The IHS allows anyone in the UK on a work, study or family visa for longer than 6 months to access NHS services in the same way as UK citizens.

The proposals would see the surcharge increase from £200 to £400 per year for non-EU nationals, with students and those on the Youth Mobility Scheme on the discounted rate of £300 per year.

Since the surcharge was introduced in 2015 it has raised over £600m which the Department of Health and Social Care and the health ministries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have invested back into their health budgets.

Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes said:

Our NHS is always there when you need it, paid for by British taxpayers. We welcome long-term migrants using the NHS, but the NHS is a national, not international health service and we believe it is right that they make a fair contribution to its long-term sustainability.

I am pleased that we are a step closer to implementing the changes to the health surcharge, and the extra money raised will go directly towards sustaining and protecting our world-class healthcare system.

It is only fair that people who come to the UK make a contribution to the running of the NHS, and even with the increase we still continue to offer a good deal on healthcare for those seeking to live in the UK temporarily.

The changes better reflect the cost to the NHS of treating those who pay the surcharge, as the DHSC estimates that the NHS spends £470 on average per person per year on treating those required to pay the surcharge.

These changes do not affect permanent residents, who are not required to pay the surcharge. Certain vulnerable groups such as asylum seekers and modern slavery victims are also exempt.

Short-term migrants, including those on visitor visas, are generally charged for secondary care treatment by the NHS at the point of access.

The increase is set to come into effect in December 2018 subject to Parliamentary approval.

Ministers have approved the appointment of 25 (12 psychiatrist and 13 judicial) Parole Board members who will commence their tenures on 1 November 2018 for a period of 3 years. All Parole Board member appointments are subject to security clearance.

The Parole Board’s functions and duties are set out in Section 239 and Schedule 19 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Parole Board members make risk assessments about prisoners to decide who may safely be released into the community or make recommendations for transfer to open prison conditions.

Appointments to the Parole Board are made by the Secretary of State for Justice and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. These appointments have been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

The new judicial members are:

• Graham Arran
• John Bevan
• John Hand
• Peter Jones
• Roger Kaye
• Anne Kiernan
• Anthony Trevor Lancaster
• Alistair McCreath
• James Orrell
• David Richardson
• Erik Salomonsen
• Patrick Thomas
• Michael Topolski

The new psychiatrist members are:

• Dawn Black
• Steffan Davies
• Mark Earthrowl
• Sandra Evans
• Andrew Johns
• Nick Kosky
• Gillian Mezey
• Kevin Murray
• John O’Grady
• Janet Parrott
• Amanda Taylor
• Cleo Van Velsen

Sue McAllister has been appointed as the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) from 15 October 2018 for 3 years.

PPO carries out independent investigations into deaths and complaints in custody. PPO has 2 main duties:

• to investigate complaints made by prisoners, young people in detention (prisons and secure training centres), offenders under probation supervision and immigration detainees
• to investigate deaths of prisoners, young people in detention, approved premises’ residents and immigration detainees due to any cause, including any apparent suicides and natural causes

The appointment and re-appointment of PPO is made by the Secretary of State for Justice and are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This appointment has been made in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Brief biography

From 2012 to 2016, Mrs McAllister was the Director of Reducing Offending and Prison Service Director General, Department of Justice (DOJ), Northern Ireland. She has held senior policy roles including Head of Public Sector Bids Unit at the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), and operational management roles in HM Prison Service and NOMS as Prison Governor, Head of Security Group and Area Manager for the West Midlands.
Mrs McAllister also led an independent investigation into a serious disturbance at an Immigration Removal Centre for the Home Office, and was a member of an independent review into a sensitive death in custody.

During September, there were two new detentions of foreign flagged vessels in a UK port, three vessels remained under detention from previous months. A total of three vessels remain under detention at the end of September.

1. In response to one of the recommendations of Lord Donaldson’s inquiry into the prevention of pollution from merchant shipping, and in compliance with the EU Directive on Port State Control (2009/16/EC as amended), the Maritime and Coastguard agency (MCA) publishes details of the foreign flagged vessels detained in UK ports each month.

2. The UK is part of a regional agreement on port state control known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control (Paris MOU) and information on all ships that are inspected is held centrally in an electronic database known as THETIS. This allows the ships with a high risk rating and poor detention records to be targeted for future inspection.

3. Inspections of foreign flagged ships in UK ports are undertaken by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. When a ship is found to be not in compliance with applicable convention requirements, a deficiency may be raised. If any of their deficiencies are so serious they have to be rectified before departure, then the ship will be detained.

4. All deficiencies should be rectified before departure if at all possible.

5. When applicable, the list includes those passenger craft prevented from operating under the provisions of the EU Directive on Mandatory Surveys for the safe operation of regular Ro-Ro ferry and high speed passenger craft services (1999/35/EU).

Notes on the list of detentions

• Full details of the ship.
  The accompanying detention list shows ship’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) number which is unchanging throughout the ship’s life and uniquely identifies it. It also shows the ship’s name and flag state at the time of its inspection.
• Company.
  The company shown in the vessel’s Safety Management Certificate (SMC) or if there is no SMC, then the party otherwise believed to be responsible for the safety of the ship at the time of inspection.
• Classification Society.
  The list shows the Classification Society responsible for classing the ship only.
• Recognised Organisation.
  Responsible for conducting the statutory surveys: and issuing statutory certificates on behalf of the Flag State
• White (WL), Grey (GL) and Black lists (BL) are issued by the Paris MoU on 01 July each year and shows the performance of flag State.

SHIPS DETAINED IN SEPTEMBER 2018

Vessel Name: DEEP CYGNUS

GT: 9423

IMO: 9479541

Flag: Norway (White list)

Company: Volstad Management AS

Classification Society: DNVL-GL

Recognised Organisation: DNV-GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: DNV-GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: DNV-GL

Date and Place of Detention: 2nd September 2018 at Peterhead

Summary: Seven deficiencies with five grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
07110 – Fire Fighting equipment and appliances	Missing	Yes
18432 – Risk evaluation, training and instructions to seafarers	Missing	No
01126 – Document of compliance Dangerous Goods	Missing	Yes
01135 – Document of carriage of Dangerous Goods	Missing	Yes
04109 – Fire drills	Lack of training	No
12108 – Personal protection	Missing	Yes
12112 – Dangerous goods/harmful substances in pack form	Lack of familiarity	Yes

This vessel was released on 4th September 2018

Vessel Name: VON ADLER

GT: 2469

IMO: 9184433

Flag: Cook Islands (Black list)

Company: Nismar Shipping Ltd

Classification Society: BV

Recognised Organisation: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: NA

Date and Place of Detention: 26th September 2018 at Ipswich

Summary: Sixteen deficiencies with four grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
10106 – Compass correction log	Not as required	No
05107 – Maintenance/duplication of equipment	Not as required	No
10105 – Magnetic compass	Not as required	No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Missing	Yes
10103 – Radar	Insufficient	No
10111 – Charts	Not updated	Yes
10119 – Rudder angle indicator	Inoperative	No
10135 – Monitoring of voyage or passage plan	Not as required	Yes
07110 – Fire fighting equipment and appliances	Not as required	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
16101 – Security related defects	Not as required	No
02107 – Ballast, fuel and other tanks	Not as required	No
11117 – Lifebuoys incl. provisions and disposition	Not as required	No
07199 – Other (fire safety)	Other	Yes
11131 – Onboard training and instructions	Missing instructions	No
02105 – Steering gear	Not as required	No

This vessel was released on 28th September 2018

DETENTIONS CARRIED OVER FROM PREVIOUS MONTHS

Vessel Name: POSEIDON

GT: 1412

IMO: 7363217

Flag: Iceland (White list)

Company: Neptune EHF

Classification Society: NA

Recognised Organisation: NA

Recognised Organisation for ISM Doc: DNV-GL

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: DNV-GL

Date and Place of Detention: 19th July 2018 at Hull

Summary: Ten deficiencies with two grounds for detention

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01199 – Other certificates	Other	No
01218 – Medical	Incorrect language	No
02106 – Hull damage impairing seaworthiness	Holed	Yes
07113 – Fire Pumps	Insufficient Pressure	Yes
07103 – Divisions – Decks, bulkheads and penetrations	Not as required	No
12107 – Ballast, fuel and other tanks	Not as required	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	No
01101 – Cargo Ship Safety Equipment (including exemption)	Missing	No
01102 – Cargo Ship Safety Construction (including exemption)	Missing	No
01104 – Cargo Ship Safety Radio (including exemption)	Missing	No

This vessel was still detained on 30th September 2018

Vessel Name: TECOIL POLARIS

GT: 1814

IMO No: 8883290

Flag: Russian Federation (Grey list)

Company: Tecoil Shipping Ltd

Classification Society: RMRS

Recognised Organisation: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: RMRS

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: RMRS

Date and Place of Detention: 6th June 2018 at Immingham

Summary: Twenty-Seven deficiencies with eight grounds for detentions

Defective item	Nature of defect	Ground for Detention
01123 – Continuous synopsis record	Entries missing	No
01218 – Medical certificate	Missing	No
01320 – Garbage record book	Incorrect	No
01308 – Record of seafarers’ daily hours of work or rest	False	No
04110 – Abandon ship drill	Insufficient frequency	No
10105 – Magnetic compass	Inoperative	Yes
10128 – Navigation bridge visibility	Not as required	No
10104 – Gyro compass	Inoperative	Yes
11122 – Radio life-saving appliances	Inoperative	No
11129 – Operational readiness of lifesaving appliances	Not as required	Yes
04109 – Fire drills	Lack of communication	No
10127 – Voyage or passage plan	Not as required	Yes
10123 – International code of signals – SOLAS	Missing	No
15150 – ISM	Not as required	Yes
05110 – Facilities for reception of marine safety inform.	Not as required	No
05199 – Other (radiocommunication)	Other	No
11104 – Rescue boats	Not properly maintained	Yes
11101 – Lifeboats	Not ready for use	Yes
10101 – Pilot ladder and hoist/pilot transfer arrangements	Unsafe	No
06105 – Atmosphere testing instrument	Not properly maintained	No
07105 – Fire doors/openings in fire resisting divisions	Not as required	No
01117 – International Oil Pollution Prevention (IOPP)	Invalid	Yes
14604 – Bunker delivery note	Not as required	No
01315 – Oil record book	Not properly filled	No
02105 – Steering gear	Not properly maintained	No
02108 – Electrical installations in general	Not properly maintained	No
11134 – Operations of life saving appliances	Lack of familiarity	No

This vessel was still detained on 30th September 2018

Vessel Name: CIEN PORCIENTO (General Cargo)

GT: 106.

IMO No: 8944446.

Flag: Unregistered.

Company: Open Window Inc.

Classification Society: Unclassed.

Recognised Organisation: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM DOC: Not applicable.

Recognised Organisation for ISM SMC: Not applicable

Date and Place of detention: 4 March 2010, Lowestoft

Summary: Thirty deficiencies including seven grounds for detention

This vessel was still detained on 30th September 2018

Notes to Editors
• The MCA is a partner in the Sea Vision UK campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the sea and maritime activities. Sea Vision promotes the importance and economic value of the sector and works to highlight the exciting range of activities and career opportunities available to young people within the UK growing maritime sector at www.seavision.org.uk

• Follow us on Twitter: @MCA_media

For further information please contact
Maritime and Coastguard Agency Press Office, on:
+44 (0) 2380 329 401
Press releases and further information about the agency is available here.

Construction of the Phase One route between Birmingham and London is now well underway with 7,000 jobs already supported through the project. When construction peaks, as the full network progresses, that figure is forecast to rise to 30,000.

HS2 destinations on the Phase 2b route will benefit significantly from the jobs and business growth that HS2 will bring to the region. Around 2,000 companies have already been awarded contracts working on the project, and we expect that number to increase significantly as plans for Phase Two of the railway progress.

This morning 2 new public consultations were launched on the Phase 2b route, which will serve communities between the West Midlands, Manchester and Leeds. The 10 week consultations, which close on 21 December, will give communities the opportunity to formally respond to HS2 Ltd’s designs and proposed mitigation measures for the Phase 2b route. Responses are invited from the public on HS2 Ltd’s:

• working draft Environmental Statement, which describes the design of the railway and reports on the impacts of its construction and operation, alongside the measures proposed to reduce and monitor these impacts; and
• the working draft Equality Impact Assessment Report, which considers the potential effects of the construction and operation of the railway on people with protected characteristics.

The public consultations will be supported by a programme of community events, which will see teams from HS2 Ltd visit locations across the eastern and western legs of the Phase 2b route to talk to people about the design plans and the benefits that Britain’s new high speed railway will bring.

Leonie Dubois, HS2 Ltd’s Head of Consultation and Engagement, said:

HS2 is coming to the north and it will reap significant benefits as a result. High speed rail will play a crucial role in rebalancing Britain’s economy; driving business growth, stimulating investment and creating jobs right across the country.

Through the public consultations, we are providing a more detailed account of how we propose to build the railway and minimise its impacts during construction and operation. We actively encourage people to have their say on the plans we have published today.

Residents and businesses across the Phase 2b route are invited to view the latest designs and respond to the public consultations. A new online resource has been created to help people find information about HS2 in their local area.