Bim Afolami

The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it.

From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will ensure that new homes produce at least 75% fewer CO2 emissions compared to those built to the 2013 standards. These homes will be future-proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency. No further energy efficiency retrofit work will be necessary to enable them to become zero-carbon over time as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.

In December 2021 we introduced an uplift in energy efficiency standards that delivers a meaningful reduction in carbon emissions and provides a stepping-stone to the Future Homes Standard. Once the uplift comes into force, in June 2022, new homes will be expected to produce around 30% fewer CO2 emissions compared to the previous 2013 standards.

The uplift marks an important step on our journey towards a cleaner, greener built environment and it supports us in our target to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Guidance for local authority support can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/homes-for-ukraine-guidance-for-councils#role-of-councils.

I refer my Hon Friend to the data published at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukraine-family-scheme-application-data . Further data will be published in due course.

The Government wants to encourage renewable energy developers to continue to engage with local communities as the Government increased deployment to reach net zero.

The Government recognises there are ranges of views on onshore wind and the Government wants to put communities in control of hosting onshore sites. In the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government committed to develop onshore wind partnerships in England. This will enable supportive communities to host new onshore wind infrastructure and enjoy the benefits of doing so, through developers supporting local energy discounts and new community infrastructure projects.

The Government will consult on the partnerships scheme later this year.

Gas and electricity supply licences enforced by the independent regulator, Ofgem, require energy suppliers to take all reasonable steps to ensure they have a valid contract with the customer before making a transfer request to switch their energy supply to avoid erroneous transfers.

Decisions around the future funding of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) beyond this financial year will be communicated in due course.

The Department is taking many steps to encourage SMEs to transition to Net Zero and to support SMEs through the barriers which prevent the transition.

Ahead of COP26, BEIS has launched the Together for Our Planet Business Climate Leaders’ campaign, which has encouraged over 1,900 small and micro businesses across the UK to join the Race to Zero by making the SME Climate Commitment.

In order to help SMEs overcome barriers to investing in energy efficiency BEIS launched the Boosting Access for SMEs to Energy Efficiency innovation competition. The competition offered up to £6m to fund the development of new, innovative market solutions that can provide businesses with tailored energy efficiency advice, as well as simplifying the energy efficiency investment processes through the creation of one-stop-shop platforms.

I have recently given the British Business Bank a new mission to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK, and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by supporting access to finance for smaller businesses. Between 2014 and the third quarter of 2020 a total of £160m has been invested into clean technology businesses by equity funds backed by the British Business Bank.

Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health and all generations and communities should be able to enjoy the health, wellbeing, social and other benefits of being active. Due to this, the government made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of the first period of enhanced national restrictions and we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so.

Since April 2018, the Department has invested £218,711 into grassroots sport projects within the Hitchin and Harpenden constituency through Sport England. This sum includes £45,189 from Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund to support local sports clubs and community organisations through the coronavirus pandemic, and £18,144 in Return to Play, which are small grants to support a return to sport and physical activity as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

The investment breakdown per year: 2018/19: £60,000, 2019/20: £33,428, 2020/21: £69,034 and 2021/22 (to June 2021): £56,249.

My Department published a consultation in January 2021 asking whether further reforms to the Electronic Communications Code are needed in order to ensure the Code provides the right legislative framework to promote fast, cost effective network provision. The consultation covered a range of issues, including matters relating to negotiations and dispute resolution, rights to upgrade and share apparatus and problems relating to the renewal of expired agreements.

This consultation closed on 24 March 2021. It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the possible outcomes of the consultation at this stage, as responses are being considered. The consultation response will be published in due course and we will bring legislation forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.

The Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act gained Royal Assent in March 2021. This Act aims to address one stated policy barrier: making it easier for telecoms companies to access multi-dwelling buildings (such as blocks of flats) where a tenant has requested a new connection, but the landlord has not responded to requests for access rights.

The Act inserts a new Part 4A to the Electronic Communication Code which provides a process that telecommunications operators could use to gain code rights to multi-dwelling premises for a defined period. This only applies where:

• a lessee in occupation in a multi-dwelling building has requested a telecommunications service from an operator

• to connect the property the telecoms operator requires an access agreement with another person such as the landlord

• the landlord has not responded to the telecoms operator’s request for access

My Department has also recently launched a consultation which seeks views on the terms which will accompany the interim Code rights provided to operators who have successfully applied for an order made under Part 4A of the Electronic Communications Code. This consultation closes on Wednesday 4 August. Responses will be considered and the consultation response will be published in due course.

As for Remembrance Sunday, VE and VJ Day events are funded and delivered by a wide range of organisations. As well as central Government support for the National commemorations, local communities are delivering projects and events across the nation to commemorate both VE and VJ Day.

To qualify for student finance in England, a person must have settled status or a recognised connection to the UK. This includes persons who are covered by EU law, have long residence in this country, or who have been granted international protection by the Home Office.

Subject to meeting the normal eligibility requirements, Hong Kong British Nationals (overseas) status holders will qualify for student finance once they have acquired settled status in the UK, as is the case for the majority of persons who are on a five-year route to settlement.

Schools in Hitchin and Harpenden are attracting £4,862 per pupil through the schools national funding formula (NFF) in the 2021-22 financial year. This will increase to £5,007 per pupil in the 2022-23 financial year and is based on notional school-level NFF allocations.

The department is investing a further £4.7 billion by the 2024-25 financial year for the core schools budget in England, over and above the Spending Review 2019 settlement for schools in 2022-23.

This includes a further £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in 2022-23, on top of the notional school-level NFF allocations set out above. The department will announce the distribution of this additional funding for 2022-23 shortly. The department will make announcements on the breakdown of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial year core school budget in due course.

The department is conducting a competition to deliver our manifesto commitment to establish 8 more high quality Institutes of Technology (IoT). The selected 8 will join the 12 IoTs that have already been established. While it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of any individual proposal, the department can confirm that we have received an application for the Hertfordshire area. Proposals are being assessed and we plan to announce the outcome of the competition in the autumn.

This Government published the Action Plan for Animal Welfare on 12 May 2021, setting out over 40 commitments on animal welfare and conservation. Since its publication, a programme of primary and secondary legislation has started to take forward many measures, alongside some non-legislative reforms.

We delivered our Manifesto commitment to increase the maximum prison sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years through the Animal Sentencing Act. This came into force in June 2021.

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill has successfully completed its Parliamentary passage and is awaiting Royal Assent. It establishes an Animal Sentience Committee to consider how individual central government policy decisions take account of animal welfare. It also recognises that decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs are sentient.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill has completed its Commons Committee Stage and, following the passing of a carryover motion by the House, will continue its passage in the next Session. The Bill delivers manifesto commitments relating to banning live exports, banning primates as pets, and tackling puppy smuggling. It also includes the new pet abduction offence in response to a recommendation from the cross-government Pet Theft Taskforce.

We are supporting two Private Members Bills. The Animal (Penalty Notices) Bill is awaiting Royal Assent and the Glue Trap (Offences) Bill is awaiting its Third Reading in the House of Lords.

Alongside these legislative reforms, Defra has launched Calls for Evidence on welfare labelling and the fur trade and launched consultations on puppy smuggling and zoo licensing standards. Defra has also published government responses to consultations on implementing and enforcing the Ivory Act, banning the shark fin trade, introducing welfare in transport reforms, mandating cat microchipping and banning trophy hunting.

The investigation launched by the Environment Agency on 18 November aims to determine the extent of any non-compliance with environmental permit conditions relating to flows treated and discharged from sewage treatment works within England. The Environment Agency is unable to share any specific details of the investigation at this stage as this may prejudice future legal action. However as the pumping station you refer to at Pirton is not a sewage treatment works it does not form part of this particular investigation. For any concerns about pollution arising from the pumping station, please report these to the Environment Agency on its pollution hotline 0800 80 70 60.

We know that a number of local planning authorities and developers are already seeking biodiversity net gains from development and we are continuing to speak to industry and the planning sector to understand the issues and needs arising from pre-commencement practice.

Some aspects of the biodiversity net gain policy were tested, and evaluated, as part of the biodiversity offsetting pilots which took place from 2012 to 2014. We will shortly be consulting formally on more details of biodiversity net gain’s implementation and will consider which components of the approach might benefit from pre-commencement testing as part of this.

The Government is committed to tackling fly-tipping wherever it takes place, including in rural communities.

Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties such as the National Farmers Union, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Countryside Alliance and the Country Land and business Association, to promote and disseminate good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping, including on private land.

In April 2021 we commissioned a research project considering the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping tipping, which will include consideration of rural areas. This research project is due to be completed before the end of this year and will support informed policy making. We are exploring additional funding opportunities, including supporting digital solutions.

Fly-tipping investigation and enforcement is the responsibility of local authorities, and the Environment Agency in certain circumstances. We expect enforcing authorities to investigate all incidents of fly-tipping and make use of the enforcement powers available to them where there is sufficient evidence; such as by issuing a fixed penalty notice or prosecuting fly-tippers and recovering investigation, enforcement and clearance costs where possible. We also encourage councils and others to publicise their enforcement activity.

Through the Environment Bill we are seeking powers to introduce an electronic waste tracking system. A comprehensive digital waste tracking system will help regulators detect when waste doesn’t reach the next stage, which may indicate illegal activity. This, along with other measures being introduced as part of the Bill (for example amendments to the section 108 powers of entry) will help to tackle waste crime, including fly-tipping.

We are working with the NFTPG to develop a fly-tipping toolkit which will help local authorities, landowners and others work in partnership to tackle this crime. The toolkit will cover, among other things, how to present robust cases to the courts to support suitable sentences.

Local Authorities (LAs) are best placed to understand the needs of the people they serve and respond in the most appropriate way. My officials worked closely with colleagues in the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Local Authorities to design the grant scheme in a way that ensured support was delivered quickly to those in need while maintaining appropriate controls and oversight. They did this through issuing guidance on what the money should be used for in general terms (for example, vouchers for food and essential supplies). Reporting requirements were designed to be light touch to make sure the money was spent on supporting people not administration. LAs are reporting expenditure to MHCLG as part of their normal processes and Defra will be collecting further evidence on how the money was spent.

The quickest and easiest way to transact with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.

However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. The Government understands the impact that delays in processing paper applications can have on the daily lives of individuals and the DVLA is working hard to reduce waiting times. The DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has opened new customer service centres in Swansea and Birmingham to reduce backlogs and provide future resilience. These measures are having a positive impact and customers should continue to see an improving picture in terms of waiting times for paper applications.

The DVLA also prioritised vocational licence applications to support the Government’s response to the driver shortage, and there have been no delays in straightforward applications for vocational licences, including renewals, since November 2021. The applications are being processed within normal turnaround times of five working days.

There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example if medical investigations are needed but the large majority of applicants will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

The Government recognises the importance of transport for rural areas and is committed to improving access to services that provide vital connectivity.

To support local bus services in England outside London, £200 million of Bus Services Operator’s Grant (BSOG) has been paid by the Department directly to operators so far during the pandemic. £43 million of BSOG is committed directly to local transport authorities (LTAs) so that they can subsidise socially necessary bus services, of which Hertfordshire County Council received £1,211,630 in the 2020-21 funding period.

On top of this, to improve current bus services, or restore lost services where needed, the Government has paid an extra £30 million to LTAs in 2020/21. Hertfordshire County Council met the funding requirements and received an allocation of £401,174.

Additionally, in March 2021 we awarded funding to 17 pilot projects through the £20 million Rural Mobility Fund scheme to trial innovative, demand-responsive solutions to transport challenges that rural and suburban areas often face.

The Government takes all necessary steps to protect everyone on our roads through road safety laws. We expect all motorists, including those driving HGVs or travelling for work, to respect and comply with those laws. The Police take all necessary steps to enforce the law, ensuring the safety of all road users and residents in local areas.

Local highway authorities have a range of powers to manage their local networks, including powers to make Traffic Regulation Orders which can impose width and height restrictions and set rules around which types of vehicles can use which roads.

The government is supportive of the need to protect communities from the adverse effects of aircraft noise. However, noise from general transport, including aircraft, is not included as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as we believe it is not practical for local authorities to enforce these rules. Aviation noise is better managed through specific government policies tailored to individual noise sources, and we believe there are sufficient mechanisms in place to protect communities from the effects of aircraft noise.

The safety of passengers and staff has been a priority for the Department throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Government has published Safer Travel guidance which sets out steps operators can take to identify risks arising from coronavirus. From 19 July most restrictions have been lifted, including the requirement for social distancing on trains. Within the context of that guidance, it is for train operators to decide how best to manage their services and rolling stock.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to supporting everyone who has been affected by the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the economy and the labour market. We want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live. To meet demand for Jobcentre’s services and to ensure that people looking for work receive the right support, DWP successfully recruited 13,500 new Work Coaches across the country.

Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP programmes as part of the Plan for Jobs, such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills, and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Our Plan for Jobs will be complemented by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK. As part of Plan for Jobs in England 137,600 jobs have been started through the Kickstart programme – with 11,600 of these being in the East of England.

We have also launched Way to Work - a concerted drive across the UK to help half a million currently out of work people into jobs by the end of June 2022.

Data for the financial years 2020/21 and 2021/22 shows that as of 27^th March 2022, there was a total of 149,980 starts to a Sector Work Academy Programme (SWAP) nationally.

The employment rate in Hitchin and Harpenden has grown in recent years. Data from the independent Office for National Statistics shows that the employment rate was 81.8% in Hitchin and Harpenden in the latest data (covering Jan 2021-Dec 2021) compared to 75.8% before the pandemic (January 2019-December 2019).

Employment is growing in England – up 30,000 on the quarter and 310,000 on the year to stand at 27.510 million in Dec 2021-Feb 2022, according to ONS figures. Employment in England is up from a low in the pandemic of 27.186 million - though it is below its pre-COVID level, underlining the need for Way to Work to support more people into jobs.

Capitation payments to practices include a formula weighting for rurality. The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme offers a £20,000 salary supplement to attract general practitioner trainees to work in areas of the country where training places have been unfilled for a number of years, such as rural locations. Additionally, NHS England and NHS Improvement have allowed commissioners to waive the Primary Care Network (PCN) minimum population where a PCN serves a community with a low population density across a large rural and remote area.

To improve mental health waiting lists in the Hertfordshire area, 14 organisations have formed the Hertfordshire Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Collaborative. The Collaborative aims to develop joint working between these organisations to improve outcomes for local people. It will address local mental health demand in Hertfordshire and manage waiting times to ensure people receive the treatment they need as soon as possible.

We have provided an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expanding the provision of mental health services in England. This will allow an additional two million people to access timely mental health care. We have also invested a further £500 million in 2021/22.

We are providing an additional £79 million in 2021/22 for children and young people’s mental health services to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services, and a faster increase in the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges.

We are also providing £13 million to ensure young people aged 18 to 25 years old are supported with tailored mental health support, helping bridge the gap between children’s and adult services.

These investments are in addition to the commitments of the NHS Long Term Plan, through which mental health services will receive an extra £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24, allowing 345,000 more children and young people access to National Health Service-funded mental health services.

NHS England and NHS Improvement refreshed guidance on visiting restrictions for maternity services on 15 April 2021, asking all National Health Service providers to urgently complete any further action needed to ensure partners can accompany women to antenatal appointments. All maternity units should be allowing partners and support people to attend all scans and appointments.

All maternity units are allowing at least one birth partner who has no symptoms of coronavirus present with them during any type of labour and birth except some urgent emergency births or where a general anaesthetic is used.

Evaluation of the latest national campaign on abdominal cancer symptoms which ran between November 2020 and January 2021 is currently underway.

The UK helped found the GPE and we have been its largest donor, having contributed $1.6 billion since 2002. Since its creation, the GPE has contributed to the largest expansion of primary and lower secondary schooling in history.

Global education will be a key focus of the UK’s G7 Presidency and we call on all donors to step up with ambitious pledges to help the GPE secure its target of up to $5 billion. No decision has been taken yet on the UK’s next contribution to GPE, and details will follow in due course.

The UK is committed to tackling climate change, which is why we bid to host COP26 in Glasgow in partnership with Italy. Through diplomatic effort, in both bilateral and multilateral fora, and working with governments, businesses, and civil societies, we are calling for all countries to bring forward long-term climate strategies and are leading the world's response to tackle climate change. As the first country to legislate to end our contribution to global warming, the UK is leading by example as a global force for good. We have also committed to doubling the UK's International Climate Finance funding to at least £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26. Humanity faces the twin threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. These are two sides of the same coin; it is impossible to solve one without fixing the other. The conventions on biological diversity (COP15) and climate (COP26) provide excellent opportunities to take effective action on climate change and biodiversity loss and deliver a step change on both of these global crises.

We will support the adoption of ambitious and practical targets on nature at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Summit (COP15) in China next year, strengthened by coherent implementation mechanisms that will deliver a new global biodiversity framework that is commensurate with the scale of the challenge. Nature is also a top priority for our upcoming Presidency of COP26 next year and we are pushing for tangible and ambitious commitments from partner governments to champion nature and nature-based solutions. Given this, and the multi-faceted benefits of nature-based solutions, we are working with the Chinese Government, who are hosting COP15, to press for mutually reinforcing outcomes at the two Conferences. In addition, we will continue leading global ambition on conserving endangered species, following our hosting of the international Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in 2018.

The information is not available.

HMRC does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level on their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.

Revenue from Fuel Duty is paid upon clearance to the market rather than point of sale, and therefore no breakdown between domestic and business consumers is held.

The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, and remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash.

From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on further proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities.

The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government has carefully considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.

More broadly, the government wants to ensure that people have appropriate access to financial services, and recognises the importance of appropriate access to banking. Options for access can be via fixed and mobile bank branches, telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.

Following the Government’s commitment to legislate to protect access to cash, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services including bank hubs. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.

Additional pay-bill costs, including employer’s social security and pension costs, severance payments and capitalised staff costs, are the difference between salary bill and pay-bill. For salary bill costs please refer to the answer to PQ UIN 145964.

Aggregate level staff costs for central government are reported in the Whole of Government Accounts, which can be found here: Whole of Government Accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Data for 2010, 2015 and 2019 is available. Data for 2022 will not be available until after 2021-22 departmental Annual Reports and Accounts have been published and the Whole of Government Accounts have been produced.

HM Treasury’s own data collections, at present, do not differentiate between the different types of employment when looking at salary and pay-bill costs. Central government data will therefore include Public Servants, NHS, Armed Forces, and Academies, as well as Civil Servants.

Total salary bill for the civil service can be approximately calculated using data from Cabinet Office owned national statistics, Civil Service Statistics.

Mean earnings data is available, by department, as part of the Civil Service Statistics. These figures represent the mean earnings of all permanent employees on a full-time equivalent basis. They are available by gender and can be found in table 31.

Total employees on a full-time equivalent basis, by department, can also be found as part of the Civil Service Statistics. This data can be found in table 8. Using this data, alongside table 36, which gives the gender split in the civil service by department, and table 31 it is possible to calculate an approximate total paybill for each civil service department.

Full tables for 2010, 2015 and 2019 can be found here: Civil Service statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). 2022 data is not yet available but is expected to be published in Summer 2022 on the same website.

Decisions concerning the pricing and availability of loans, including application requirements, remain commercial decisions for lenders and the Government does not seek to intervene. For individuals applying for new credit, it remains important that lenders are able to carry out proper checks to ensure that they are not lending in an unaffordable way, especially if, for example, a borrower’s income had not yet returned to the level it was at pre Covid-19. Where an individual has been refused a mortgage with one provider we would also urge them to shop around, recognising lenders do not all take the same approach to assessing affordability.

This Government is fully committed to supporting the businesses and communities that make our town centres successful as the nation responds to the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak. Our package of support for businesses through this period totals over £352 billion including business grants, the coronavirus loan schemes and Job Retention Scheme, as well as deferral of income tax payments. This builds on major investment and action from Government to level up opportunity and prosperity across all areas of the country, including through the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, the £220 million UK-wide Community Renewal Fund and the £3.6 billion Towns Fund

Our ambition is to ensure that town centres continue to flourish now and in the future. Therefore, on 15 July, Government published the Build Back Better High Streets Strategy. The Strategy sets out Government's long-term plan to support the evolution and regeneration of all high streets across every part of the UK into thriving places to work, visit and live. The plan sets out how we intend to support places to achieve this vision, focussing on five key priorities: breathing new life into empty buildings; supporting high street businesses; improving the public realm; creating safe and clean spaces; and celebrating pride in local communities

We know the pandemic has significantly impacted the hospitality and retail sectors. We have therefore launched the first-ever hospitality strategy to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of England's pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. It is a forward-looking strategy for a sector that contributes significantly to the economy and plays a leading role in high streets and city centres across the country. The retail sector remains a key part of the high street. Physical retail will remain an important route to consumers, we continue to work with the sector on its long-term strategic needs to ensure businesses are profitable, resilient, innovative, and support local economies in socially and environmentally responsible ways.

Currently, the Building Regulations require that new homes are built to a standard of 125 litres of water used per person per day, or 110 litres per person per day if required by the local authority

In 2019 DEFRA launched a consultation and call for evidence on further measures to reduce personal water use. The consultation sought views on labelling water-using products, building regulations for water efficiency, metering and behaviour change.

In July of this year, Government published its summary of responses to the consultation, and a Written Ministerial Statement, which set out a number of measures that Government is taking to support water efficiency in homes.

The summary of responses to the consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/water-conservation-measures-to-reduce-personal-water-use

The Written Ministerial Statement can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-07-01/hcws140

In this year's Settlement, the Government made available an increase in Core Spending Power in England from £49 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, a 4.6% increase in cash terms. This recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain current service levels.

This saw Luton Borough Councils Core Spending Power increase from £154.7 million in 20/21 to £161.78 million in 21/22, a 4.5% increase.

The Government also allocated more than £12 billion directly to councils since the start of the pandemic, with more than £6 billion of this un-ringfenced, recognising that councils are best placed to deal with local issues.

Luton Borough Council received £19.4 million in additional Covid funding in 20/21 and saw this figure increase to £26.3 million in 21/22.

We have recently published figures for emergency funding for local government in 2020-21 and additional support in 2021-22 online and can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-emergency-funding-for-local-government.

To further support Luton Borough Council, the Secretary of State agreed to provide additional financial support, on an exceptional basis. This support takes the form of a flexibility to use capital resources to fund the revenue budget, equating to additional support of up to £35 million in 2020/21.

The Secretary of State is also minded to give permission for the flexibility to be applied to a total not exceeding £14 million in 2021/22, subject to the outcome of an external assurance review.

The legislation requiring landlords to provide six months’ notice to their tenants in most circumstances, apart from the most egregious cases, will be in force from 29 August 2020 until 31 March 2021. Notices served on and before 28 August are not affected by these changes.

If a landlord serves a second notice of the same type under these new requirements, both notices will stand, but it is good practice to withdraw an earlier notice if a second notice is issued.

The Government has committed to improving the assets of community value scheme which was introduced through the Localism Act 2011. As part of this, we will assess the overall the effectiveness of the regulations for local authorities, asset owners and voluntary and community groups to ensure that any legislation the Government introduces will meet our objective of supporting communities to protect those assets that are under threat.

Levels of compliance with social distancing by criminal and civil courts are high. HMCTS are following PHE guidance to ensure that our courts and tribunals support proper social distancing measures for everyone who uses and works in them.

Working with the judiciary, we have agreed how to prioritise the most urgent cases. For example, in crime we are prioritising cases in custody, in family we are dealing with cases to protect vulnerable children such as Emergency Protection Orders, Interim Care Orders and Issue Resolution Hearings in care proceedings.

With the judiciary, we have also moved to hear many more cases remotely by telephone or video wherever possible and appropriate – so that people are able to stay at home.

Jury trials are currently paused for a short time to put appropriate arrangements in place to maintain social distancing for jurors.

I also want to thank the judiciary for their continued work in courts and tribunals to keep the wheels of justice turning and keeping the public safe during these unprecedented times.

We believe that that children who offend should have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and move ahead positively with their lives while ensuring ensure the public are adequately protected.

The criminal records disclosure regime is designed to help employers make informed recruitment decisions through the disclosure of appropriate and relevant information, particularly for roles involving children and vulnerable adults.

We have noted the Supreme Court judgment in P and others and my department is working closely with the Home Office to reform the existing regime.