In Melbourne, Australia, at the 2025 comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership ministerial commission meeting https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cptpp-joint-ministerial-statement-in-melbourne-21-november-2025 CPTPP Ministers identified that Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates are in line with the Auckland principles—principles that CPTPP parties consider when assessing accession applications. At that same meeting, CPTPP Ministers committed to meeting again in the first half of 2026 to take further decisions on these three accession applicants, as appropriate.

Ministerial commission meeting - 26 June

In the early hours of 26 June 2026, I attended a virtual commission meeting alongside CPTPP Ministers and representatives; to meet the commitment we made in Melbourne. At this meeting we approved by consensus to begin preparatory discussions on accessions with Indonesia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. We have tasked CPTPP officials to commence these discussions over the coming months.

At the commission meeting, CPTPP Ministers also:

Noted the substantive conclusion of negotiations with Costa Rica and that we have commenced Uruguay’s accession working group.

Approved the establishment of an ad hoc working group to enhance cooperation on rules of origin, customs administration and trade facilitation to maintain a fair and transparent trading environment.

Took note of ongoing work to upgrade the CPTPP agreement following the general review.

Recommitted to the work underway in dialogues between CPTPP parties and the EU and ASEAN.

The full joint ministerial statement of the meeting outcomes can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cptpp-joint-ministerial-statement-from-the-10th-commission-meeting-26-june-2026/comprehensive-and-progressive-agreement-for-trans-pacific-partnership-cptpp-joint-ministerial-statement-on-expansion-implementation-and-co-operatio

Energy security and supply chains for essential energy products and other impacted commodities

At the same meeting, CPTPP Ministers issued a joint ministerial statement emphasising the importance of maintaining free and open markets and rules-based trade in energy and other impacted products, in light of recent global disruptions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cptpp-joint-ministerial-statement-on-energy-security-and-supply-chains-for-essential-energy-products-and-other-impacted-products/comprehensive-and-progressive-agreement-for-trans-pacific-partnership-cptpp-joint-ministerial-statement-on-energy-security-and-supply-chains-for-ess

Next steps

CPTPP Ministers will convene again towards the end of this year for the CPTPP commission meeting under Vietnam’s chairship, I look forward to keeping the House updated on future CPTPP developments.

[HCWS154]

I am pleased to inform the House that the Government and the British Medical Association’s resident doctors committee have agreed a deal to resolve their dispute on pay and training places, bringing an end to a period of industrial action that has seen 21 days of strike action in the past year. This follows a referendum of all resident doctor members of the BMA, in which a majority voted to accept the deal.

The deal is fair to doctors, affordable for the taxpayer and in the best interests of patients. Resident doctors will benefit from improved pay scales, better working conditions, enhanced career progression, and up to 4,500 new training places over the next three years.

I am incredibly grateful to staff across the NHS who have kept the NHS going during the recent rounds of industrial action. The absence of strikes by resident doctors will allow the NHS to focus on supporting patients and improving working conditions for all staff, rather than managing disruptive industrial action. When unions and the Government work together, patients, staff, and services benefit.

The deal means resident doctors will be on average 35.2% better off than they were four years ago. It also means resident doctors will benefit from pay structure reform, leading to more frequent pay progression as they develop and gain additional skills which benefits the health service.

Up to 4,500 additional training places will also be created, giving more resident doctors the opportunity to progress in their careers to more senior roles. This builds on the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which now means UK medical graduates, and doctors with significant NHS experience, are prioritised for foundation and specialty training posts, which has halved competition ratios from 4:1 to just 2:1.

The offer will also put money back in doctors’ pockets, tackling the unique costs resident doctors experience through the reimbursement of mandatory royal college portfolio and examinations fees, and will improve working conditions for locally employed doctors and those who work less than full time.

Taken together, these measures recognise the vital contribution resident doctors make every day, while supporting the long-term sustainability of the NHS workforce. These changes are not simply investments in doctors. They are investments in patient care.

I want this agreement to mark the beginning of a new chapter of co-operation with resident doctors.

We must now begin to implement this deal and embed a new working relationship so that the NHS remains a place where doctors can thrive and develop.

This Government are getting the NHS back on its feet and making it fit for the future. Waiting lists have fallen by 400,000 since we took office, satisfaction with general practice has increased from 60% to 76% and ambulances are arriving faster. The acceptance of this deal by resident doctors today is a significant milestone on that road to recovery.

[HCWS157]

This Government inherited an asylum system under significant strain, with hundreds of hotels in use at considerable cost to the taxpayer.

I wish to update the House on the Government’s action to fix the asylum accommodation system, ending the use of asylum hotels and replacing them with alternatives that work.

We are scaling up alternative accommodation by expanding the use of large, basic facilities, including former military sites, to replace unsuitable hotels. Three new ex-military sites are now under consideration: MoD Barnham, MoD Bicester and MoD Linton-on-Ouse. Together, these sites could eventually provide accommodation for around 3,750 asylum seekers, subject to feasibility assessments, planning and the necessary approvals.

We will also seek to extend the use of Crowborough and expand both the capacity and duration of use at Wethersfield. Following detailed assessments, the Government have decided not to proceed with Cameron Barracks in Scotland as a potential site for asylum accommodation, and it will be returned to the Ministry of Defence.

Alongside this, and as part of the next phase of delivering our commitment to end asylum hotel use by the end of this Parliament and return them to communities, we are closing a further 20 asylum hotels across England.

Hotel use has now more than halved since its peak. Just under 170 asylum hotels remain in use, down from around 400 at the height of the previous Government’s reliance on hotels. The number of people accommodated in hotels has also been cut by more than half, from a peak of 56,000 in 2023 to around 21,000.

This follows the first tranche of 11 hotel closures announced in April. These latest closures are part of wider reforms which will restore control of the system, including faster decision making, increased returns, and stronger action to deter illegal entry into the UK.

This marks a decisive shift away from the unsuitable use of hotels that spiralled under the previous Government, and towards a more controlled and sustainable accommodation system that tackles the factors driving demand.

The Home Office operates all sites safely and securely, working closely with local authorities, police and partners, just as we have successfully done at Wethersfield for several years. Public safety and community cohesion will remain central to this work.

The Government will provide further updates to Parliament as this work progresses.

[HCWS155]

Today I am confirming that the Vagrancy Act 1824 has been repealed.

This Government are drawing a clear line after over 200 years of criminalising people for sleeping rough.

The moral case is clear: no one should be punished for having nowhere safe to sleep, and people facing homelessness deserve dignity and support, not criminalisation.

This change allows us to focus on what really matters—preventing homelessness, intervening earlier, and making sure people receive the right support at the right time, as set out in “A National Plan to End Homelessness”.

We have also been clear that repeal needed to be implemented responsibly, without leaving gaps in the law where community safety issues arise. Replacement measures have been introduced alongside repeal. These are narrow and targeted. They do not criminalise rough sleeping or target people simply for being destitute. They are focused on specific issues including exploitative organised begging and trespass with intent to commit a crime.

Repeal is not the end of our work to prevent homelessness and support people away from the streets, but it is a significant step forward. We will now focus on delivering that shift in practice—through earlier intervention and ensuring people get the right support at the right time.

[HCWS156]