Bob Blackman

The government’s position remains as stated by the then Minister for Women and Equalities, the member for Portsmouth North, in her statement to Parliament on 23 July 2018.

We do not intend to make an order determining caste to be an aspect of ‘race’ for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010.

We will repeal the statutory duty to make such an order once a suitable legislative vehicle becomes available.

Following a three-year investigation into British American Tobacco, in January 2021 the SFO determined that this case did not meet the evidential tests as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. As with all cases that fail this first limb of the Code, it was therefore not in the public interest to continue with the investigation.

The SFO is aware of the allegations made in the BBC’s Panorama programme of 12 September 2021 and will review and assess any material which is provided to it.

The SFO is aware of the allegations made in the BBC’s Panorama programme of 12 September 2021. Following a three-year investigation into the British American Tobacco, in January 2021 the SFO determined that this case did not meet the evidential tests as defined in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. As with all cases that fail this first limb of the Code, it was therefore not in the public interest to continue with the investigation.

The SFO continues to assist its international law enforcement partners with ongoing investigations related to this matter and will assess any new material it receives. The SFO does not comment on the actions it takes to assess allegations.

The Law Officers have the power to refer a sentence for review if it appears to us to be not just lenient, but unduly lenient. It is a power we exercise personally, based on our legal assessment of the facts and merits of each case. The court ultimately decide on the case, but we refer cases in the public interest where in our judgment they appear unduly lenient.

Maritime workers regularly enter the country in the course of their work which is critical to the continued supply of goods into the UK. Restrictions on the movement of seafarers are likely to undermine effective UK freight supply, the attractiveness to trade, and with it both post-EU UK economic objectives and pandemic response.

Seamen and masters (as defined in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995) and inspectors and surveyors of ships (as defined in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995) in the United Kingdom (including the Devolved Administrations) have exemptions from 10 day self isolation when entering the UK.

Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. We are aware of the challenges faced by the wholesale sector, and the foodservice wholesale sector in particular. Officials have been working closely with the wholesale sector to understand the scale of the challenge. The Government has made a range of support available to wholesalers, and continues to consider the needs of the sector.

National and local channels, including TV, radio, digital and social media, and out of home advertising, are essential for the Government’s communication with the public. We book large-scale outdoor advertising assets on a temporary basis from media owners, in line with campaign objectives and to maximise reach. These costs are regularly published as part of routine government transparency.

I am pleased to confirm that round 8 is currently underway in India.

As you know, both nations have come to the table with the very highest of ambitions and a willingness to work together towards a mutually beneficial deal.

We are now working through substantive issues like goods market access, services, and investment, and are starting to see a way forward that works for both sides.

However, we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, reciprocal, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.

In April Great British Nuclear (GBN) launched the first phase of the competitive process to select the best Small Modular Reactors technologies in the form of a market engagement exercise. The second phase – the down-selection process - will be launched in the summer, with an ambition to decide on the leading technologies by autumn.

The market engagement exercise will help GBN to improve its understanding of market capability and technical offering of the full vendor community, the financial position of potential projects, and potential delivery models.

The Government will provide co-funding that will be deployed by GBN and will work with successful bidders on ensuring the right financing and site arrangements are in place, in line with its commitment to take two Final Investment Decisions next parliament.

The Government is clear that hydraulic balancing is an expected practice to be completed by heating engineers when a heating appliance, including a natural gas boiler, is installed in a wet central heating system.

The Government is seeking views on how to ensure hydraulic balancing and other installation practices take place at the time of install and how and whether to encourage hydraulic balancing as part of heating system servicing, through the consultation on Improving Boiler Standards and Efficiency, which closes on 21 March.

The Government is clear that hydraulic balancing is an expected practice to be completed by heating engineers when a heating appliance, including a natural gas boiler, is installed in a wet central heating system.

The Government is seeking views on how to ensure hydraulic balancing and other installation practices take place at the time of install and how and whether to encourage hydraulic balancing as part of heating system servicing, through the consultation on Improving Boiler Standards and Efficiency, which closes on 21 March.

BEIS Ministers regularly meet with Government colleagues to discuss COP26 commitments, including progress towards our own net zero targets.

The Government is leading on climate change at home, including reducing emissions faster than any other G7 economy, and continuing to drive action internationally.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support for businesses. Over £26bn has been allocated on business grants with a further £1 billion of support announced, in December 2021, for businesses in England most impacted by Omicron.  From this, £635 million has been made available for local authorities to support the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors and over £100 million of discretionary funding for businesses severely impacted by Omicron through the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme.

Local Authorities are encouraged to support businesses from all sectors that have been severely impacted by restrictions, or by the Omicron variant, including those paying business rates.

Further information on eligibility can be found in the guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities

Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support for businesses. Over £26bn has been allocated on business grants with a further £1 billion of support announced, in December 2021, for businesses in England most impacted by Omicron.  From this, £635 million has been made available for local authorities to support the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors and over £100 million of discretionary funding for businesses severely impacted by Omicron through the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme.

Local Authorities are encouraged to support businesses from all sectors that have been severely impacted by restrictions, or by the Omicron variant, including those paying business rates.

Further information on eligibility can be found in the guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities

Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has delivered an unprecedented package of support for businesses. Over £26bn has been allocated on business grants with a further £1 billion of support announced, in December 2021, for businesses in England most impacted by Omicron.  From this, £635 million has been made available for local authorities to support the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors and over £100 million of discretionary funding for businesses severely impacted by Omicron through the Additional Restrictions Grant scheme.

Local Authorities are encouraged to support businesses from all sectors that have been severely impacted by restrictions, or by the Omicron variant, including those paying business rates.

Further information on eligibility can be found in the guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-restrictions-support-grants-lrsg-and-additional-restrictions-grant-arg-guidance-for-local-authorities

As part of reaching Net Zero by 2050, the Clean Growth Strategy set out that all homes should reach EPC C by 2035 where cost effective, affordable, and practical. Double glazing is a popular energy efficiency measure and the English Housing Survey suggests that more than 85% of properties in England are fully double glazed, with less than 4% having no double glazing. As such, there is limited potential for further energy savings because so much of the stock already has efficient windows. Nevertheless, there are other benefits to more efficient glazing such as reduced internal noise, and improving the remaining single glazed windows would contribute to lower emissions.

Five per cent[i] of annual Non-domestic buildings energy use can be abated by fabric improvements of which we estimate around a third are glazing.

[i] Source: Building Energy Efficiency Survey, tables 4.5 and 3.1, at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-energy-efficiency-survey-bees

Price regulation in the telecoms market is a matter for Ofcom as an independent regulator. Openreach’s prices are fixed by Ofcom as part of their five-year Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review (WFTMR) process and have been allowed to increase by CPI in order to reflect the significant additional costs faced when deploying new physical infrastructure. There are no plans to change the WFTMR until 2026. This is in line with industry requests for long-term stable regulation that incentivises competition and investment in the fixed telecoms market in order to increase the coverage of gigabit-capable networks as quickly as possible. This approach has been successful, with over 80 companies investing approximately £35 billion to connect premises across the UK.

The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom, published in 2019, states that we want to see regulation that incentivises network investment and ensures fair and effective competition between new and existing network operators. The Department regularly meets with Ofcom at all levels to discuss progress against its strategic priorities. My officials also regularly engage with representatives across the telecoms sector. On wholesale price increases specifically, the Department has received representations from both industry members and consumer groups.

My department’s response to the consultation on changes to the Electronic Communications Code was published on 24 November 2021.

Following publication of that document my officials have met with a number of stakeholders, including telecommunications companies and representatives of the site provider community, including those supported by the Protect and Connect Campaign. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as necessary during the passage of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill.

My department’s response to the consultation on changes to the Electronic Communications Code was published on 24 November 2021.

Following publication of that document my officials have met with a number of stakeholders, including telecommunications companies and representatives of the site provider community, including those supported by the Protect and Connect Campaign. We will continue to engage with stakeholders as necessary during the passage of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill.

Since the introduction of the reforms in 2017 we have continually listened to feedback from stakeholders on the impact those changes have had on the expansion and improvement of digital networks across the UK. The culmination of this process was a consultation on potential further reform to the Code, published in January 2021. The consultation closed in March 2021 and responses are being considered. The government’s response will be published shortly.

My department has been considering how online advertising is regulated through our Online Advertising Programme, and we will be consulting on this issue later this year following an initial call for evidence in 2019.

Our aim is to foster fair, accountable and ethical online advertising that works for citizens, businesses, and society as a whole. In particular, we want to ensure standards about the placement and content of advertising can be effectively applied and enforced online so that consumers are protected from harmful or misleading advertising.

It is deeply concerning to see the huge rise in antisemitism following Hamas’s terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023. To see this form of hatred also take place in education is unacceptable.

The government took immediate action in October 2023. First, to increase security measures at Jewish schools, colleges and nurseries - we announced £3 million of additional funding to the Community Security Trust.

The Secretary of State also wrote to all schools and colleges on 17 October 2023, urging them to support Jewish students and highlighting our political impartiality guidance and advice on the Prevent programme.

To support schools and colleges we published learning resources on our Educate Against Hate website.

We are also providing over £3 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2024, to five anti-bullying organisations, which includes projects to tackle hate-related bullying on the basis of race and faith.

The department has networks of ‘Prevent’ practitioners who provide training to school staff on radicalisation and empower teachers to challenge extremism in the classroom.

We continue to monitor the situation carefully. Ministers have conducted several visits recently to listen to the experience of Jewish communities, including meeting with Dr David Landau who is Chair of Governors Menorah High School, one of the settings that temporarily closed in October over safety concerns.

We are engaging regularly with faith groups and school leadership organisations to understand their concerns and use it to shape our response. This includes the Board of Jewish Deputies and Chinuch UK.

In the Autumn Statement, on 22 November 2023, the government announced a further £7 million of funding over the next three years to help tackle antisemitism. This will help support schools, colleges, and universities to understand, recognise and deal with antisemitism effectively. We are preparing to issue an invitation for interested organisations to tender in the coming weeks.

If anyone feels that specific issues in education are not being addressed, they can raise them directly to the department through the Counter Extremism helpline or our “Report Extremism” online form. We then engage with the police and local authorities to consider what action is needed.

International students are vital and valued members of our higher education (HE) community. The government has worked closely with the HE sector throughout this year to ensure existing rules and processes have been as flexible as possible, so that international students have been able to study in the UK as planned.

The department speaks regularly with its counterparts across the government, including the Department of Health and Social Care, Public Health England, the Department for Transport and Cabinet Office, among others, about how various COVID-19 policies may affect students.

The UK was one of the first countries to introduce important visa concessions for international students at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, and we will do our utmost to ensure this flexibility remains for as long as needed. We will continue to work with our counterparts across the government to ensure that the UK remains as accessible and welcoming as possible next academic year.

It is important that pupils are well prepared to manage their money, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information. The Department has introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions and has also published statutory and non-statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should be taught about financial education from Key Stages one to four.

In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds. To enable schools to plan their whole curriculum, the Department has also published a non-statutory citizenship curriculum for Key Stages one and two, stating that by the end of primary education pupils should be taught how to look after their money and realise that future wants and needs may be met through saving.

In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the arithmetical knowledge that pupils should have. This knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. There is also some specific content about financial education, including calculations with money.

Primary schools are free to include additional content on financial management in their curricula, including working with external experts, however, the Department does not monitor this and trusts schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular context.

The Department does not plan to make its own assessment of the contribution of Global Money Week to improving the provision of financial education at primary education level but will continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be gained from such initiatives and whether there is scope to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

Education on financial matters ensures that pupils are well prepared to manage their money, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information if required. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds.

The Department also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. The Department has published statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should be taught about financial education from Key Stages 1 to 4.

In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the arithmetic that pupils should have. This knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy and numbers will underpin the pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. There is also some specific content about financial education such as calculations with money.

The Department does not monitor or assess the resources that schools use and we trust schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations. We will continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service, and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be learned from other sector initiatives and how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

Schools should have resumed teaching an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects from the start of the autumn term. This means that all pupils will be taught a wide range of subjects so they can maintain their choices for further study and employment. The Department’s latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Education on financial matters ensures that pupils are well prepared to manage their money, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information if required. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds.

The Department also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. The Department has published statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should be taught about financial education from Key Stages 1 to 4.

In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the arithmetic that pupils should have. This knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy and numbers will underpin the pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. There is also some specific content about financial education such as calculations with money.

The Department does not monitor or assess the resources that schools use and we trust schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations. We will continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service, and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be learned from other sector initiatives and how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

Schools should have resumed teaching an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects from the start of the autumn term. This means that all pupils will be taught a wide range of subjects so they can maintain their choices for further study and employment. The Department’s latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.

Defra does not hold information on the number of dog attacks on cats. Any information on the number of reported dog-on-cat attacks will be held by individual local authorities and individual police forces.

It is an offence under section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control.

We are currently working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied to encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks.

For 2018, some 1.4 million end-of-life vehicles passed through authorised treatment facilities (ATFs). It is estimated that around 10,000 tonnes of glass were recycled. Processing of this glass occurred further down the treatment chain after initial depollution of vehicles at ATFs.

Materials liable for the lower rate of landfill tax, including glass, are listed in the 2011 Qualifying Materials Order. When assessing which materials are liable for the lower rate, the Government considers whether they are non-hazardous, have low potential for greenhouse gas emissions and have low polluting potential in the landfill environment. Further information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-lft1-a-general-guide-to-landfill-tax/excise-notice-lft1-a-general-guide-to-landfill-tax#lower-rate-qualifying-material .

The Government has no plans to change the landfill tax rate for glass, though HM Treasury continues to keep tax policy under review.

The Government remains committed to reviewing and consulting on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and other measures for certain Construction and Demolition sector products by the end of 2025. Stakeholder engagement will commence shortly. The Government is engaging with the sector through the industry-led Green Construction Board, including supporting the production of a roadmap to zero avoidable waste for the construction sector. This is due to be published in the next few months.

I refer the hon. Members to the reply previously given on 25 January 2021, PQ 138473.

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-01-15/138473