I would like to update the House on the outcome of a commercial agreement between the Government and Celsa Steel (UK) Ltd, further to the written ministerial statement laid by my right hon. Friend Sir Alok Sharma MP on 2 July 2020.

Throughout the covid-19 pandemic, the Government provided unprecedented support to protect jobs and businesses across the country. The coronavirus job retention scheme supported 1.3 million employers and 11.7 million furloughed jobs and, overall, £80.37 billion worth of loans were approved through covid-related loan schemes.¹

Furthermore, in exceptional circumstances, the Government were also willing to consider bespoke support on a “last resort” basis where a viable company of strategic importance had exhausted all other options available. The Government set an extremely high bar for using taxpayers’ money in this way, and we were clear that any companies seeking Government support should do so only as an absolute last resort.

In 2020, Celsa Steel UK met all the necessary requirements to access such support, including as a key supplier to the construction industry. The Government agreed to provide support to the company, including with legally binding contractual conditions on employment, climate change, tax obligations, and corporate governance.

I am pleased to confirm today that the loan provided to Celsa has been repaid in full and in accordance with all the terms and conditions agreed by the Government in 2020. Those terms have not only protected UK taxpayers’ money but have provided taxpayers with a strong return, commensurate with the circumstances of the loan, including as a lender of last resort.

The support provided by Government saved 1,500 jobs at Celsa and provided the basis for the company to grow further by creating another 300 jobs. This includes c.850 jobs at Celsa’s main site in South Wales.

I am delighted that the Government’s prompt action in 2020 has made such a positive difference, for Celsa Steel UK, for the companies in Celsa’s supply chain, and for the local economy in South Wales.

We have taken wide-ranging actions to support our UK steel industry more broadly. The British industry supercharger, announced in February 2023, will bring energy costs for energy-intensive industries, including steel companies like Celsa, in line with the world’s major economies. Industrial sectors, including steel, have been able to bid into several Government competitive funds to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation. We have updated the steel procurement policy note to create a level playing field for UK steel producers, and we have implemented a robust trade remedies framework to protect domestic industry as well as acting to resolve market access constraints on steel trade with the US and the EU.

I wish to praise the commitment of Celsa’s workforce and management who have transformed the company’s performance since the 2020 crisis. Our focus is now on working with all steel producers, and the wider steel sector, to ensure they continue to deliver high-quality employment and climate change action for the UK.

¹ Government support across the economy during covid included the coronavirus job retention scheme, coronavirus business interruption loan schemes, bounce back loan scheme, and recovery loan scheme.

In total, £70.0 billion was claimed under the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS), for claims up to 21 November 2021. In total 11.7 million jobs were furloughed since the scheme began and 1.3 million employers had claimed under the scheme. Overall, £80.37 billion worth of loans were approved across the CBILS, BBLS, CLBILS and recovery loan schemes as of 25 October 2021.

More information is at https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/ CBP-8938/CBP-8938.pdf

[HCWS879]

The next meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee will take place on 3 July 2023, with delegations attending in person and by video conference.

The meeting will be co-chaired by the Foreign Secretary the right hon. James Cleverly MP and Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič.

The agenda will include:

Welcome and opening remarks from the co-chairs and adoption of the agenda

Update on Withdrawal Agreement Implementation in accordance with Article 164 of the Withdrawal Agreement, in particular on the Windsor Framework and citizens’ rights

Decisions to be adopted by the Joint Committee

Decision No 2/2023 adding two newly adopted Union acts to Annex 2 to the Windsor Framework

Decision No 3/2023 amending part 1 of annex 1 to the agreement on the withdrawal of the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community

AOB

Concluding remarks

[HCWS881]

I would like to inform the House that I have accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to introduce a national targeted lung cancer screening programme for people aged 55 to 74 who are at high risk of lung cancer in England.

Around 35,000 people die and 48,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year. Lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. This is largely attributed to lung cancer being diagnosed at a late stage when treatment is much less likely to be effective. Diagnosis of lung cancer at an earlier stage is essential in achieving better results. It is for this reason we are introducing a national screening programme, which, when fully rolled out, will detect around 9,000 additional cancers at an early stage each year.

Smoking causes 72% of lung cancers. The programme will use a history of smoking from GP records to identify the cohort eligible for screening. Current or ex-smokers aged 55 to 74 years will have an initial assessment of their individual lung cancer risk carried out. Anyone assessed as being at high risk of lung cancer will be referred to have a low dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan. They will be reinvited for a further scan every 24 months until they are 75 and exit the programme. Patients will also be signposted to smoking cessation services.

The targeted lung health check programme is currently being run by the NHS in predominantly deprived areas. The national programme will build on this existing programme, converting it into a national screening programme. The national screening programme will reach 100% of the eligible population by March 2030.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the UK National Screening Committee for their expert advice on screening programmes and all those involved in cancer screening across the country.

[HCWS880]

I have today published the draft statutory instrument the Public Health England (Dissolution) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023 and accompanying explanatory memorandum.

This statutory instrument (SI) amends other regulations in consequence of the Government’s reforms to the public health system in England and the dissolution of Public Health England (PHE) on 30 September 2021. The various regulations, listed below, amended by this SI contain references to PHE (such as requirements to consult PHE or to send information to PHE) and these references are in each case substituted with a reference to the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The Major Accident Off-Site Emergency Plan (Management of Waste from Extractive Industries) (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/1927),

The Local Authorities (Public Health Functions and Entry to Premises by Local Healthwatch Representatives) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/351),

The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/483),

The Private Water Supply (England) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/618), and

The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/614).

These regulations are published in accordance with the requirements of schedule 8, paragraph 14(2) to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16).

The draft SI will be available for review for 28 days before it is laid and debates scheduled.

[HCWS882]

I have today published the economic impact assessment (EIA) for the Illegal Migration Bill on the Bill page on gov.uk. A copy of the EIA has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

The Bill is a critical component of the Government plan to stop the boats. Its intent is straightforward: to make clear that if you come to the UK illegally, you will be detained and swiftly returned to your home country if safe, or resettled in a safe third country such as Rwanda. This will help to break the business model of the people smugglers, save lives, and deter small boat crossings. The Bill will also set an annual quota for the number of people admitted to the UK for resettlement through safe and legal routes—this should be the only way for those seeking refuge to arrive in the UK.

The economic impact assessment supports the need for change, sets out the broad costs of Bill implementation, offers estimates of potential savings should the Bill succeed in deterring small boat crossings, and considers examples of where policy and operations have influenced migrant behaviour in other countries. In these international examples, including the evidence from Australia where there was a significant impact on boat arrivals due to changes introduced by the Government there, the assessment illustrates how an appropriately targeted set of measures can be associated with a decline in numbers of illegal arrivals.

Australia’s operational sovereign borders programme reduced the number of small boats arriving in Australia from around 18,000 in 2013 to virtually zero in subsequent years. We have also seen how deterrence strategies can impact on Albanian small boat arrivals in the UK. From January to May, the number of Albanians arriving by small boat so far this year is almost 90% less than in the same period last year.

The economic impact assessment clearly shows that doing nothing is not an option, as the volumes and costs associated with illegal migration and the asylum system have risen significantly over recent years, driven by the rise in small boat arrivals. This increase of pressure on the UK asylum system, public sector spending, public service and accommodation capacity, and local communities is unsustainable. That is why we are changing our laws and taking action to stop the boats.

In 2022-23, the current system cost the UK an estimated £3.6 billion in asylum support costs alone and we are spending £6 million a day on hotel accommodation. Unless we take action to stop the boats, these and other costs will continue to rise.

The economic impact assessment estimates that—at current spending levels—the Bill would need to deter 37% of arrivals to enable cost savings for the taxpayer. However, the costs of accommodating illegal migrants have increased dramatically since 2020. If these trends continue, by the end of 2026 the Home Office would be spending over £11 billion a year, or over £32 million a day, on asylum support. In such a scenario, the Bill would only need to deter 2% of arrivals for the policy to enable cost savings for the taxpayer.

The economic impact assessment forecasts a monetised benefit of over £100,000 for every illegal migrant deterred by the Bill. The impact assessment also considers non- monetised benefits that would result from stopping the boats, including: fewer individuals undertaking hazardous and unnecessary journeys crossing the channel; reduced pressures on public services and housing markets; and other wider asylum system benefits from fewer migrants being supported in the system.

The economic impact assessment will help inform further scrutiny of the Bill as it enters its Report stage in the House of Lords this week. I look forward to the Bill returning to the House of Commons soon and, subject to parliamentary approval, its enactment by the summer recess.

[HCWS883]

Section 19(1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPIM) Act 2011 (the Act) requires the Secretary of State to report to Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of every relevant three-month period on the exercise of their TPIM powers under the Act during that period.

The level of information provided will always be subject to slight variations based on operational advice.

The TPIM Review Group (TRG) keeps every TPIM notice under regular and formal review. TRG meetings were held on 12 and 26 April 2023.

[HCWS878]

I am today announcing that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is undertaking a routine public body review of Homes England.

Arm’s length bodies (ALBs) play an important role in delivering Government policy. There are nearly 300 ALBs, employing around 300,000 people, and they account for more than £220 billion of public spending. As required by the Cabinet Office’s public bodies review programme, Government Departments are reviewing the ALBs they sponsor. The public bodies review programme helps deliver the commitments made in the declaration on Government reform to increase both the effectiveness of public bodies and their departmental sponsorship—making Government work better in service of the public. The reviews enable us to assess ALBs’ performance and whether they are focused on the right objectives and spending taxpayers’ money efficiently.

As one of Government’s largest ALBs, Homes England has been identified for review in the first year of the Cabinet Office’s public bodies review programme. Homes England is the Government’s housing and regeneration agency and is the largest ALB of the Department. It was established as a non-departmental public body in the Homes and Communities Act 2008 and is responsible for delivering affordable, quality homes in well-designed places across England. The agency was last reviewed in 2016—as the Homes and Communities Agency—under the Government’s previous 2015 to 2020 tailored review programme and has not been formally reviewed since.

Following a number of focused internal reviews in recent years and an in-depth self-assessment, the Department has agreed with the Cabinet Office to commence a full-scale review of Homes England. Public body reviews are underpinned by broad minimum requirements covering efficiency, efficacy, accountability and governance. This review will follow guidance published in April 2022 by the Cabinet Office: “Guidance on the undertaking of Reviews of Public Bodies”, and will specifically focus on the function and form of the agency, outcomes for stakeholders and customers, the operational model, compliance, and the framework in which the agency operates.

Tony Poulter has been appointed as the independent lead reviewer. Tony is a non-executive member of the Department for Transport Board and was previously a partner at Price Waterhouse Cooper from 1990 to 2016. He was chosen to lead this review due to his expertise in finance and previous leadership roles across the private and public sector. He will work with a review team composed of officials from the Department and secondees. In conducting the review, officials will engage with a broad range of stakeholders across the UK from the housing sector and beyond.

As set out by the Cabinet Office guidance, the review will report to the Government, and the Government will publish the conclusions of the review alongside any Departmental response in due course.

[HCWS877]