Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Ban Animal Testing - Fund, accept & promote alternatives to animal testing
Gov Responded - 4 Aug 2021 Debated on - 25 Oct 2021 View Julie Elliott's petition debate contributionsWe would like the Government to ban all animal testing UK, including for the development of cosmetics, household products and medicines. Alternatives need to be actively funded. Many products that are tested on animals end up not being suitable for humans. Animal testing is outmoded and should end.
Plan to phase out animal experiments
Gov Responded - 4 Aug 2021 Debated on - 25 Oct 2021 View Julie Elliott's petition debate contributionsThe Government must recognise the urgent need to use animal-free science and publish a clear and ambitious action plan with timetables and milestones to drive the phase-out of animal experiments. As well as preventing animal suffering, this will benefit public health and business.
UK Government to formally recognise the State of Palestine
Gov Responded - 8 Jun 2021 Debated on - 14 Jun 2021 View Julie Elliott's petition debate contributionsRecognise the state of Palestine to help stop the conflict from Israel. Not recognising the Palestinian state allows Israel to continue their persecution of the Palestinians.
Introduce sanctions against Israel
Gov Responded - 8 Jun 2021 Debated on - 14 Jun 2021 View Julie Elliott's petition debate contributionsThe Government should introduce sanctions against Israel, including blocking all trade, and in particular arms.
Enforce the “50+1” Rule for professional football club ownership in the UK
Gov Responded - 24 May 2021 Debated on - 14 Jun 2021 View Julie Elliott's petition debate contributionsBring in a law which enforces professional football clubs to have at least 51% fan ownership similar to how the Bundesliga operates this rule.
Introduce an Independent Regulator for Football in England by December 2021
Gov Responded - 7 Jun 2021 Debated on - 14 Jun 2021 View Julie Elliott's petition debate contributionsThe Government should use the recently established fan led review of football to introduce an Independent Football Regulator in England to put fans back at the heart of our national game. This should happen by December 2021.
These initiatives were driven by Julie Elliott, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Julie Elliott has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Julie Elliott has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Julie Elliott has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Julie Elliott has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Protecting the credit balances of domestic customers when energy companies cease trading is a priority for both Government and Ofgem, who manage the service transfer under the Supplier of Last Resort process.
The Department committed £1.81 million in 19-20 and £1.17 million in 20-21 to research projects related to mental health that took place in the North East of England. This includes research at Newcastle University which is looking at the effect of substance misuse by parents on children and research on the shift to home-based working in the pandemic, including its impact on mental health.
In addition, UKRI has recently made a £24 million investment into seven multidisciplinary and multi-institutional research programmes, across the UK, focussed on adolescent mental health. This includes research which will focus on the wellbeing of students at university where the rate of mental health conditions is rising. The project includes a co-investigator based at Newcastle University with some of the research taking place at the university.
The Government has no specific plans to update copyright law in the music industry.
However, the Government is aware of the current debate around music streaming revenues and is following it closely. Any change in the law would need to be justified by robust evidence, so we welcome the DCMS Select Committee’s inquiry into this issue and look forward to its analysis and recommendations. Alongside this, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is working closely with industry on a research project to investigate the flow of money to music creators. This project is due to report in summer 2021 and will help improve our understanding of this important issue.
The Government has made no recent assessment of the effect of section 182D of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 on artists' incomes.
However, the Government is aware of the current debate around revenues for musicians and is following it closely. Robust evidence in this area is vital, so we welcome the DCMS Select Committee’s inquiry into the economics of music streaming and look forward to its analysis and recommendations. Alongside this, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is working closely with industry on a research project to investigate the flow of money to music creators. This project is due to report in summer 2021 and will help improve our understanding of this important issue.
The BEIS Select Committee recently undertook an enquiry into the Mineworkers’ Penson Scheme and published its findings on 29 April. I am due to meet the Scheme Trustees next month to discuss the Committee’s report and I am keen to hear their views before responding to the Committee.
We were appalled by the terrifying and potentially dangerous conditions experienced by many Liverpool fans at the Champions League and I am shocked and concerned by what has come to light. I met with the French Minister for Sport last week, and raised these concerns directly, and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and with Liverpool FC.
We welcome the fact that UEFA have commissioned an independent investigation, and issued an apology to fans who attended the final; and that the French Government has commissioned a review of the delivery of the event and will also be supporting the UEFA investigation.
UEFA has in place a complaints procedure for fans to present evidence, and Liverpool FC are collating fan experiences, via their website, to contribute to the UEFA investigation. We urge fans to send accounts of their experiences to the club.
Fans deserve to know what happened. So it is absolutely right that the relevant authorities are now fully investigating these events. These investigations must establish the facts so that the authorities can learn lessons from the event and ensure we do not see scenes like this again.
We were appalled by the terrifying and potentially dangerous conditions experienced by many Liverpool fans at the Champions League and I am shocked and concerned by what has come to light. I met with the French Minister for Sport last week, and raised these concerns directly, and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and with Liverpool FC.
We welcome the fact that UEFA have commissioned an independent investigation, and issued an apology to fans who attended the final; and that the French Government has commissioned a review of the delivery of the event and will also be supporting the UEFA investigation.
UEFA has in place a complaints procedure for fans to present evidence, and Liverpool FC are collating fan experiences, via their website, to contribute to the UEFA investigation. We urge fans to send accounts of their experiences to the club.
Fans deserve to know what happened. So it is absolutely right that the relevant authorities are now fully investigating these events. These investigations must establish the facts so that the authorities can learn lessons from the event and ensure we do not see scenes like this again.
We were appalled by the terrifying and potentially dangerous conditions experienced by many Liverpool fans at the Champions League and I am shocked and concerned by what has come to light. I met with the French Minister for Sport last week, and raised these concerns directly, and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and with Liverpool FC.
We welcome the fact that UEFA have commissioned an independent investigation, and issued an apology to fans who attended the final; and that the French Government has commissioned a review of the delivery of the event and will also be supporting the UEFA investigation.
UEFA has in place a complaints procedure for fans to present evidence, and Liverpool FC are collating fan experiences, via their website, to contribute to the UEFA investigation. We urge fans to send accounts of their experiences to the club.
Fans deserve to know what happened. So it is absolutely right that the relevant authorities are now fully investigating these events. These investigations must establish the facts so that the authorities can learn lessons from the event and ensure we do not see scenes like this again.
We were appalled by the terrifying and potentially dangerous conditions experienced by many Liverpool fans at the Champions League and I am shocked and concerned by what has come to light. I met with the French Minister for Sport last week, and raised these concerns directly, and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and with Liverpool FC.
We welcome the fact that UEFA have commissioned an independent investigation, and issued an apology to fans who attended the final; and that the French Government has commissioned a review of the delivery of the event and will also be supporting the UEFA investigation.
UEFA has in place a complaints procedure for fans to present evidence, and Liverpool FC are collating fan experiences, via their website, to contribute to the UEFA investigation. We urge fans to send accounts of their experiences to the club.
Fans deserve to know what happened. So it is absolutely right that the relevant authorities are now fully investigating these events. These investigations must establish the facts so that the authorities can learn lessons from the event and ensure we do not see scenes like this again.
We were appalled by the terrifying and potentially dangerous conditions experienced by many Liverpool fans at the Champions League and I am shocked and concerned by what has come to light. I met with the French Minister for Sport last week, and raised these concerns directly, and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and with Liverpool FC.
We welcome the fact that UEFA have commissioned an independent investigation, and issued an apology to fans who attended the final; and that the French Government has commissioned a review of the delivery of the event and will also be supporting the UEFA investigation.
UEFA has in place a complaints procedure for fans to present evidence, and Liverpool FC are collating fan experiences, via their website, to contribute to the UEFA investigation. We urge fans to send accounts of their experiences to the club.
Fans deserve to know what happened. So it is absolutely right that the relevant authorities are now fully investigating these events. These investigations must establish the facts so that the authorities can learn lessons from the event and ensure we do not see scenes like this again.
The pilot Young Audiences Content Fund was allocated Licence Fee underspend to test a new way of financing public service TV content for a three-year period. This three-year period will conclude on 31 March 2022 and then a full evaluation will take place to determine its impact on the children’s television industry and the provision and plurality of public service content for young audiences across the UK.
The potential for any further investment of public funding will be assessed against the Fund evaluation and alongside future public service broadcasting needs.
The Government welcomes the Independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance and has endorsed in principle the primary recommendation of the review, that football requires a strong, independent regulator to secure the future of our national game.
The Government will now work at pace to review the report in full, including the recommendations made on a dedicated review of women’s football.
The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders as we work towards issuing a full response to the report in the Spring.
The Government published an impact assessment in May 2021 alongside the draft Online Safety Bill. The impact assessment considered the economic and social impacts of the draft Bill and included an assessment of impacts on freedom of expression, privacy and other wider societal impacts. The Government is currently working on a final stage impact assessment for the Online Safety Bill which will be published before the Bill is laid in Parliament.
The overall impact assessment includes considerations on the impact of harm on children where relevant and the strongest protections in the Bill will be for children. In-scope services which are likely to be accessed by children will need to conduct a child safety risk assessment and provide safety measures for child users. Services will need to keep risk assessments up-to-date and update them before making a significant change to the design or operation of their service. Ofcom will have a duty to issue guidance to assist providers in carrying out their risk assessments.
Preventing children from accessing harmful content such as online pornography is a priority for the government and the strongest protections in the draft Online Safety Bill are for children. The draft Bill covers many of the most visited pornography sites, social media platforms, video-sharing sites, forums and search engines - thereby capturing many of the sites through which children access pornography.
The Government recognises that a large amount of pornography is available on the internet with little or no protection to ensure that those accessing it are old enough to do so and that this is changing the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex and consent. Research published by the British Board of Film Classification in 2020, showed that the three most likely routes for children’s intentional viewing of pornography are image or video search engines (53% of children who intentionally sought out pornography have seen it here), social media sites (44% of children who intentionally sought out pornography have seen it here), and dedicated pornography sites (43% of children who intentionally sought out pornography have seen it here). While these figures only account for where children have seen pornography and not the total number or frequency of visits, it does highlight that children use a range of sources to access pornography.
My department has also commissioned research recently to develop the evidence base on the prevalence and impact of harmful content online to children, which includes online pornography.
Preventing children from accessing harmful content such as online pornography is a priority for the government and the strongest protections in the draft Online Safety Bill are for children. The draft Bill covers many of the most visited pornography sites, social media platforms, video-sharing sites, forums and search engines - thereby capturing many of the sites through which children access pornography.
The Government recognises that a large amount of pornography is available on the internet with little or no protection to ensure that those accessing it are old enough to do so and that this is changing the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex and consent. Research published by the British Board of Film Classification in 2020, showed that the three most likely routes for children’s intentional viewing of pornography are image or video search engines (53% of children who intentionally sought out pornography have seen it here), social media sites (44% of children who intentionally sought out pornography have seen it here), and dedicated pornography sites (43% of children who intentionally sought out pornography have seen it here). While these figures only account for where children have seen pornography and not the total number or frequency of visits, it does highlight that children use a range of sources to access pornography.
My department has also commissioned research recently to develop the evidence base on the prevalence and impact of harmful content online to children, which includes online pornography.
As set out in its response of 3 December, the government is unable to share commercially sensitive data related to the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme.
As set out in its response of 3 December, the government is unable to share commercially sensitive data about the events that have purchased eligible policies. We can confirm the scheme has provided cover to a broad range of events, including conferences and Christmas events.
The Government recognises the important contribution that the live events sector makes to the UK’s culture and economy, and the significant challenges the sector has faced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme will provide live events across the country - such as music festivals, conferences and business events with the confidence to plan for future events, and as such will support the UK’s post-Covid economic recovery.
We are unable to share commercially sensitive data including the name of events who have secured policies but we can say that a broad range of events located across the UK have purchased cover through this scheme.
The scheme recently welcomed a sixth participating insurer and £800M of cover is available to support the live events sector.
The Government recognises the important contribution that the Live Events sector makes to the UK’s culture and economy, and the significant challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has presented. The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme is designed to provide confidence to event organisers and enable them to plan future events, thereby supporting the economic recovery out of Covid-19.
The scheme is a reinsurance scheme whereby insurers provide cover to purchasers, and eligible policies are then reinsured under a reinsurance contract with the government - the terms of which are publicly available. As such the government does not receive applications to the scheme: policies are either eligible or ineligible. We cannot share specific operational data due to the commercial sensitivity of the information.
The high level of demand for cyber security skills identified in the Harvey Nash report is consistent with findings of the annual DCMS-commissioned surveys of the labour market. Some of the skills clusters identified through DCMS research, using Burning Glass data (2019), were: productivity software, software and programming and data science.
The government has introduced various qualifications such as digital T levels in digital production, design and development; digital apprenticeships which provide work based training in technical occupations; and digital bootcamps as a way for people to take up digital skills training. The government is also offering 33 Level 3 digital skills courses from May 2021 to adults aged 19-24. As well as this, HMG is supporting young people to take up digital skills training. For example, people aged between 11-18 can sign up to CyberFirst extracurricular activities to build understanding of digital and technical skills.
Government supports the development of regional digital skills capability through its Local Digital Skills Partnerships. These partnerships are now operating in seven regions and bring together local cross-sector partners to design, develop and coordinate the delivery of digital skills programmes to upskill the current workforce, tackle digital exclusion and raise awareness of the importance of digital skills regionally. An 8th Local Digital Skills Partnership in Hull and East Yorkshire will formally launch in early December 2021.
The government recently published its first National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy, setting out how we can ensure everyone in every region of the UK has the skills, understanding and opportunities to benefit from AI technologies. This will include: continuing to support future skills through Turing Fellowships, Centres for Doctoral Training and Postgraduate Industrial Masters and AI and Data Science Conversion Courses; publishing research into what skills are needed to enable employees to use AI in a business setting; and identify how national skills provision can meet those needs.
The National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), with £84m of government funding, is also aiming to improve the teaching of the computing curriculum in schools. The National AI Strategy will also support the NCCE to ensure programmes for children in AI are accessible.
Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide range of stakeholders, including social media platforms, on a variety of issues, including eating disorders content. Details of Ministerial meetings are published quarterly on the Gov.uk website.
Under the draft Online Safety Bill, services in scope will need to minimise and remove illegal content, including illegal online abuse. In addition, services which are “likely to be accessed” by children will be required to provide further protections for children from content and activity which is legal but harmful. Major platforms will also need to address legal but harmful content for adults. The government will set out priority categories of legal but harmful material in secondary legislation, for example content which encourages or promotes eating disorders.
The NHS Long-Term plan, published in January 2019, announced the creation of up to 15 specialist gambling clinics by 2023/24. Work continues on the phased expansion of these services, enabling the NHS to explore how best to use existing treatment models to reach those most in need of support. In June 2020, the largest five (now four) gambling operators committed £100m over four years to problem gambling treatment services through the charity GambleAware, which is consulting with DHSC on the most effective way to use that money.A range of specialist support services for women are also available, such as GamCare’s Women’s Programme and Gordon Moody’s Retreat & Counselling Programme. Gordon Moody will also open a bespoke residential treatment centre for women this autumn.
The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. The Review will be wide-ranging and evidence-led and aims to make sure we have the right protections in place to make gambling safer for all.
Library services are a statutory responsibility of local government and each library authority determines how best to deliver its services and allocate funding for the benefit of its communities in a manner which is “comprehensive and efficient”. Library services already play a vital role in bridging the digital divide.
Libraries Deliver: Ambition, the Government’s strategy for public libraries included improved digital access and literacy as one of the seven outcomes that libraries deliver for their communities. Information and Digital is one of the four Universal Library Offers recognised by the libraries sector, and libraries are flagged in the 2017 UK Digital Strategy. More recently their vital role was recognised through an exemption under the National Restrictions to enable provision of access to public PCs for people to use essential services during lockdown; we are aware that this was highly valued and used.
The Government is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in sport and physical activity, including gender inclusivity. Our strategy ‘Sporting Future’ sets out a clear ambition to increase levels of physical activity, particularly amongst all under-represented groups. We welcome the efforts of the sport sector and use of a variety of methods to achieve this.
We are determined to get more women and girls active including through mixed gender sports. We recognise that Covid-19 has brought new challenges to the way people are able to engage in physical activity. I am keen that we do all we can to break down the barriers that still exist and I welcome the work of Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign which has inspired 3.9 million women to take part since its launch in 2015. Sport England’s “Join the Movement” campaign has also provided some great tools to keep everyone active during the lockdown.
The publicly funded Young Audiences Content Fund will be supported into its third year, ensuring young audiences have access to engaging and relevant content that reflects UK society and their own diverse experiences wherever they live in the country.
The success of the Fund is evaluated against the criteria set out at launch, including: quality; innovation; additionality; nations and regions; diversity; new voices; plurality and audience reach. Assessments of the fund are ongoing, but the fund has already published its year one analysis, and will be publishing its year two analysis later this year. Year one analysis is available here.
One of the primary aims of the Fund is to increase the provision of content which is reflective of the cultural identity across the UK nations and regions. Merit is therefore awarded to productions that are representative of the nations and regions, both on and off air. UK indigenous language content is also eligible for funding with a target aspiration of 5% of the awards distributed.
As set out in the Year 1 analysis, 71% of projects awarded production funding in Year 1 were set in recognisable UK locations outside of London and the South East, in every home nation. Furthermore, the majority of production companies that were awarded support were based outside of London and the South East.
The recent Year 3 funding award of £10.7 million is a continued commitment from the government to support the Young Audiences Content Fund and the production of UK originated children’s television programming in a challenging financial climate. Year three analysis will be published in due course.
The publicly funded Young Audiences Content Fund will be supported into its third year, ensuring young audiences have access to engaging and relevant content that reflects UK society and their own diverse experiences wherever they live in the country.
The success of the Fund is evaluated against the criteria set out at launch, including: quality; innovation; additionality; nations and regions; diversity; new voices; plurality and audience reach. Assessments of the fund are ongoing, but the fund has already published its year one analysis, and will be publishing its year two analysis later this year. Year one analysis is available here.
One of the primary aims of the Fund is to increase the provision of content which is reflective of the cultural identity across the UK nations and regions. Merit is therefore awarded to productions that are representative of the nations and regions, both on and off air. UK indigenous language content is also eligible for funding with a target aspiration of 5% of the awards distributed.
As set out in the Year 1 analysis, 71% of projects awarded production funding in Year 1 were set in recognisable UK locations outside of London and the South East, in every home nation. Furthermore, the majority of production companies that were awarded support were based outside of London and the South East.
The recent Year 3 funding award of £10.7 million is a continued commitment from the government to support the Young Audiences Content Fund and the production of UK originated children’s television programming in a challenging financial climate. Year three analysis will be published in due course.
As set out in our response to Question 7173 on 7 June 2021, we will respond to the consultation on adding women’s sporting events to the listed events regime, which closed on 11 December 2019, in due course. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on sport, in particular women's sport, and this work has been paused until the situation with Covid-19 stabilises.
The Government recognises that more can be done to improve the diversity of the listed events regime and to support the broadcasting of disability and women’s sport. This is why we have added the Paralympic Games to the list, recognising that it is an event of ‘special national significance’.
We have also consulted on the addition of the women’s equivalent of men’s events already on the list. This consultation closed on 11 December 2019. Since then the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on sport, in particular women's sport and this work has been paused. We will set out our response and next steps in due course, when the situation with Covid-19 stabilises.
The Government believes all artists have a right to exercise their profession free from harassment, bullying and discrimination and we also recognise that it is important that artists are fairly remunerated for their work. We are aware of the concerns that have been raised recently with regards to musicians’ wellbeing and incomes.
The music industry already has routes for tackling welfare issues and providing advice on financial matters through codes of conduct and independent advice services.
For instance, the Musicians' Union has a Safe Space facility to enable individuals to confidentially report incidents without fear of unwanted consequences, and also provides a Contract Advisory Service to assist musicians starting out on their careers to have any contracts they are offered checked by independent and respected industry lawyers.
In this context, the creation of a new regulatory body would need to be carefully considered to ensure that it is not duplicating industry efforts to address these issues and does not create undue burden on either the creative workforce or employers.
We are actively engaging with the industry to better understand how effective these industry initiatives are at a) supporting the wellbeing of artists, and b) providing advice on financial matters.
Following this engagement, we will consider what further steps are necessary and how the Government can support the sector and artists.
The Events Research Programme is examining risk of transmission of Covid-19 from attendance at events, and exploring ways to enable people to attend a range of events safely.
Our Science Board agreed that admission of participants to our pilot events in April and May was subject to evidence of a negative Lateral Flow Device test result for Covid-19. The ERP will publish its research findings shortly, including independent scientific reports. This research will cover the testing protocol for the pilot events. These reports will feed into decision making on removing restrictions safely ahead of step 4.
The Events Research Programme is examining risk of transmission of Covid-19 from attendance at events, and exploring ways to enable people to attend a range of events safely. The research findings will be published on GOV.UK shortly and will feed into decision making on removing restrictions safely ahead of step 4.
The Government has been working at pace on the review, including appointing the Honourable Member for Chatham and Aylesford as Chair and publishing the Terms of Reference.
The first meeting of the advisory panel has been held, and we have announced that we expect an interim report from the review before the summer and a full report in the autumn.
Football clubs form a vital part of our local communities and must be protected. The Secretary of State announced the launch of the fan-led review of football governance in the House of Commons on 19th April 2021.
We will publish the Terms of Reference imminently but I can confirm that it will be chaired by the Honourable Member for Chatham and Aylesford.
We recognise the significant challenge the current pandemic poses to the live events industry.
The Office for National Statistics estimates that there has been a 47.6% drop in the Index of Services in 2020 from 2019 for Creative arts and entertainment activities and a 26.1% drop for Arts, entertainment and recreation activities.
The Government has not forecast losses for 2021, but officials have been working closely with live events industry stakeholders to understand the challenges they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.
The ‘COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021’ announced by the Prime Minister yesterday provides a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England, including for live events.
The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, whilst preserving the health and safety of the country.
The Government aims to allow spectators to attend some large events, including live music events, from Step 3, subject to a cap on attendance and local authority approval.
Pilots will run as part of the Events Research Programme to examine how large events, such as festivals, can take place without the need for social distancing using other mitigations. Subject to the outcome, the Government aims to reopen the remaining closed settings, including large events, at Step 4.
We are aware of the concerns which have been raised about securing insurance for live events.
Understandably, the bar for considering Government intervention is set extremely high. Given the high costs involved in setting up a scheme HMT need to make sure it is the most effective use of funds at a time when we are looking at how best to support the sector.
The evidence of market failure must clearly demonstrate that such a scheme is the only barrier to staging events. At the moment, progress with the vaccine rollout and beating the virus is crucial in achieving the next stages for large events as set out in the roadmap. As such, we do not believe that now is the right time for an insurance intervention.
We are working closely with the sector to determine the appropriate and most effective response within the public health context.
The ‘COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021’ announced by the Prime Minister yesterday provides a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England, including for live events.
The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, whilst preserving the health and safety of the country.
The Government aims to allow spectators to attend some large events, including live music events, from Step 3 subject to a cap on attendance and local authority approval.
Pilots will run as part of the Events Research Programme to examine how large events, such as festivals, can take place without the need for social distancing using other mitigations. Subject to the outcome, the Government aims to reopen the remaining closed settings, including large events, at Step 4.
I will send copies of all of my correspondence with the National League to the Hon Member’s office, as well as my letter to the Shadow Minister for Sport on 5 February 2021 on this matter.
The correspondence primarily relates to the Sports Winter Survival Package. I gave a statement to the House on Thursday 19 November 2020 on the details of this package, which have remained the same throughout.
The £300m Sports Winter Survival Package provides a lifeline to sports organisations that would otherwise not survive the winter period as a result of the restriction on spectators announced from 1 October. Funding is , which is primarily made up of loans, provided on the basis of what a sport needs to survive, with decisions made by an independent Board.
On 19 November 2020, the government announced a £300 million Sports Winter Survival Package (SWSP) to provide a lifeline to organisations that would otherwise not survive the winter as a result of the restriction on spectators announced from 1 October.
A provisional allocation of £28 million was made to support football, covering women’s football (£3 million), National League Steps 1-2 (£11 million) and Steps 3-6 (£14 million). Preliminary allocations of funding from the SWSP were made on a needs based assessment process which reflected the submissions made from individual sports last autumn.
Decisions on how much each sport receives through the Survival Package are made by an independent board based on a rigorous assessment of need. We will announce details of those decisions in due course.
Football is our national game and it is vital that clubs at all levels are protected.
The Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many football clubs have benefited from. The Treasury estimates that around £1.5 billion of public money has gone into sports.
As part of this, Sport England has provided £220m directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic, via a range of funds including their £35m Community Emergency Fund. This support is available to both men’s and women’s clubs with the latest figures showing £10.5m has already been awarded to over 1,500 football clubs. This sector support was recently boosted by an extra £50m to help grassroots sports clubs and organisations as part of Sport England’s new strategy Uniting the Movement.
Men’s and women’s spectator sports, severely impacted by the restrictions around fans over the winter, are also being supported through the £300m Sports Winter Survival Package. This aims to protect the immediate futures of major spectator sports in England over the winter period and includes a provisional allocation of £25m for clubs in the National League System (at steps 1-6) as well as £3m for women’s football. Provisional allocations are subject to change based upon a detailed assessment of need, and final funding decisions are still in the process of being made by the Package’s Independent Board, supported by Sport England.
Sport and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. As the Prime Minister said on 23 November national restrictions will end on Wednesday 2 December and grassroots sport can resume in all tiers. This is providing social distancing remains in place, although there will be some restrictions on highest-risk activity in tier three areas.
In tier one areas indoor sports can take place within the rule of six. This will mean people from different households could play 3 on 3 volleyball, or four people from different households could play doubles tennis or badminton. Group activities such as training sessions and exercise classes can take place in larger numbers, provided that people are in separate groups (up to 6 people) which do not mix.
In tier two areas, indoor sport can take place within households, and people can take part in group activity like exercise classes as long as there is no mixing between households. People can play certain sports which do not involve close proximity or physical contact against one person from another household, such as a singles tennis match or badminton match.
In tier three areas, indoor sport will be restricted to within your household only, and there should be no group activity such as exercise classes.
Further details are to be announced imminently.
The Government has worked closely with the football authorities throughout the pandemic. The strict COVID protocols that both men’s and women’s elite football could enforce, has enabled them to continue training and playing matches during the period of national restrictions.
Subject to football’s application of the current regulations, youth talent football may continue where the individuals are aged 15 and above and on a development pathway, or where delivered in a genuine educational setting. The fact that some girls’ academies could not operate alongside comparable boys academies has highlighted, once again, the need to set these academies on an equal footing, with regards to funding and resources, in the future.
I met with Baroness Campbell from the Football Association on 18 November where we discussed this issue. On 26 November I will be meeting CEO of Women in Football, Jane Purdon, to find out what more can be done to help the women's game.
Government welcomes the introduction of new regulations by FIFA, agreed with FIFPRO, that protect the rights of female professional footballers who want to have children. We want to see the popularity of women’s sport continue to thrive and having regulations such as these in place is key to that. It is important that women in sport have the opportunity to progress their career and reach their full potential.
Tourism makes a vital contribution to the UK economy, with the industry contributing around £60 billion to the economy each year prior to COVID and directly employing 1.6 million people. The Government has not calculated the specific contribution of small and medium-sized travel companies to the UK tourism sector’s overall value.
We recognise that Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19 are significantly impacting travel companies. We continue to engage with travel and tourism stakeholders, including UKInbound and the Association of British Travel Agents, to assess how we can best support the inbound and outbound sector’s as well as domestic recovery.
The Government is committed to supporting sport clubs and helping their recovery through the pandemic. That is why the Government provided an unprecedented financial support package, which many football clubs benefited from.
We have noted the report. We will continue to utilise a whole range of resources whilst we analyse how best to support the sport economy during these difficult times, and will work closely with the sector, including professional athletes representative bodies.
We are committed to getting spectators back into stadia as soon as it is safe to do so. The 12 pilot spectator events were crucial in trialling the concept, but unfortunately rising infection rates across the country meant that the Government had to act and we could not proceed with a wider reopening on the 1 October.
We will continue to work closely with a whole range of sporting bodies, including the English Football League, to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.
We will take the earliest opportunity to look again at getting spectators safely back into stadia but this must clearly be very carefully judged against the prevailing health conditions.
We are committed to getting spectators back into stadia as soon as it is safe to do so. The 12 pilot spectator events were crucial in trialling the concept, but unfortunately rising infection rates across the country meant that the Government had to act and we could not proceed with a wider reopening on the 1 October.
We will continue to work closely with a whole range of sporting bodies, including the English Football League, to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.
We will take the earliest opportunity to look again at getting spectators safely back into stadia but this must clearly be very carefully judged against the prevailing health conditions.
The listed events regime strikes a balance between retaining free-to-air sporting events for the public while allowing rights holders to negotiate agreements in the best interests of their sport.
The government recognises that more can be done to improve the diversity of the listed events regime and to support the broadcasting of disability and women’s sport.
This is why we have added the Paralympic Games to the list, recognising that it is an event of ‘special national significance’ on par with the Olympic Games. We have also consulted on the addition of the women’s equivalent of men’s events already on the list and we will respond to this consultation in due course.
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the government is aware of concerns that loot boxes in video games could encourage gambling-like behaviour. The government committed in its manifesto to tackle issues around loot boxes, and in its response to the report of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on immersive and addictive technologies, has announced that it will be issuing a call for evidence to inform next steps. This call for evidence is expected to launch shortly.
The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age, and further details will be announced in due course. Operators are required both by law and by licence conditions to prevent underage gambling and the Gambling Commision has strengthened requirements to complete age and identity checks before allowing anyone to deposit money and gamble.
Loot boxes do not fall under gambling law where the in-game items acquired are confined for use within the game and cannot be cashed out. However, the government is aware of concerns that loot boxes in video games could encourage gambling-like behaviour. The government committed in its manifesto to tackle issues around loot boxes, and in its response to the report of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on immersive and addictive technologies, has announced that it will be issuing a call for evidence to inform next steps. This call for evidence is expected to launch shortly.
The government has committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure it is fit for the digital age, and further details will be announced in due course. Operators are required both by law and by licence conditions to prevent underage gambling and the Gambling Commision has strengthened requirements to complete age and identity checks before allowing anyone to deposit money and gamble.
Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. It is vital they are protected.
The Owners’ and Directors’ Tests are administered by the football authorities and consider the objective suitability of prospective owners and directors. They are not subjective tests of intentions or capability. However, the Government is committed to undertaking a fan led review of football governance, which will include consideration of the Owners’ and Directors’ test.
I recently met with the EFL to discuss the progress of their own review into club governance and will continue to work closely with the football authorities as we decide the scope and structure of the government review.
Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. It is vital they are protected.
The Owners’ and Directors’ Tests are administered by the football authorities and consider the objective suitability of prospective owners and directors. They are not subjective tests of intentions or capability. However, the Government is committed to undertaking a fan led review of football governance, which will include consideration of the Owners’ and Directors’ test.
I recently met with the EFL to discuss the progress of their own review into club governance and will continue to work closely with the football authorities as we decide the scope and structure of the government review.
The government has worked with telecoms providers to agree a package of measures to support vulnerable consumers through Covid-19, including those who have been asked to shield. We have not, so far, provided funding specifically for the purchase of devices or connectivity for vulnerable adults asked to shield, but as previously mentioned in answer 38575, 38576, 38577 we continue to assess what needs to be done to address issues faced by vulnerable people who may also be digitally excluded.
My Department has been promoting the DevicesDotNow campaign, which is working with community organisations to distribute devices to vulnerable adults and help them get online. The aim is to enable elderly and vulnerable people, particularly those to who are shielding, to communicate with the outside world and get access to vital services. The Minister for Digital and Culture wrote to a number of industry Chief Executives to raise awareness of the campaign and to encourage them to donate tablets and laptops.
The government has worked with telecoms providers to agree a package of measures to support vulnerable consumers through Covid-19, including those who have been asked to shield. We have not, so far, provided funding specifically for the purchase of devices or connectivity for vulnerable adults asked to shield, but as previously mentioned in answer 38575, 38576, 38577 we continue to assess what needs to be done to address issues faced by vulnerable people who may also be digitally excluded.
My Department has been promoting the DevicesDotNow campaign, which is working with community organisations to distribute devices to vulnerable adults and help them get online. The aim is to enable elderly and vulnerable people, particularly those to who are shielding, to communicate with the outside world and get access to vital services. The Minister for Digital and Culture wrote to a number of industry Chief Executives to raise awareness of the campaign and to encourage them to donate tablets and laptops.
The Government is aware that charities are experiencing financial challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, whilst dealing with increased demand for services. Organisations that are not supporting the response to Covid-19 will have access to the range of horizontal economic support measures announced by HM Treasury in March, which are available across all sectors equally, such as the furloughing scheme or VAT deferral.
We will continue to work closely with the sector to assess how we can further support charities in doing their important work.
In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, my Department has agreed a package of measures with the UK’s major fixed and mobile providers to protect vulnerable consumers, and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from Covid-19.
In relation to mobile services, all the signatory providers have agreed to offer new packages to support vulnerable consumers, including free data boosts and free calls from mobiles, and to support their customers in financial difficulties.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 27 April to Question 38579:
Ofcom report that 94% of individuals 16+ year olds in the UK use a mobile phone and 87% of UK households have internet access. The government has already agreed a set of commitments with telecoms companies to support and protect vulnerable consumers and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from Covid-19. The government is working with the NHS, schools, local authorities and charities to further address digital exclusion, including the Devices Dot Now Campaign.
The Government understands the importance of digital skills and the ability to access the internet in building a world-leading economy that works for everyone.
We work with the Lloyds Consumer Digital Index and Ofcom survey data, which provide estimates of the proportion of people by age group that have all the essential digital skills for life, and their internet connection take-up.
In addition, DCMS funded the 2019 Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS), a large scale survey of internet users, non-users and ex-users, to provide further insights into internet and ICT access and use, attitudes to technology and supporting demographic and geographic information. This highlighted that:
Internet use has expanded in all age groups, although the increase is small over the past 6 years.
Almost everyone is online up to about the age of 50. After 50 there is a sharp decline in Internet use of about 2 percentage points per year.
Table 1: Essential Digital Skills for Life by Age Group
Age | 15-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65+ |
Proportion within age group with Essential Digital Skills for life, 2019 | 94% | 93% | 89% | 85% | 72% | 45% |
Source: Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2019 (https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/whats-happening/consumer-digital-index.html)
Table 2: Internet Connection Take up by Age Group
| 16+ | 16-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55-64 | 65-74 | 75+ |
4G mobile | 70% | 91% | 91% | 86% | 80% | 60% | 38% | 17% |
Any internet connection at home | 87% | 95% | 96% | 94% | 94% | 86% | 78% | 52% |
Broadband connection at home | 82% | 86% | 88% | 89% | 89% | 81% | 75% | 49% |
Source: Ofcom Communications Market Report 2019: Market in context - device and service take up -Telecoms (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/multi-sector-research/cmr/interactive-data)
We want to see the popularity of women’s sport continue to thrive. We have seen record audiences tune in or turn up to watch international women’s events, for example over 28 million viewers watched the BBC coverage of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup on television and online. Football is also a popular choice for women and girls to get active: it is the second most popular team sport in terms of participation for adult women in England, and the top ranked team sport in terms of participation for girls.
Football clubs form an integral part of this country and it is important they are given as much support as possible during these difficult times. In light of this, the Government announced a comprehensive and sizable package of direct fiscal support for business through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support. Alongside this, Sport England has issued guidance to the sport and leisure sector as well as announcing £195 million of funding, including a £20 million Community Emergency Fund, to help the sector.
The government is also looking forward to the UK hosting the rescheduled women’s UEFA European Championships in 2022, and working to ensure this tournament builds on the fantastic momentum we have seen within the womens’ game in recent years.
The Government will continue to liaise closely with all the football authorities to further understand any difficulties clubs may be experiencing.
The Government understands that those who are most vulnerable may also lack the access to technology, connectivity and basic digital skills to be able to fully participate while following social distancing advice. We are currently working at pace, in partnership with the tech sector and civil society organisations, to understand the effect on people who do not have access to the internet and to develop solutions to these challenges, as well as providing support to vulnerable people.
HMT and DCMS ministers meet frequently to cover a range of issues as part of the normal process of policy development and delivery. The government is working to address issues faced by vulnerable people who may also be digitally excluded.
The government has worked with the UK’s major telecommunications providers to agree measures to support connectivity for vulnerable consumers in general and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from Covid-19.
We are currently working with Futuredotnow, a coalition of companies and civil society organisations working to improve digital skills, on a campaign called DevicesDotNow. The campaign will work with the government to ensure that devices go where they are most needed to support better health and social care outcomes for the digitally excluded, to support remote working and to promote wider wellbeing.
Government also recently announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged children across England are to receive laptops, tablets and 4G routers to make remote education accessible. We are also working with the major telecommunications providers to make it easier for families to access selected educational resources by temporarily exempting these sites from data charges.
The Government understands that those who are most vulnerable may also lack the access to technology, connectivity and basic digital skills to be able to fully participate while following social distancing advice. We are currently working at pace, in partnership with the tech sector and civil society organisations, to understand the effect on people who do not have access to the internet and to develop solutions to these challenges, as well as providing support to vulnerable people.
HMT and DCMS ministers meet frequently to cover a range of issues as part of the normal process of policy development and delivery. The government is working to address issues faced by vulnerable people who may also be digitally excluded.
The government has worked with the UK’s major telecommunications providers to agree measures to support connectivity for vulnerable consumers in general and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from Covid-19.
We are currently working with Futuredotnow, a coalition of companies and civil society organisations working to improve digital skills, on a campaign called DevicesDotNow. The campaign will work with the government to ensure that devices go where they are most needed to support better health and social care outcomes for the digitally excluded, to support remote working and to promote wider wellbeing.
Government also recently announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged children across England are to receive laptops, tablets and 4G routers to make remote education accessible. We are also working with the major telecommunications providers to make it easier for families to access selected educational resources by temporarily exempting these sites from data charges.
The Government understands that those who are most vulnerable may also lack the access to technology, connectivity and basic digital skills to be able to fully participate while following social distancing advice. We are currently working at pace, in partnership with the tech sector and civil society organisations, to understand the effect on people who do not have access to the internet and to develop solutions to these challenges, as well as providing support to vulnerable people.
HMT and DCMS ministers meet frequently to cover a range of issues as part of the normal process of policy development and delivery. The government is working to address issues faced by vulnerable people who may also be digitally excluded.
The government has worked with the UK’s major telecommunications providers to agree measures to support connectivity for vulnerable consumers in general and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from Covid-19.
We are currently working with Futuredotnow, a coalition of companies and civil society organisations working to improve digital skills, on a campaign called DevicesDotNow. The campaign will work with the government to ensure that devices go where they are most needed to support better health and social care outcomes for the digitally excluded, to support remote working and to promote wider wellbeing.
Government also recently announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged children across England are to receive laptops, tablets and 4G routers to make remote education accessible. We are also working with the major telecommunications providers to make it easier for families to access selected educational resources by temporarily exempting these sites from data charges.
Our national sports council, Sport England, is investing £2 million per year into the Football Association (FA) to support their work to make their coaching workforce more representative of wider society. This includes providing bursaries to support women and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to develop their coaching abilities from the grassroots to the elite levels of the game.
Government’s Sporting Future strategy recognised the important role coaching plays in helping people become and stay active. Sport England, evaluated the coaching landscape and developed a new coaching plan for England, ‘Coaching in an Active Nation’, which was published in November 2016. This was developed following consultation with coaches, coach educators and national governing bodies of sport, including the FA, and looks to increase diversity in coaching to better reflect underrepresented groups.
We are determined to encourage more women and girls to get active, something we set out in our sport strategy, Sporting Future. Football is a popular choice for women and girls to get active: it is the second most popular team sport in terms of participation for adult women, and the top ranked team sport in terms of participation for girls. It is also growing in appeal for spectators with a record total audience of 28.1 million tuning in to watch the BBC coverage of last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Through our national sports council, Sport England, the government is investing £24.6m in The Football Association over the course of 2016-21 for its work on grassroots participation, the football talent pathway, and coaching programmes. Within this, there is no specific ring-fencing of funding between men's and women's programmes, apart from £2.6m which is specifically reserved for women and girls talent programmes.
Sport England has also awarded The FA £544,500 to date to deliver The FA FIVES national promotion programme, a mass participation five a side football competition linked to EURO 2020. Its aim is to provide opportunities throughout England for men and women to take part in a fun, friendly football event.
Separately, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport invested £18m in football facilities through the Football Foundation in each of 2017, 2018 and 2019. It is not possible to separate out the investment amounts by gender.
In September 2019 the government consulted on whether to add women’s equivalents of men’s events currently on the list to both group A and group B categories. The consultation closed on 11 December 2019. The government is now carefully considering the responses in detail and we will respond in due course.
All children have had their education disrupted by the COVID-19 outbreak, but it is likely that disadvantaged and vulnerable groups will have been hardest hit.
Since 2011 we have spent more than £20 billion to provide Pupil Premium funding for school leaders to use, based on the needs of their disadvantaged pupils. Between 2011 and 2019, the attainment gaps between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils narrowed by 13% at age 11 and 9% at age 16.
On top of this funding, we increased core schools funding by £2.6 billion last year and are increasing core schools funding by £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively, compared to 2019-20.
In addition, over the past year we have made three major interventions to support education recovery, totalling over £3 billion additional spend: £1 billion in June 2020, a further £700 million in February 2021 and our latest £1.4 billion package announced in June 2021.
Recovery programmes have been designed to allow early years, school and college leaders the flexibility to support those pupils most in need, including the most disadvantaged. The latest announcement expands our reforms in two areas where the evidence is clear our investment will have a significant impact for disadvantaged children, high quality tutoring and great teaching.
We are providing over £1.5 billion for tutoring programmes, including an expansion of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), an ambitious scheme that supports schools to access targeted tutoring intervention for disadvantaged pupils who have missed out on learning due to school closures. We will also provide greater flexibility to schools to make it easier for them to take on local tutors or use existing staff to supplement those employed through the NTP. This new blended offer ensures that the NTP works for all disadvantaged children, giving schools the flexibility to choose what type of approach best suits their needs and those of individual pupils.
The £302 million Recovery Premium has been weighted so that schools with more disadvantaged pupils receive more funding and includes £22 million to scale up proven approaches to reduce the attainment gap.
We have also invested more than £400 million to provide internet access and over 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
Teacher retention and workload are key priorities for the Department. The latest teacher workload survey, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-workload-survey-2019, showed that the average total self-reported working hours in a given week for classroom teachers and middle leaders in primary and secondary schools in England was 49.5 hours, down by 4.9 hours compared to the 54.4 hours reported in 2016.
The most recent annual school workforce census, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2019, showed that of the teachers who qualified in 2018, 85.4% were still in service one year after qualification. This retention rate was slightly higher than the previous year when the one year retention rate was 85.1%. The November 2020 school workforce census will be published on 17 June 2021.
Whilst workload has been consistently cited as one of the main reasons given by teachers for leaving the profession, recent evidence suggests that it is the relationship between workload, job satisfaction and teacher autonomy that influences teacher retention.
The Department is therefore taking action to make sure that teachers are supported to stay in the profession. In May 2021 we published the education staff wellbeing charter. Developed in partnership with the sector, this sets out a range of commitments on the Government and employers in schools and colleges on wellbeing. The Charter is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.
The Department’s school workload reduction toolkit, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit, developed alongside school leaders, is a helpful resource that is being used by schools to review and reduce workload in their unique context.
We are ensuring teachers have access to high quality training and development, from initial teacher training (ITT) through to school leadership, by creating an entitlement to at least three years of structured support and professional development for teachers at the start of their careers. Underpinning this is the new ITT Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework. The Department is also launching new National Professional Qualifications for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice to those leading multiple schools across trusts.
On 2 July, the Department published guidance to help schools prepare for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full time from the beginning of the autumn term. The guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Schools have also continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. Following last year’s Spending Round, school budgets are rising by £2.6 billion in 2020-21, £4.8 billion in 2021-22 and £7.1 billion in 2022-23, compared to 2019-20. As stated in our guidance, schools should be using their existing resources, including these funding increases, to support pupils to attend school this term. There are no plans at present to reimburse additional costs incurred as part of this.
On 1 October, the Department announced a package of remote education support designed to help schools and colleges build on and deliver their existing plans in the event that individuals or groups of pupils are unable to attend school because of COVID-19. Schools will be able to access a new central support hub, where resources and information on remote education will be housed. This support has been co-designed with schools and includes a range of school-led webinars and resources intended to share good practice.
The Department is also investing £1.5 million of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme – a peer support network offering advice, guidance and training to schools and colleges in effective use of technology, including how it can support remote education.
The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20 and for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide free video lessons for reception up to year 11. It provides lessons across a broad range of subjects and includes specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The support package can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
In the last academic year, the Government invested over £100 million to help schools and young people continue their education at home and access social care services. This included investment of over £14 million on technical support which allows schools to use cloud based education platforms, nearly £6 million to support a new EdTech demonstrator school network, and over £85 million to provide laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers to children who would not otherwise have access.
The Department is also making an initial further 150,000 laptops and tablets available to schools in the event that their ability to deliver face to face education is disrupted during the new academic year. These should be used to enable disadvantaged children in year 3 to year 11 to continue to access remote education. We are also funding expert technical support to help schools apply for support to access one of two free-to-use digital education platforms to enable online teaching: G Suite for Education or Office 365 Education.
Schools can also spend their catch up premium on contingency planning for remote learning, for example purchasing additional devices or more textbooks. The Education Endowment Foundation COVID-19 Support Guide includes support for schools in how to support effective remote learning and access to technology.
To make remote education accessible to pupils while schools are closed, the Department is providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examination in Year 10, those receiving support from a social worker, including pre-school children, or are a care leaver.
Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we will be providing 4G internet hotspots so that they can learn at home.
To support householders who face challenges accessing an internet connection, the Government has brokered an agreement with all the major telecoms companies aimed at protecting the most vulnerable, as well as those who may become vulnerable due to COVID-19.
All the major telecoms companies have committed to providing support to their customers including on broadband, landline and mobile services, and ensuring that their customers in financial difficulties, due to circumstances arising from COVID-19, are supported and treated fairly.
We are also working with the major telecoms companies to make it easier for families who rely on mobile data to access online educational resources.
For those in rural areas or without a connection, schools will be able to draw on support from the BBC which is broadcasting lessons on television. Some of the BBC educational content is offline, via the red button, which disadvantaged pupils without digital devices or connectivity will still be able to access. Schools may also choose to draw on the many resources offers which have been made by publishers across the country. The Department has published an initial list of high quality online educational resources, which have been identified by some of the country’s leading educational experts to help pupils to learn at home.
The list is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-online-education-resources
The government has put in place a number of financial and other measures to support organisations, both public and private, during the COVID-19 outbreak. These are intended to be temporary, timely and targeted, to support public services, people and businesses through this period of disruption.
The ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): financial support for education, early years and children’s social care’ guidance sets out the financial support that is available for early years providers in England, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. It is available at:
There are also targeted arrangements for the early years sector, for instance, the one-year business rates holiday for Ofsted-registered private childcare settings in 2020-21.
These are rapidly developing circumstances and we continue to keep the situation under review for short- and long-term planning. We will continue to work closely with HM Treasury to monitor how the support packages are benefitting the early years sector and individual early years organisations.
Guidance on early years and childcare closures is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.
The former Halliwell Banks landfill site falls under the scope of the Part 2a Contaminated Land regime and was designated a “special site” as a result of its potential impact to the groundwater in the Principal Aquifer, the North Sea and the Northumberland Costal Special Protection Area. Following the 2A regime, “Appropriate Persons” with a link to the site have been identified, and, in accordance with the statutory procedure, required to commission a post determination report examining the issues with the site. This report is currently being jointly scrutinised by the Environment Agency and Natural England, who expect to make a determination on its suitability in coming months.
The former Halliwell Banks landfill site falls under the scope of the Part 2a Contaminated Land regime and was designated a “special site” as a result of its potential impact to the groundwater in the Principal Aquifer, the North Sea and the Northumberland Costal Special Protection Area. Following the 2A regime, “Appropriate Persons” with a link to the site have been identified, and, in accordance with the statutory procedure, required to commission a post determination report examining the issues with the site. This report is currently being jointly scrutinised by the Environment Agency and Natural England, who expect to make a determination on its suitability in coming months.
The former Halliwell Banks landfill site falls under the scope of the Part 2a Contaminated Land regime and was designated a “special site” as a result of its potential impact to the groundwater in the Principal Aquifer, the North Sea and the Northumberland Costal Special Protection Area. Following the 2A regime, “Appropriate Persons” with a link to the site have been identified, and, in accordance with the statutory procedure, required to commission a post determination report examining the issues with the site. This report is currently being jointly scrutinised by the Environment Agency and Natural England, who expect to make a determination on its suitability in coming months.
The Government is committed to maximising the value obtained from resources and minimising waste, as stated in our Resources and Waste Strategy 2018. Preventing products becoming waste and enabling reuse is fundamentally important in achieving this, and the climate benefits of doing so are recognised.
Businesses that handle waste are obliged, by the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, to follow the waste hierarchy. This requires action to prevent waste as the priority option. Failure to meet the legal obligation to take all reasonable steps to apply this can lead to enforcement action, from the Environment Agency in England.
We recently consulted on a new Waste Prevention Programme for England. This builds on the Resources and Waste Strategy and seeks to help with our strategic goals including achieving Net Zero. It included proposals to provide guidance aimed at encouraging the reuse of products and considering the need to clarify the application of the waste hierarchy. We expect to publish our new Programme later this year.
A statutory review of The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 was published in December 2018, available here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/988/pdfs/uksiod_20110988_en.pdf
In response to the impact of and specific challenges posed by COVID-19 to international travel, the Prime Minister has asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Transport to establish the cross-government Global Travel Taskforce, to consider further how government can support the sector to meet these challenges.
The travel sector is crucial to the UK’s economy. The Chancellor has put in place unprecedented support package to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister announced on the 31 October, that people and businesses across the UK will be provided with additional financial support as part of the Government’s plan for the next phase of its response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will remain open until December, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500. Under the extended scheme, the cost for employers of retaining workers will be reduced compared to the current scheme, which ended on the 31 October. This means the extended furlough scheme is more generous for employers than it was in October.
In response to the impact of and specific challenges posed by COVID-19 to international travel, the Prime Minister has asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Transport to establish the cross-government Global Travel Taskforce, to consider further how government can support the sector to meet these challenges.
The travel sector is crucial to the UK’s economy. The Chancellor has put in place unprecedented support package to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister announced on the 31 October, that people and businesses across the UK will be provided with additional financial support as part of the Government’s plan for the next phase of its response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will remain open until December, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500. Under the extended scheme, the cost for employers of retaining workers will be reduced compared to the current scheme, which ended on the 31 October. This means the extended furlough scheme is more generous for employers than it was in October.
The Department for Transport is working with airlines, airports and unions to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector and its workers
This year we will spend over £129 billion on the State Pension and benefits for pensioners in Great Britain, we have never paid our pensioners more.
This includes:
No formal assessment has been made. However, the Therapeutics Taskforce is monitoring data from clinical trials taking place worldwide to identify safe and effective treatments for COVID-19. The Taskforce works closely with RAPID C-19, a multi-agency group from across the health system, to review and evaluate evidence on the effectiveness of promising COVID-19 treatments when clinical trial data becomes available.
The Department established the COVID-19 Prophylaxis Oversight Group (POG) in July 2020, to guide development of pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 infection. The POG has not yet undertaken a review of these supplements but is aware of studies into the use of probiotics. The POG will continue to monitor the research.
The Department has reviewed this recommendation and concluded that the United Kingdom already has in place the legislation and processes required for the regulation of such products. These are placed into various existing product categories such as food supplements, novel foods, additives, enzymes, flavouring used in foods, foods for specific groups and medicines.
The Government recognises the vital role all unpaid and paid carers play and that the health of some carers may have been affected as a result of their caring role. We are committed to supporting carers in a way that maintains their own health and wellbeing.
During the pandemic, the Government has provided carers with guidance which includes advice on their health and wellbeing and provided over £11.6 million to a number of charities to support carers, including funding to Carers UK to extend their support phoneline. We have worked with the Social Care Institute for Excellence to publish guidance on reopening day services to provide important respite to carers. In addition, we have also allocated funding through the £1.8 billion Infection Control Fund to support the reopening of day and respite services.
The Care Act 2014 introduced important rights for carers, including an assessment of and support for, their needs where eligible. These includes a duty to promote an individual’s ‘wellbeing’ and consider the impact of the role as a carer on their wellbeing.
We have been careful to consider the views of a wide range of experts in response to our public consultation on introducing mandatory out-of-home calorie labelling including representatives from eating disorder groups. The Department has also engaged with the eating disorder charity BEAT, as well as others representing the views of people living with eating disorders, on several occasions since the Government published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ last July.
The Department has published an impact assessment detailing the likely effect the policy will have, including the potential effect of the policy on people living with eating disorders. This and the Government’s response to its public consultation on calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector, set out the evidence used to support the policy. The impact assessment and consultation response are available at the following link:
The Department is aware of the concerns of people with kidney disease and is carefully looking into the impact of any loss of necessary healthcare provisions. The Government will assess its options for reciprocal healthcare if we do not achieve a European Union-wide arrangement.
Decisions on tiers are made by Ministers based on public health recommendations from senior clinical and scientific advisors, guided by five key indicators - the case detection rate in all age groups, case detection rate among the over 60 year olds, the rate at which case rates are rising or falling, positivity rate and pressures on the National Health Service. Final decisions on tiering are made by the COVID-19 Operations Committee.
As of 6 January, all areas have been moved into tier 4 and the Government will review the tiering allocations every 14 days.
People in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement will continue to have reciprocal healthcare entitlements, including a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). This means existing healthcare arrangements will not change for those United Kingdom nationals who are resident in the European Union and EU citizens in the UK before 31 December 2020.
The future of reciprocal healthcare arrangements between the UK and EU are subject to negotiations, which are currently ongoing. As part of its published approach to the negotiations with the EU, the UK has indicated that it is open to working with the EU to establish arrangements that provide healthcare cover for tourists, short-term business visitors and service providers. Such arrangements would support those requiring treatments such as dialysis.
The cost of administering either bilateral reciprocal healthcare agreements with European Union member states or an EU-wide agreement on reciprocal healthcare will depend on the scope and content of either type of agreement.
Negotiations with the EU Commission on the future relationship on social security coordination, which includes reciprocal healthcare, are still ongoing. It is therefore not possible to make such an assessment.
The research, undertaken by Gabriella d’Ettorre and others, adds to the evidence on the potential role of probiotics to benefit patients with COVID-19. We will invite the Therapeutic Taskforce’s expert group on prophylaxis to consider the evidence of benefits and risks of probiotic supplementation for COVID-19 patients.
There is broad consensus that there is the potential for an increase in demand for mental health services to address the mental health impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are working with the National Health Service, Public Health England and other key partners to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term mental health impacts, including for people with eating disorders, and plan for how to support mental health and wellbeing throughout the coming weeks and months.
An assessment has not been carried out on the implications of this research. All new research is important to help us understand the disease and therefore potential effective treatments. The paper will be shared with public health and clinical experts to consider the potential for treatment or prevention options from the study findings.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is responsible for ensuring that timely and coordinated scientific advice is made available to decision-makers, to support United Kingdom cross-Government decisions. In fulfilling this role, SAGE considers a wide range of scientific evidence. Our approach has been, and will continue to be, guided by the evidence and latest advice from medical experts, including the Chief Medical Officer.
The scientific evidence supporting the Government response to COVID-19 can be found at the following link:
The use of probiotics and prebiotics to treat COVID-19 are not currently our priority in trials. The Government is investing across the board in both basic genetic research and clinical studies to find a sustainable treatment or vaccine against COVID-19. More information can be found at the following link:
The use of probiotics and prebiotics to treat COVID-19 are not currently our priority in trials. The Government is investing across the board in both basic genetic research and clinical studies to find a sustainable treatment or vaccine against COVID-19. More information can be found at the following link:
Public Health England (PHE) is aware of the paper by Professor Calder. PHE considers any new, high quality evidence on COVID-19 and nutrition, as it emerges and seeks advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition as appropriate.
We have committed to deliver 50,000 more nurses in the National Health Service by 2024/25, including nurses to deliver vital mental health support.
Eligible pre-registration nursing students studying on courses at English universities from September 2020 will benefit from additional support of at least £5,000 a year, which they will not need to repay.
There will be up to £3,000 additional funding for some students who choose to study in regions or specialisms struggling to recruit, including £1,000 for new students studying mental health nursing.
We are also focused on driving forward work to improve recruitment into psychiatry, including working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists on their ‘Choose Psychiatry’ campaign. To attract more junior doctors into psychiatry, the new junior doctor contract gives psychiatry trainees an additional £21,017 pay premia in addition to their normal pay.
NHS England and NHS Improvement and clinical commissioning groups commission eating disorder services based on the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE guidelines are evidence-based recommendations for health and care in England and they set out the care and services suitable for people with an eating disorder.
NICE has published a guideline on the recognition and treatment of eating disorders which includes recommendations on evidence-based care including psychological treatments for anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa in adults. To support further development of further evidence-based treatments, the National Institute for Health Research has commissioned a number of studies on the treatment of eating disorders.
The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The latest spend figures available for research on physical health and mental health in each of the last three complete financial years are as follows:
- | Financial expenditure | ||
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Physical health* | £743,063,571 | £803,718,845 | £823,680,671 |
Mental health* | £76,627,407 | £80,318,055 | £93,377,813 |
*It should be noted that the figures provided on both physical health and mental health cover a broad range of research including studies focused on health service provision, public health etc as well as those looking at specific treatments.
The NIHR’s research programmes provide a flexible source of funding. The latest spend figures available for research on eating disorders within NIHR’s research programmes in each of the last three complete financial years is as follows:
- | Financial expenditure (NIHR research programmes) | ||
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Eating disorders** | £506,187 | £333,030 | £862,753 |
**It should be noted that the figures provided above on mental health include studies related to eating disorders.
The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The latest spend figures available for research on physical health and mental health in each of the last three complete financial years are as follows:
- | Financial expenditure | ||
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Physical health* | £743,063,571 | £803,718,845 | £823,680,671 |
Mental health* | £76,627,407 | £80,318,055 | £93,377,813 |
*It should be noted that the figures provided on both physical health and mental health cover a broad range of research including studies focused on health service provision, public health etc as well as those looking at specific treatments.
The NIHR’s research programmes provide a flexible source of funding. The latest spend figures available for research on eating disorders within NIHR’s research programmes in each of the last three complete financial years is as follows:
- | Financial expenditure (NIHR research programmes) | ||
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Eating disorders** | £506,187 | £333,030 | £862,753 |
**It should be noted that the figures provided above on mental health include studies related to eating disorders.
The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The latest spend figures available for research on physical health and mental health in each of the last three complete financial years are as follows:
- | Financial expenditure | ||
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Physical health* | £743,063,571 | £803,718,845 | £823,680,671 |
Mental health* | £76,627,407 | £80,318,055 | £93,377,813 |
*It should be noted that the figures provided on both physical health and mental health cover a broad range of research including studies focused on health service provision, public health etc as well as those looking at specific treatments.
The NIHR’s research programmes provide a flexible source of funding. The latest spend figures available for research on eating disorders within NIHR’s research programmes in each of the last three complete financial years is as follows:
- | Financial expenditure (NIHR research programmes) | ||
2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | |
Eating disorders** | £506,187 | £333,030 | £862,753 |
**It should be noted that the figures provided above on mental health include studies related to eating disorders.
We have introduced two waiting times for children and young people: for 95% of children (up to 19 years old) with eating disorders to receive treatment within a week for urgent cases and four weeks for routine cases, and for 56% of patients of all ages experiencing a first episode of psychosis to receive treatment within two weeks of referral. We are on target to meet these aims by 2020/21.
Quarterly data and trend indicators on these two waiting time targets is available through the Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard. The Dashboard which brings together quarterly local, regional and national data across mental health services to measure the performance of the National Health Service in delivering its plans.
The Government announced investment of £150 million in 2014 to expand eating disorder community-based care. As a result 70 dedicated new or extended community services are now either open or in development.
We are implementing the first access standards for eating disorder services for children and young people’s, ensuring that 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. We are on track to meet this commitment by 2020/21.
In September 2019, we announced £70 million to support new pilots in 12 areas to develop models of community mental health care for adults and older adults, including for better access to eating disorder services.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) across Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear have nominated Newcastle Gateshead CCG to take a lead on their behalf and have set up a full day workshop to review the eating disorder care pathway to improve community eating disorder services.
During my first visit to the OPTs this week, I hope to meet with the Palestinians affected by the ongoing demolition and eviction orders at Masafer Yatta and raise our concerns on the impact with the relevant authorities. The UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions and evictions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. Our opposition to the demolition of Palestinian property and the evictions of Palestinians from their homes is long-standing. The practice causes unnecessary suffering to Palestinians and is harmful to efforts to promote peace.
Budgets for 2020 were outlined in our Statistics in International Development report available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2020. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Budgets for 2020 were outlined in our Statistics in International Development report available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2020. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
Budgets for 2020 were outlined in our Statistics in International Development report available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2020. Our future spending allocations will be set in the next Spending Review and full budgets for 2021 will be published in due course, including in our regular Statistics on International Development website and in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts.
We are disappointed that elections in the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been postponed. The Palestinian people should be allowed to enjoy their democratic rights - and Israel must allow voting for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, in line with the Oslo Accords. We urge further work towards genuine and democratic national elections for all Palestinians, which is crucial to the establishment of a viable and sovereign Palestinian State.
I announced on 20 May that the UK is providing an initial £3.2 million to UNRWA's emergency flash appeal, which launched on 19 May. The emergency appeal by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) focuses on meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of vulnerable Palestinians living in Gaza.
This UK support will help UNRWA deliver life-saving humanitarian aid to those that need it most. Existing UK aid to UNRWA is already helping the Agency to provide food supplies to more than one million refugees in Gaza this year. The international community needs to ensure UNRWA is able to save lives and reduce the suffering.
The UK welcomes the announcement of a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza on 20 May, which is an important step to ending the cycle of violence and loss of civilian life. It is now important for Israel to facilitate rapid humanitarian access in and out of Gaza. As the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have made clear, this cycle of violence must stop.
We have not yet completed an assessment of the effect of the conflict on UK supported programmes. We are following up with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which the UK funds, on their initial assessment of damage to their installations and interruption to services. The World Bank is commencing a more comprehensive Rapid Damage and Needs assessment, which is expected to report in one month.
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv maintains relations with a wide range of contacts, including Arab citizens of Israel, as part of the normal business of the embassy.
The UK is supporting communities in Area C, whose homes have been demolished, to remain on their land. We continue to engage frequently with the Israeli authorities on issues affecting Palestinians, including demolitions. Our Ambassador in Tel Aviv has raised ongoing demolitions with the Israeli Authorities, most recently in a meeting alongside like-minded partners on 25 February. I [Cleverly] called on Israel to stop demolitions on 5 February 2021 and raised my concerns about the demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures with the Israeli Ambassador on 29 October 2020. UK officials from the British Consulate in Jerusalem have made regular visits to areas at risk of demolition and eviction to reiterate UK support for those communities. The UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The practice causes unnecessary suffering to Palestinians and is harmful to efforts to promote peace.
We are aware of the report by Yesh Din entitled, 'A Life Exposed: Military invasions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank'. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including the Israeli security forces' rules of engagement. While we recognise Israel's legitimate need to deploy security measures, we encourage them to deploy these in a way which minimises tension and to use appropriate force.
We do not register British nationals abroad, and therefore do not have numbers of British nationals working overseas.
We recognise this is a worrying time for British crew on board cruise ships around the world. It is primarily the responsibility of their employers - the cruise ship operators - to ensure the welfare and safety of their crew.
Although no British national passengers remain on any cruise ships, we continue to work on the outstanding issue of supporting the return of British crew members. We are in direct contact with all of the main cruise ship operators, as well as with many crew members and their families. We will continue to support operators to ensure the welfare and safety of British crew. Our overseas missions are liaising closely with local authorities in an effort to facilitate disembarkation and ensure British crew can access flights home.
Not all British crew are seeking to return to the UK. Some may wish to stay with the ship (with their employer's consent), while others may be required by their role to do so as part of the minimum safe manning requirements for the vessel. This is a legislative and flag state requirement to ensure the continued seaworthiness of vessels.
The Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including almost £300 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP. Businesses, including those in the retail sector, experiencing economic difficulties continue to have access to a range of support measures including, but not limited to:
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible and how to apply - https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
The Government has also introduced the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill which is currently passing through the House. This bill will provide businesses with the flexibility and breathing space they need to continue trading during this difficult time. The measures are designed to help UK companies and other similar entities by easing the burden on businesses and helping them avoid insolvency during this period of economic uncertainty.
The Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including almost £300 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP. Businesses, including those in the retail sector, experiencing economic difficulties continue to have access to a range of support measures including, but not limited to:
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible and how to apply - https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
The Government has also introduced the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill which is currently passing through the House. This bill will provide businesses with the flexibility and breathing space they need to continue trading during this difficult time. The measures are designed to help UK companies and other similar entities by easing the burden on businesses and helping them avoid insolvency during this period of economic uncertainty.
The government is committed to supporting individuals through this difficult time. We have increased the generosity of Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit by £20 p/w, as well as raising the Local Housing Allowance rate to 30% of market rents. We have made significant changes to the operation of Statutory Sick Pay, Universal Credit, and new style Employment and Support Allowance to ensure that people have quicker and more generous access to a support system.
The government has also agreed a set of commitments with the UK's major telecommunications providers to support and protect vulnerable consumers and those who may become vulnerable due to circumstances arising from COVID-19. These measures include, among others, the removal of all data allowance caps on all current fixed broadband services, and a commitment by providers to work fairly with customers who find it difficult to pay their bills as a result of COVID-19.
In addition, the government recently announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged children across England are to receive laptops, tablets and 4G routers to make remote education accessible. We are also working with the country’s major telecommunication providers to make it easier for children in vulnerable and disadvantaged families, who are relying on mobile data, to access online educational resources.
HMT and DCMS ministers meet frequently to cover a range of issues as part of the normal process of policy development and delivery.
The government recognises that new measures taken to protect against Covid-19 mean there will be an increased reliance on digital services. This is why the government is working with FutureDotNow, a coalition of companies and civil society organisations to improve digital skills and support remote working.
The government has also announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged children across England are to receive laptops, tablets and 4G routers to make remote education accessible.
HMT and DCMS ministers meet frequently to cover a range of issues as part of the normal process of policy development and delivery.
The government is working to address issues faced by vulnerable people who may also be digitally excluded. For example:
- The government is currently working with FutureDotNow to support an industry-led campaign to provide devices to digitally excluded people to support better health and social care outcomes.
- The government has also worked with the UK’s major telecommunications providers to agree measures to support connectivity for vulnerable consumers.
- The government has also recently announced that vulnerable and disadvantaged children across England are to receive laptops, tablets and 4G routers to make remote education accessible. The government is additionally working with the major telecommunications providers to make it easier for families to access selected educational resources by temporarily exempting these sites from data charges.
Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members and Members of the House of Lords correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: Customer service operations data: Q2 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 2 - 2021. We are proposing the release of data for quarter 3 in due course.
Data about intake and performance in answering Hon. Members Correspondence are published quarterly with the latest Quarter available at: Customer service operations data: Q2 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and this includes data up to and including the end of quarter 2 - 2021.
Further performance data will be published in due course.
The Home Office responded to the correspondence on 5 January 2022.
The Government has made clear that building safety is the responsibility of the building owner.
Acting on advice from the Expert Panel, the Government has commissioned research to support further understanding of the fire performance of external wall systems and cladding materials :
We have published advice (updated in January 2020) to building owners on the actions they should take with regards to external wall systems and managing the safety of buildings of all heights.
In November 2018, the Government introduced a ban on combustible materials in and on the external walls of certain buildings, including blocks of flats more than 18 metres in height. We have more recently consulted on extending the scope of the ban and we will publish the results in due course.
The Government has committed £600 million for the remediation of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding. In March 2020, the £1 billion Building Safety Fund was then announced, aimed at remediating other unsafe cladding types on high-rise residential buildings. For high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding, the Government has worked closely with local authorities and Fire and Rescue Services to ensure that interim safety measures, where needed, are in place until the cladding is replaced.
We have also published advice from the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on the measures building owners should take to ensure their buildings are safe. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-advice-for-building-owners-including-fire-doors