Jake Berry

A comprehensive reply on the details of government heating systems will be given to the Rt. Hon. Member in due course.

The Cabinet Office does not manage or occupy 1 Carlton Gardens or the Chequers, Dorneywood and Chevening Estates.

The buildings at 10 to 12 Downing Street were originally built in the 1680s, with extensive works undertaken in the Georgian era. They are Grade 1 listed. Maintaining and updating these historic buildings, whilst protecting the integrity of that heritage, presents distinct challenges.

Its primary source of heating is from the Whitehall Campus District Heating System which distributes heating to premises in the Whitehall estate.

The Downing Street estate has already taken a number of eco-friendly measures such as a full rainwater harvesting system for the gardens, and low-energy and motion detecting lighting throughout, whilst preserving the heritage of the listed buildings. It has three electric vehicle charging points.

In 2013, No.10 won an award for sustainability improvements to the building. BRE Environmental Assessment Method named it as the best for year-over-year improvements out of 800 other candidates.

The property also has a Display Energy Certificate, which is for the whole building (not just the residences). The current rating is “E”, up from “F” the previous year.

In line with the Prime Minister’s ambition for the UK to be a global leader in clean, green technology and sustainable living, the Cabinet Office is looking to build on these measures in the future. This includes exploring the scope for heat pumps when the boilers reach the end of their working life and making greater use of renewable energy sources.

As noted in the recent Heating and Building Strategy, the Government has made strong progress on reducing emissions in the Government estate by 50 per cent over 10 years through energy efficiency and green measures. The Strategy sets out a gradual fourteen-year transition to low carbon heating systems and we are investing a further £1.4 billion over the next 3 years in reducing emissions from public sector buildings.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) manages approximately 30% of the government’s central estate offices and acts as a landlord to government department clients (including Cabinet Office) located within those offices. GPA is an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office.

The majority of GPA’s properties have heating systems served by boilers. This includes the Whitehall District Heating System; a system owned and operated by GPA that distributes heating to premises in the Whitehall estate.

GPA’s newly developed assets have utilised more carbon efficient forms of heating. One such example is the new hub in Birmingham at 23 Stephenson Street which has a mechanical heat recovery ventilation system with electricity as its fuel source.

As was set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy and the Net Zero Strategy on 19th October, we are clear that decarbonising public sector buildings will demonstrate leadership, encouraging action in other sectors as well as making a direct contribution to Net Zero. We aim to reduce direct emissions from public sector buildings by 75% against a 2017 baseline by the end of carbon budget 6.

Over £1 billion has been committed in the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme over 2020/21 and 2021/22 to support heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency in the public sector, and a further £1.425 billion will be invested over 2022/23 to 2024/25.

The BEIS headquarters building in 1 Victoria Street use a diverse mix of energy including gas and solar. Like other offices across the country, as decisions are made about future energy usage in light of the Government’s Net Zero commitments, further steps to decarbonise including installing heat pumps and connecting to heat networks will be taken.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out.

The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.

High needs funding for supporting children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England is increasing by a further £440 million, or 4.3%, in the 2024/25 financial year, which will bring the total high needs budget to £10.5 billion, an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 high needs allocations. This funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of provision for these children and young people.

The department has recently announced provisional 2024/25 high needs allocations for local authorities. Funding is provided to local authorities rather than constituencies. Lancashire County Council’s allocation is £203 million, which is £10.5 million more than it will receive this year, an increase of 33% per head over the three years from 2021/22. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s allocation is £33 million, which is £1.3 million more than it will receive this year, an increase of 34% per head over the three years from 2021/22.

In March 2022, the department also announced High Needs Provision Capital Allocations amounting to over £1.4 billion of new investment. This funding is to support local authorities to deliver new places for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND. This funding forms part of the £2.6 billion we are investing between 2022 and 2025 and represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision.

Of the £1.4 billion announced, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council received £3.1 million and Lancashire County Council received £26.1 million.

Apprenticeships are crucial in driving growth and social mobility. They boost skills across the economy and improve people's earnings and career opportunities nationwide. Since 2010, there have been 13,680 apprenticeship starts in the Rossendale and Darwen constituency, and we want to ensure that this number continues to grow.

The Accrington and Rossendale College offers high-quality apprenticeship training with a particular focus on the construction and automotive sectors. Blackburn College is supporting people to develop the skills and knowledge they need for a rewarding career in a variety of industries.

To continue this growth in starts, the government is increasing its investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, encouraging more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices. The department has introduced flexible training models, such as flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, to make apprenticeships more accessible, and has improved the transfer system so that levy-payers can make better use of their funds. We are also supporting employers to access apprenticeships by reducing administrative burdens and cutting by a third the number of steps needed to register to take on an apprentice.

The department recognises the vital role that small to medium-sized employers (SMEs) play in creating apprenticeship opportunities. That is why we removed the limit on the number of apprentices that smaller employers can take on, making it easier for SMEs to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need.

We are also allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23.

We continue to promote apprenticeships to young people in schools and further education colleges across the country through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, and UCAS will be expanding its service to allowing students to search for and apply to apprenticeships alongside degrees.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) acts as a landlord to government department clients, including Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Education and others.

The majority of GPA’s properties have heating systems served by gas fired boilers. This includes the Whitehall District Heating System, which is a system owned and operated by GPA that distributes heating to premises in the Whitehall Campus from conventional fossil fuel boilers.

GPA’s newly developed assets have utilised more carbon efficient forms of heating, such as the new hub in Birmingham at 23 Stephenson Street, which has a mechanical heat recovery system with electricity as its fuel source.

GPA has started a Net Zero Offices Programme, which seeks to remove fossil fuel boilers (where they have reached end of economic life) and replace them with more environmental forms of heating such as use of air source heat pumps and, in the case of the Whitehall District Heating System, the utilisation of ground source heat pumps. The Net Zero Offices Programmes is seeking funding for its heat decarbonisation projects through applications to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

The department is committed to supporting apprentices and employers to safely continue with, and complete, their apprenticeship programmes. We have introduced flexibilities to ensure that apprenticeship training and assessments can continue during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Where it is not possible and practicable for the apprentice to continue training, a break in learning can be used to allow the apprentice to return to learning at a future date. It is our goal that apprentices are able to promptly resume their apprenticeship and continue to successful completion of end-point assessment. For apprentices who have taken a formal break in learning, this will result in the planned end-date for their apprenticeship being replanned upon returning to learning to take into consideration the duration in line with the length of their break.

We continue to review the flexibilities in place to ensure high-quality training can continue allowing apprentices to undertake their learning and assessments despite current operating constraints. Our guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response.