Lorraine Beavers

The Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme can deliver justice for the victims of some of the most serious crimes, including murder and rape.

During 2024, my office dealt with requests to review 831 sentences. So far during 2025, we have already exceeded that figure, receiving 846 requests. Of those, 102 cases have been considered by the Court of Appeal, and in 59% of those cases the sentence has been increased.

The ULS scheme continues to be effective by allowing the public to have a voice in the sentencing of offenders, and helping victims of the most abhorrent crimes to receive justice.

The Government announced Community Help Partnerships (CHPs) at the Spending Review. Since then, we have been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders—including people with lived experience, the voluntary sector, and central and local government—to design a programme of preventative support for adults experiencing disadvantage.

This will build on learning from the Changing Futures’ crisis-focused programme. CHPs will go further in addressing systemic barriers to allow local services to provide better integrated, earlier preventative support. The Cabinet Office is working closely with MHCLG to coordinate the two programmes.

We are continuing to explore how to strengthen alignment with wider place-based public sector reform. Further details will be announced in due course.

The Government announced Community Help Partnerships (CHPs) at the Spending Review. Since then, we have been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders—including people with lived experience, the voluntary sector, and central and local government—to design a programme of preventative support for adults experiencing disadvantage.

This will build on learning from the Changing Futures’ crisis-focused programme. CHPs will go further in addressing systemic barriers to allow local services to provide better integrated, earlier preventative support. The Cabinet Office is working closely with MHCLG to coordinate the two programmes.

We are continuing to explore how to strengthen alignment with wider place-based public sector reform. Further details will be announced in due course.

The Government announced Community Help Partnerships (CHPs) at the Spending Review. Since then, we have been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders—including people with lived experience, the voluntary sector, and central and local government—to design a programme of preventative support for adults experiencing disadvantage.

This will build on learning from the Changing Futures’ crisis-focused programme. CHPs will go further in addressing systemic barriers to allow local services to provide better integrated, earlier preventative support. The Cabinet Office is working closely with MHCLG to coordinate the two programmes.

We are continuing to explore how to strengthen alignment with wider place-based public sector reform. Further details will be announced in due course.

This Government is determined to deliver high quality public services and better value for money for the taxpayer. To further this aim, the government has committed to introducing a public interest test to assess whether expiring contracts could be better delivered in-house. This will ensure that the government makes evidenced-based decisions on the best way to deliver public services.

Under the Electricity Act 1989 all electricity meters used for billing must be of an approved design and be accurate. Those who charge anyone through submeters, such as landlords, in domestic properties ultimately have the same legal obligations as licensed energy suppliers.

In the event of a dispute over the accuracy of a meter, the law gives consumers the right to have their electricity meter independently checked and tested.

The Department has not yet made a full quantitative assessment of the flexibility benefits of thermal energy storage within heat networks.

The electricity distribution network benefits of heat networks has been estimated at between £5 to 7bn in avoided costs, and external research suggests that flexibility would significantly increase this amount.

The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan establishes our high ambition to increase flexible capacity on the grid, including 10-12 GW in short-duration consumer-led flexibility by 2030. Our Clean Flexibility Roadmap ensures that heat networks and thermal energy storage will contribute to this.

Cavity wall insulation (CWI) is one of the most cost-effective means of improving energy efficiency in people’s homes when installed in suitable homes and supported by appropriate installation standards and guarantees. However, the Government is aware that there are instances where issues have arisen in some homes which may be attributed to a CWI installation.

For installations under previous government schemes, guidance is available on the Government’s website for consumers who suspect they may have faulty CWI installed in their home, outlining routes to redress under these circumstances at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cavity-wall-insulation-cwi-consumer-guide-to-issues-arising-from-installations.

The Government is determined to drive participation opportunities for women and girls across sport, including football. The Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme will invest £85 million in 2026/27, with 30% of priority slots reserved for women’s and girls’ teams. We will also continue to use the Women’s Football Taskforce to deliver tangible change for women and girls from grassroots to elite level.

Public libraries are central to the success of the National Year of Reading’s campaign to engage people of all ages with reading. The Reading Agency has been appointed to work with sector partners to deliver and support public library engagement. The Summer Reading Challenge in 2026, and World Book Night, the annual celebration of reading for adults on 23 April 2026, will be key moments for libraries during the National Year of Reading 2026. Throughout the year, The Reading Agency will provide public libraries with resources, toolkits, and print and digital materials to support their work.

This is part of the broader programme of government support for the National Year of Reading including the £5 million funding for secondary schools to purchase books the Chancellor announced during her budget speech.

The Health Lottery has social responsibility duties and requirements to provide information to the Gambling Commission about proceeds and how these are split between prizes, expenses and good causes under its licence from the Gambling Commission. The Department has not held discussions with the Health Lottery on fulfilling its social responsibility duties, and does not hold data on its proceeds and the proportion it allocates to good causes.

More information on the responsibilities of large lotteries can be found on the Gambling Commission’s website here.

The Health Lottery has social responsibility duties and requirements to provide information to the Gambling Commission about proceeds and how these are split between prizes, expenses and good causes under its licence from the Gambling Commission. The Department has not held discussions with the Health Lottery on fulfilling its social responsibility duties, and does not hold data on its proceeds and the proportion it allocates to good causes.

More information on the responsibilities of large lotteries can be found on the Gambling Commission’s website here.

The department is determined to do more to improve the life chances of our most disadvantaged children and to break the link between background and future success.

The ‘Every Child Achieving and Thriving’ Schools White Paper establishes the departments plan to improve the outcomes of all children. When children born under this government finish secondary school, it is our ambition that all children achieve higher standards and the KS4 disadvantage gap will be halved. This equates to 30,000 more disadvantaged young people passing their English and maths GCSEs than today.

The department’s approach to tackle this disadvantage gap is comprehensive: rebuilding early family support, reforming how disadvantage funding is allocated and boosting its impact to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, improving teacher recruitment and retention so every child benefits from high-quality teaching, broadening the curriculum alongside access to high-quality enrichment, and launching two place-based missions, Mission North East and Mission Coastal, to drive improvement in areas where outcomes remain stubbornly low.

The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment.

Reading together is one of the most powerful ways to build a child’s language and communication skills, strengthen early bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading. This is why early years is one of the priority groups for the National Year of Reading.

The ‘Go All In’ campaign positions reading as a powerful way for parents and families to increase quality time with their children and explore shared interests further, rather than reading being seen as a parental obligation.

​The National Year of Reading includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.

The government is also investing around £500 million in the national rollout of the Best Start Family Hubs, which includes simple, practical tips to help parents feel confident in sharing stories, songs and books.

Early years settings and all interested parties are encouraged to sign up to www.goallin.org.uk for more information and to receive regular updates.

The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign aiming to tackle long-term declines in reading enjoyment.

Reading together is one of the most powerful ways to build a child’s language and communication skills, strengthen early bonds, and spark a lifelong love of reading. This is why early years is one of the priority groups for the National Year of Reading.

The ‘Go All In’ campaign positions reading as a powerful way for parents and families to increase quality time with their children and explore shared interests further, rather than reading being seen as a parental obligation.

​The National Year of Reading includes a major physical and online marketing campaign, as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout the year.

The government is also investing around £500 million in the national rollout of the Best Start Family Hubs, which includes simple, practical tips to help parents feel confident in sharing stories, songs and books.

Early years settings and all interested parties are encouraged to sign up to www.goallin.org.uk for more information and to receive regular updates.

The government is clear that off-rolling is an unacceptable practice and the department continues to work with Ofsted to tackle it.

Ofsted takes any use of unlawful exclusions and off-rolling very seriously. Where evidence of off-rolling is found by inspectors, it will impact the school’s leadership and management judgement.

This government is committed to reforming Ofsted to enhance the inspection regime by replacing a single headline grade with a new report card system telling parents clearly how schools are performing and introduce a new annual review of safeguarding, attendance, and off-rolling.

Defra is committed to the ‘polluter pays’ principle and regularly reviews ways to improve its implementation and efficacy.

The Government can already seek cost recovery for contaminated land so that the responsible party (typically the polluter or current owner/occupier) bears the financial burden of cleaning up the land. The Environment Act 1990 Part 2A outlines this principle, with local councils having a statutory duty to recover reasonable costs incurred for remediation. Where contaminated land is designated a special site and the Environment agency is the lead regulator, it also has similar cost recovery powers.

The quality of drinking water in England is exceptionally high and among the best in the world. Water companies and local authorities have statutory duties to carry out risk assessments and to sample drinking water supplies for any contaminants they believe may cause the supply to be unwholesome.

Defra continues to work closely with the other Government Departments, regulators, and the Devolved Governments to assess levels of PFAS occurring in the environment, their sources and their potential risks, in order to inform policy and regulatory approaches. Consideration of other countries’ plans can be helpful in informing the UK's management and regulation of PFAS.

The Secretary of State does not currently have plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of banning further licences for coastal landfill sites.

The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations provide an integrated framework for the regulation of activities that could harm the environment or human health. The Environment Agency issues permits only if pollution risks are acceptable and requires coastal landfill operators to prevent waste release, considering future climate risks. Local planning authorities have responsibility for providing planning consent for facilities such as landfill sites and decide upon future landfill locations.

The waste data for landfills in England is publicly available through the Environment Agency. Operators must report waste types and quantities, which are part of a public register accessible via the Environment Agency and published annually on GOV.UK: How to access waste management data for England - GOV.UK

The most recent data can be found online through the 2023 Waste Data Interrogator - data.gov.uk webpage.

Defra is responsible for the domestic legislation covering Statutory Nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, whilst Local Authorities environmental health departments are the main enforcers of the Statutory Nuisance regime and associated legislation.

It is Local Authorities, not the Environment Agency, that issue abatement notices if a statutory nuisance is found to have happened; is happening, or will happen in the future.