seen citizens from across Europe tragically killed and injured. But they have also seen our citizens standing together in some of the most inspiring ways.

At London Bridge we saw a Spanish banker tragically killed as he rushed to the aid of a woman being attacked. And we saw a Romanian baker fighting off the terrorists and giving shelter to Londoners in his bakery. These moments of heroism show how – far from dividing us – such attacks on our way of life will only ever serve to strengthen our shared unity and resolve.

But Mr Speaker, these attacks also show that we need to respond to a new trend in the threat we face, as terrorism breeds terrorism and perpetrators are inspired to attack by copying one another using the crudest of means.

So building on the bi-lateral agreement I reached with President Macron earlier this month, at this Council I argued that we must come together to defeat the hateful and extremist ideologies that inspire these attacks. And to stop the internet being used as a safe space for extremists.

When one third of all links to Daesh propaganda are shared within the first hour of release, it is not enough for technology companies to respond reactively to extremist content on their platforms.

So the Council agreed to put pressure on these companies to do more to remove this content automatically and also to ensure that law enforcement agencies can access encrypted data.

This was a significant step forward. And we will continue to work together with our European partners to combat this evil, to defend our values, and to keep our citizens safe.

Migration, trade and climate change

Turning to other issues, on migration the Council recommitted to the comprehensive approach that the UK has advocated, dealing with the drivers of migration while also doing more to stem the flow.

And at this Summit, I confirmed a new UK commitment of £75 million to meet urgent humanitarian needs in the Central Mediterranean, while also facilitating voluntary returns of migrants making these treacherous journeys.

On trade, as the UK leaves the European Union we will be forging trade deals around the world with old friends and new allies alike. But this will not undermine the EU’s trade agenda; it is not even in competition with it.

So for as long as we remain part of the EU, we will continue to press for an ambitious trade agenda that can deliver jobs and growth across the continent. And that is what I did at this Council, where there was a particular focus on the work towards deals with Japan, Mexico and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries.

And on climate change, the Council reaffirmed the commitment of all member states to fully implement the Paris Agreement.

The UK has already reaffirmed its own commitment and I have expressed my disappointment to President Trump that he has taken a different decision.

We will continue to make the case to our American allies to think again.

Citizens’ Rights

Mr Speaker, turning to citizens’ rights, EU citizens make an invaluable contribution to our United Kingdom – to our economy, our public services and our everyday lives. They are an integral part of the economic, cultural and social fabric of our country and I have always been clear that I want to protect their rights.

That is why I initially sought an agreement on this before we triggered Article 50. And it is why I am making it an immediate priority at the beginning of the negotiations.

But Mr Speaker, that agreement must be reciprocal, because we must protect the rights of UK citizens living in EU member states too.

At the Council I set out some of the principles that I believe should underlie that reciprocal agreement – and there was a very positive response from individual leaders and a strong sense of mutual goodwill in trying to reach such an agreement as soon as possible.

So today, we are publishing detailed proposals to do exactly that.

And let me set out the key points for the House.

First, we want certainty. I know there has been some anxiety about what would happen to EU citizens at the point we leave the European Union.

Today I want to put that anxiety to rest. I want to completely reassure people that, under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU. We want you to stay.

Second, any EU citizen in the UK with five years’ continuous residence – at a specified cut-off date – will be granted settled status. They will be treated as if they were UK citizens for healthcare, education, benefits and pensions. While any EU citizens with less than five years’ residence – who have arrived before the specified cut-off date – will be able to stay until they have the five years’ residence to apply for UK settled status.

Third, the specified cut-off date will be the subject of discussions – but it will be no earlier than the date we triggered Article 50 and no later than the date we leave the EU. Fourth, no families will be split up. Family dependents who join a qualifying EU citizen here before the UK’s exit will be able to apply for settled status after five years.

And after the UK has left the European Union, EU citizens with settled status will be able to bring family members from overseas on the same terms as British nationals.

Fifth, there will be no cliff-edge. There will be a grace period of up to two years to allow people to regularise their status. While those EU citizens who arrived in the UK after the specified cut-off date will be allowed to remain in the UK for at least a temporary period and may still become eligible to settle permanently.

Sixth, the system of registration that citizens go through will be as streamlined and light touch as possible and we intend to remove some of the technical requirements currently needed to obtain permanent residence under EU rules.

For example, we will not require anyone to demonstrate that they have held comprehensive sickness insurance.

Seventh, we expect this offer to be extended on a reciprocal basis to nationals of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

And the reciprocal agreement on citizens’ rights will apply to the entire United Kingdom and Gibraltar.

Eighth, this is all without prejudice to the Common Travel Area arrangements that exist between the UK and Ireland. We will preserve the freedoms that UK and Irish nationals currently enjoy in each others’ state. And Irish citizens will not need to apply for permanent residence to protect these entitlements.

Finally, the UK will continue to export and uprate the UK State Pension and provide associated healthcare cover within the EU. We will continue to protect the export of other benefits and associated healthcare cover, where the individual is in receipt of those benefits on the specified cut-off date. And subject to negotiations we want to continue participating in the European Health Insurance Card scheme, so that UK card holders could continue to benefit from free or reduced cost healthcare while on a temporary stay in the EU and vice versa for EU card holders visiting the UK.

Mr Speaker, this is a fair and serious offer. Our obligations in the Withdrawal Treaty with the EU will be binding on the UK as a matter of international law. And we will incorporate commitments into UK law guaranteeing that we will stand firmly by our part of the deal.

So our offer will give those three million EU citizens in the UK certainty about the future of their lives. And a reciprocal agreement will provide the same certainty for the more than one million UK citizens who are living in the European Union.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker, one year on from that momentous decision to leave the European Union, let us remember what we are seeking to achieve with these negotiations.

We are withdrawing from a system of treaties and bureaucracy that does not work for us. But we are not withdrawing from the values and solidarity that we share with our European neighbours. As a confident, outward-looking and self-governing nation, we know that it is not just our past that is entwined in the fortunes of our friends and neighbours.

It is our future too.

That is why we want this new, deep and special partnership.

And it is why we approach these negotiations with optimism.

Because a good deal for Britain and a good deal for Europe are not competing alternatives.

They are the best single path to a brighter future for all our children and grandchildren.

That, I believe, is the future the British people voted for.

And that is the future I want us to secure.

And I commend this Statement to the House.

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