Lord Lee of Trafford

This information is not centrally collated. However, information on the Prime Minister’s official visits can be found on the gov.uk website as part of the government’s transparency agenda.

We do not centrally hold data on the total number of former prison leavers employed in each government department. Recruitment is carried out by individual departments that undertake pre-employment security checks appropriate to the level of the role.

The Companies Act 2006 permits hybrid annual general meetings to be held. The format of annual general meetings is a matter for companies and their shareholders.

The CMA resource budget for the 2023/24 financial year is £122m, and as of April 30th 2023 the CMA employed 898 staff.

The CMA publishes its Annual Report and Accounts publicly and will publish the accounts for 2022/2023 soon. Previous CMA Annual Reports and Accounts can be found online.

The Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published in July 2021 by government, jointly with Ofgem, outlines how the Government will deliver the flexibility technologies needed for a net zero system, including actions for removing barriers to the deployment of storage.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) undertook the investigation into Silentnight under its accountancy scheme as the Silentnight investigation was into KPMG’s accounting services. This requires fines and any costs recovered to be paid to the chartered accountancy body that funded the investigation and sanctions process.

In this case the fines and costs were paid to the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The same would be true if ICAEW had taken forward the investigation and sanctions process itself.

Accountancy bodies may make private arrangements as to the use of fine income for the benefit of groups that have suffered losses as a result of an insolvency.

The Department has launched the first-ever hospitality strategy to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of England’s pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. As part of this, we have set up the Hospitality Sector Council to oversee the delivery of the strategy, including working with the sector to make hospitality a career option of choice and looking at the labour and skills shortages.

In order to help address the immediate challenges of labour shortages in the hospitality sector, the Department for Work and Pensions is working hard to fill ongoing vacancies by using work coaches to help find local talent, and Plans for Jobs programmes, such as Kickstart and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes. The Department for Education has also added hospitality and catering qualifications to the Free Courses for Jobs, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. Additionally, we are increasing employer-led apprenticeship funding to £2.7 billion by 2024-25, extending the £3,000 incentive payment for every apprentice a business hires up until 31 January 2022, and improving the apprenticeship system for employers.

Mergers and takeovers are primarily commercial matters for the parties involved. The Government has powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to intervene in transactions which raise national security concerns. The Government has recently strengthened those powers through the National Security and Investment Act 2021.

The Government is aware of this proposed transaction and is monitoring developments closely.

The Government recognises the strategic importance of securing the UK’s access to lithium supplies and is supporting the domestic extraction of critical “rare earth” materials, including lithium. For example, we are part funding Cornish Lithium and Geothermal Engineering to build a zero carbon, lithium extraction pilot plant at an existing site in Cornwall through the Government’s Get Building Fund.

The Takeover Code, which has a statutory basis under the Companies Act 2006, sets out a clear and orderly framework for takeovers, including measures to ensure fairness to stakeholders.

The Code sets out rules regarding disclosure of takeover offers made, including that a public announcement must be made when a firm intention to make an offer is notified to the board of the offeree company by or on behalf of an offeror, irrespective of the attitude of the board to the offer.

The Code is issued and administered by the independent Panel on Takeovers and Mergers. The Panel has enforcement powers for breaches of the Code. Changes to the Code itself are a matter for the Panel.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Freedom of Information team assess requests and undertake the relevant public interest test on a case-by-case basis, aligned to the guidance set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office. This request was withheld under Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and therefore requires a “qualified person” to provide their “reasonable opinion” on its publication. In this instance, the qualified person was the Secretary of State. Whilst the Secretary of State as the qualified person must give the required opinion, in line with the ICO guidance, DCMS civil servants carried out the preparatory work leading up to this decision.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at local authority level, and Her Majesty’s Government continues to encourage local authorities to invest in good swimming facilities.

We also recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and Her Majesty’s Government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites.

The government does not have specific plans to encourage the creation of new charitable trusts to support local community initiatives. Local and regional charities play a vital role in strengthening communities and increasing social cohesion and are best placed to understand the needs of their communities. The voluntary and community sectors are independent from government and rely on the hard work of staff and volunteers, as well as funding from individuals, businesses, trusts and foundations.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales produces a range of resources to support individuals who wish to set up a new charity. This guidance is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/set-up-a-charity

The government acts as a steward for these sectors and meets regularly with charities and social enterprises at both ministerial and official level to discuss sector challenges and opportunities. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, this has included distributing the £750 million civil society sector support package announced by the Chancellor on 8 April 2020 and ensuring that fundraising and volunteering can take place safely where it is possible to do so. Over many years the government has worked in partnership with a range of local community foundations and trusts. Most recently this has included the Community Match Challenge and the Big Night In to distribute funding to small local charities as quickly as possible.

The department wants all young people to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information when needed.

Finance education forms part of the citizenship national curriculum, at Key Stages 3 and 4, but can be taught by all schools at all Key Stages.

The subject covers the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and managing financial risk. At secondary school, pupils are taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent.

The mathematics curriculum includes a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that primary pupils should be taught. A strong grasp of mathematics will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including using percentages. The secondary mathematics curriculum develops pupils’ understanding in relation to more complex personal finance issues, such as calculating loan repayments, interest rates and compound interest.

The Money and Pensions Service published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England in November 2021, to support school leaders to enhance their financial education provision. The guidance can be found here: https://maps.org.uk/financial-education-in-schools/.

The department and the Money and Pensions Service are also planning a series of joint financial education webinars during this academic year, aimed at promoting the importance of financial education, improving pupils’ skills and knowledge and teachers’ confidence.

The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for managing freshwater fisheries in England and carries out biannual fish surveys at eight locations on the tidal Thames, between Gravesend and Richmond.

From 2010-2022, the EA recorded 19 fish species at Richmond. These were: bleak; brown trout; bullhead; chub; common bream; common carp; dace; European eel; flounder; common goby; gudgeon; minnow; perch; roach; rudd; sand smelt; sea bass; smelt; and three-spined stickleback.

Teddington has not been surveyed recently but between 1989 and 1993 11 species were caught at Teddington. These were: bleak; common bream; common goby; dace; European eel; flounder; gudgeon; perch; roach; sea bass; and three-spined stickleback.

In 2022/23, Natural England’s (NE) annual budget allocation was £190m (this increased to £226.9m by the end of the financial year). NE has received an increased allocation of £260m in 2023/24. NE staff in post as of September 2022 is 2,769 Full Time Equivalents (FTE), with a cap of 2,980 FTE for the next two financial years.

Water companies supplying the Greater London area have reported that, despite the dry spring, their storage levels are normal and there is a low risk that they will need to implement restrictions this summer due to water availability.

Further consecutive months of exceptionally dry weather (below 60% of long term average rainfall) could lead to a deterioration in reservoir storage and require further action, but at present the water resources situation in London is normal.

If there continues to be significantly less rainfall than average, there will be impacts on the environment and on water availability for agriculture. The Environment Agency is working with all sectors through the National Drought Group to ensure that collaborative action is taken to minimise the impacts of drought.

At present water companies across the country are reporting unprecedented high demands on water supplies and this is putting pressure on parts of their distribution networks. They are taking action to maintain supplies to customers.

Traditionally, as part of Humanitarian Emergency Response Operations (HEROs,) DFID had a framework contract in place for the charter air component of its humanitarian response, this expired in April 2020. DFID appraised a number of options for the replacement service taking into consideration value for money and the most efficient service provision. Absorbing the air charter component into the HEROs contract was assessed as the preferred option.

This solution would result in better alignment between all elements of the response as well as minimising the requirement for DFID to run a parallel procurement process. The HEROs contract supplier would in turn run a robust and transparent procurement process, with an element of oversight from DFID, ensuring that a value for money service provision was maintained. The service provision would be delivered within the existing scope of services and no funding increases to the existing agreement would be required.

The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, published May 2021, identified six key problems with our railways:

• The rail sector too often loses sight of its customers, both passengers and freight;
• It is missing opportunities to meet the needs of the communities it serves;
• It is fragmented, and accountabilities are not always clear;
• The sector lacks clear strategic direction;
• It needs to become more productive and tackle long-term costs;
• It struggles to innovate and adapt.

There are outdated working practices preventing passengers getting the service they pay for and deserve and making the railway cost more than it should to run. To provide funding for an affordable pay rise, we need to leave these outdated working practices in the past and create a railway fit for the future.

For instance, under an agreement dating back to 1919, Sunday working is voluntary for most of the railway, leaving operators short staffed and unable to cope with the surge in popularity for weekend travel post-pandemic. Whilst working practices in track maintenance are years behind other sectors and prevents us running the best possible train service.

Campaigns that encourage employers to create more opportunities and to invest in the skills of their future workforce, can make an important contribution to helping young people thrive in the labour market. The Government welcomes the opportunity to work with partners (existing and new) who share our commitment to supporting young people to fulfil their potential for their benefit, as well as that of wider society.

The Government’s Plan for Jobs offers a strong foundation of employment and skills support so young unemployed people can move in to work. Through the face to face support offered in our jobcentres and Youth Hubs, we see the potential of young Londoners every day and it’s vital for business to be a partner in opening up opportunities for them. We know it changes lives, with 21,000 young people in the city having secured jobs for employers of all sizes through our Kickstart Scheme. There is huge strength in coming together as we unleash the talent of the next generation.

The Government is committed to levelling up and building back better by helping our young people from all backgrounds to boost their skills and get into work. There were a record high 4.22 million individuals from an ethnic minority background in employment in September 2021, an increase of 110,000 on the year.

We continue to support young people from all backgrounds through our Youth Offer which is now available for all 16 to 24-year olds making a claim for Universal Credit and in the intensive work search group. It provides wrap-around support through the 13-week Youth Employment Programme, Youth Hubs where young people can access a range of services in one location, and specialist Youth Employability Coaches. These are helping all young people move into work-related provision such as access to education, training or employment programmes that will ultimately lead to sustained employment opportunities and career progression.

For example, The Department for Work and Pensions are working with the Black Training Enterprise Group in Brent and Newham, improving opportunities for young black men to secure skilled jobs in higher-earning sectors including Construction, Financial Services, and Information Technology.

The largest ever expansion of traineeships, and extension of the apprenticeship and traineeship incentive payments to employers in England, will also help young people from all backgrounds to access high quality training and apprenticeship opportunities.

The Youth Offer, and other support such as our Kickstart programme, is part of our £2 billion Plan for Jobs, which was boosted by a further £500 million in October 2021. This is giving all young people the right support that will ultimately lead to sustained employment opportunities and career progression.

Exemption from National Health Service prescription charges is available to those who:

- are in receipt of certain benefits;

- are pregnant or recently had a baby and hold a valid exemption certificate;

- are aged 60 years old and over;

- are aged under 16 years old, or 16,17 or 18 years old and in qualifying full-time education;

- get a War Pension and the prescription is for the accepted disablement; and

- have one of the listed medical conditions and hold a valid exemption certificate.

In addition, the NHS Low Income Scheme help with health costs on an income-related basis. Those who qualify for full help under this scheme will receive free prescriptions.

Approximately 60% of the population are exempt from prescription charges. Data on the breakdown by exemption type by population is not centrally held.

The National Health Service prescription charge for each medicine or appliance dispensed is £9.35. In 2021/22, the total revenue from prescription charges was £651,964,000. Information on the cost of collecting those charges is not collected centrally.

No prosecutions were undertaken for prescription charge fraud in 2021/22.

The Department is working through all its personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts to identify instances where products have not been delivered or failed quality tests and will seek to recover the costs for undelivered or substandard PPE.

As of 27 July 2021, the Department was engaged in commercial discussions (potentially leading to litigation) in respect to 40 PPE contracts with a combined value of £1.2 billion covering 1.7 billion items of PPE.

NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise that isolation and limited interaction with others over a prolonged period of time will have an impact upon prisoners’ mental health and well-being. Across the prison estate, healthcare teams including mental health professionals have been working in partnership with colleagues to identify and meet the mental health needs of the population, provide resources and appropriate interventions to promote well-being and prevent ill-health.

A measure was announced at Autumn Statement 2022 to reduce the annual exempt amount (AEA) for capital gains tax (CGT) to £6,000 for tax year 2023 to 2024, with a further reduction to £3,000 for tax year 2024 to 2025 and subsequent tax years.

In 2024 to 2025, 260,000 individuals and trusts are estimated to be brought into the scope of CGT as a result of the measure.

However, some of those taxpayers brought into the scope of CGT would already have been expected to complete the capital gains tax supplementary pages within Self Assessment for the following reasons:

• To report a loss;
• To claim a relief;
• Where the total amount or value of the consideration for all ‘chargeable disposals’ of assets made by the person in the year exceeds four times the AEA before April 2023 (£50,000 from April 2023)

The amount of additional tax revenue that is expected to be raised as a result of the measure is set out in the table below:

These figures are set out in table 5.1 of Autumn Statement 2022 and have been certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility. More details can be found in the policy costings document published alongside Autumn Statement 2022 which is available on the gov.uk website.

A cost in the region of £100,000 will be incurred in delivering the relevant IT changes to support safe implementation of this measure. HMRC also expects to receive additional contact from customers who require support as a result of this change.

Junior ISAs (JISAs) form a key part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that young people are supported to save from an early age and into adulthood. Since the launch of the JISA in 2011, the number of accounts being subscribed to each year has increased significantly. In 2019-20, over 1 million JISAs were subscribed to on behalf of children across the UK.

The Government wishes to ensure that the ISA regime remains simple and sustainable for both savers and providers. Placing a restriction on who can open and manage a Junior ISA (JISA) helps to prevent more than one account of each type (cash or stocks and shares) being opened in error and ensures that there is a single point of contact for the giving of instructions. Removing this restriction would increase the risk of multiple accounts being opened and subsequently needing to be made void. A grandparent who does not have parental responsibility is therefore unable to open or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of their grandchild.

While only parents or legal guardians can open a JISA on behalf of their children, grandparents can add funds to the account, up to the subscription limit of £9,000 per year. Grandparents may also open an adult ISA in their own name to save and invest for their grandchildren, which can later be gifted outside of an ISA.

The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.

The Government is committed to ensuring that young people are supported to save from an early age and into adulthood. Junior ISAs (JISAs) form a key part of this commitment.

Where a JISA is opened on behalf of a child, the account must be set up and managed by an individual with parental responsibility for that child, or the child itself if over 16. To ensure that the ISA regime remains simple and sustainable, placing a restriction on who can open and manage an account prevents more than one Junior ISA of each type (cash or stocks and shares) being opened in error and ensures that there is a single point of contact for the giving of instructions. A grandparent who does not have parental responsibility is therefore unable to open or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of their grandchild.

However, the Government recognises the important role that grandparents can play in building a savings pot for their grandchildren. While parents or legal guardians must open a JISA on behalf of their children, grandparents and others can then add funds to the account, up to the value of £9,000 a year.

The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.

As set out in the Government’s response to the Office of Tax Simplification's report on Capital Gains Tax on 30 November 2021, such reforms would involve a number of wider policy trade-offs and so careful thought must be given to the impact that they would have on taxpayers, as well as any additional administrative burden on HMRC. The Government will continue to keep the tax system under constant review to ensure it is simple and efficient.

The Government is fully supportive of initiatives to improve financial education. While the Government regularly meets with the Financial Conduct Authority, Ofcom and representatives of major television channels, it is right that programming and editorial decisions are made independent of Government.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided to PQ HL7826 on 23/05/23.

At the summit in Paris on 10 March 2023 the UK committed to ease the travel of school groups to the UK by making changes to documentary requirements for schoolchildren on organised trips from France.

We are currently working through the details of implementation; and more information, including timescales, will be provided in due course.

This agreement with France will help to strengthen and maintain educational and cultural links with our closest continental neighbour. We will keep the position under review and ensure that we continue to operate our border in the UK’s best interests.

The Home Office is not aware of any assessment to have taken place within Her Majesty’s Government regarding the (1) risks and (2) potential legal consequences for individuals who intervene to try to stop an assault or similar violent crime.

On the 4th February 2021, the Government published a total police funding settlement of up to £15.8 billion in 2021/22, an increase of up to £636 million compared to 2020/21. Overall police funding available to PCCs will increase by up to £703 million (5.4% in cash terms) next year.

Decisions about the allocation of police resources and deployment of officers are for Chief Constables and democratically accountable PCCs. They are responsible for ensuring the needs of the local community are met.

The Government actively encourages local communities and volunteers to support police forces to prevent crime. To this end it provides grant funding to Neighbourhood Watch, a community-based volunteer led organisation that enables 2 million households across the UK to become directly involved in crime prevention. Individuals form local groups who often have direct communication with their local police.

It is common practice in many police forces to have designated Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators who assist in engaging directly with the groups. The government also grant funds Crimestoppers, a charity that provides an anonymous reporting system for communities to report and provide information about actual or suspected crimes. In addition, The government has also recently awarded funding to local areas as part of the £25m Safer Streets Fund. This fund is designed to reduce neighbourhood crimes and many plans contain community-based elements. Many successful projects will be setting up neighbourhood watch groups and other more informal networks within communities with the aim to help prevent crime in unison with the police in some of the highest acquisitive crime areas across England and Wales.’

The Ministry of Defence has requested observer status for the Main Ground Combat System programme.

The Defence Command Paper 2023 (DCP23) set out how the Armed Forces and wider Defence would modernise and adapt to the changing context. We are investing over £50 billion in Defence to ensure we can protect the nation and help it prosper. We will continue to review our holdings of all essential expendable items, and will invest in such capabilities as complex weapons, general munitions, and operational spares stocks to meet the needs of sustained operations.

As DCP23 set out, strengthening our resilience is critical. That is why we will continue to work with our partners across Government to identify vulnerabilities and test how we would better secure and defend the homeland in times of war.

The size of the Regular Armed Forces and that of the Civilian workforce are not directly linked.

The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is significant; they perform over 200 different, vital roles and are key to the delivery of Defence outputs. Defence is unique in that it comprises a variety of workforce types including Civilians and both Regular and Reserve Service Personnel, which together, as the ‘Whole force’ is essential for providing the critical services which Defence delivers on behalf of the nation.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 2 October regarding the immediate cap on Civil Servant headcount over this spending review and further reductions longer term, Defence is engaging in broader strategic workforce planning activity to ensure it plays its part in delivering increased productivity and efficiency.

Defence, in line with other Government departments, segments its Civilian workforce by profession. The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is illustrated in ‘Defence in Numbers’ which shows some of the main professions that make up the Defence workforce. For security purposes we have not provided information about the number of Civil Servants who work in sensitive roles.

(Source: Defence in Numbers 2022 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137992/UK_Defence_in_Numbers_2022.pdf

The size of the Regular Armed Forces and that of the Civilian workforce are not directly linked.

The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is significant; they perform over 200 different, vital roles and are key to the delivery of Defence outputs. Defence is unique in that it comprises a variety of workforce types including Civilians and both Regular and Reserve Service Personnel, which together, as the ‘Whole force’ is essential for providing the critical services which Defence delivers on behalf of the nation.

Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 2 October regarding the immediate cap on Civil Servant headcount over this spending review and further reductions longer term, Defence is engaging in broader strategic workforce planning activity to ensure it plays its part in delivering increased productivity and efficiency.

Defence, in line with other Government departments, segments its Civilian workforce by profession. The breadth of tasks performed by Civilians in the MOD is illustrated in ‘Defence in Numbers’ which shows some of the main professions that make up the Defence workforce. For security purposes we have not provided information about the number of Civil Servants who work in sensitive roles.

(Source: Defence in Numbers 2022 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1137992/UK_Defence_in_Numbers_2022.pdf

The table below details the total number of Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilians by year from April 2019 - April 2023.

As of 1 January 2023, the total of both MOD Civilians full time equivalent (FTE) and military service personnel stood at 213,590, of which 28% (60,288) were civilians.

Data for the United States and France is not held by MOD, therefore comparative data is not available.

MOD Total Civilians by Year, April 2019 - April 2023, FTE.

1. These figures include all MOD Civilians, including MOD Main Top Level Budgetary areas, Trading Fund and Executive Agencies, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Locally engaged civilians.

2. Figures are full time equivalent (FTE).