Wera Hobhouse

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the UK should use and provide advice on who should be offered them. JCVI advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems, and as the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age. This prioritisation captures almost all preventable deaths from COVID-19. In the next phase of the vaccine rollout, JCVI have asked that the Department for Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other Government departments. The Department is working with the Department for Health and Social Care and Public Health England to ensure that the education and childcare workforce is considered for prioritisation in the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine.

From January 2019 to January 2020, the numbers of children benefiting from funded entitlements at early years settings decreased slightly. However, the percentage of children aged 3 and 4 benefiting from funded entitlements at these settings remained stable, whilst the percentage of eligible 2-year-olds benefiting from funded entitlements increased slightly. Full data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/28af6122-62d8-4901-beb4-e02d9e56f069.[1]

From January 2019 to January 2020, the number of hours of funded childcare used by children in early years settings increased, with a higher percentage of all age groups taking between 12.5 and 15 hours per week, the highest band. Full data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/411250f5-91ca-4269-8ef5-72891b3f3216.

To understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, wave two of the Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers and COVID-19 assessed attendance in September/October for open school-based providers, open group-based providers, and open childminders. Attendance during the survey was compared to the expected attendance for a typical autumn term. The survey showed that, on average, fewer children attended than would have been expected to attend across all age groups. The survey is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945249/SCEYP_COVID-19_Wave2_Main_Report_171220.pdf. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/survey-of-childcare-and-early-years-providers-and-coronavirus-covid-19-wave-2.

[1] The figures for four-year-olds do not sum to 100% as 63.5% of four-year-olds are in maintained schools, benefiting from over 15 funded hours of provision per week.

From January 2019 to January 2020, the numbers of children benefiting from funded entitlements at early years settings decreased slightly. However, the percentage of children aged 3 and 4 benefiting from funded entitlements at these settings remained stable, whilst the percentage of eligible 2-year-olds benefiting from funded entitlements increased slightly. Full data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/28af6122-62d8-4901-beb4-e02d9e56f069.[1]

From January 2019 to January 2020, the number of hours of funded childcare used by children in early years settings increased, with a higher percentage of all age groups taking between 12.5 and 15 hours per week, the highest band. Full data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/411250f5-91ca-4269-8ef5-72891b3f3216.

To understand the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, wave two of the Survey of Childcare and Early Years Providers and COVID-19 assessed attendance in September/October for open school-based providers, open group-based providers, and open childminders. Attendance during the survey was compared to the expected attendance for a typical autumn term. The survey showed that, on average, fewer children attended than would have been expected to attend across all age groups. The survey is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945249/SCEYP_COVID-19_Wave2_Main_Report_171220.pdf. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/survey-of-childcare-and-early-years-providers-and-coronavirus-covid-19-wave-2.

[1] The figures for four-year-olds do not sum to 100% as 63.5% of four-year-olds are in maintained schools, benefiting from over 15 funded hours of provision per week.

Keeping children and staff safe is our utmost priority. The majority of early years staff in settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, and our early years guidance confirms what PPE should be used in the event a child becomes symptomatic while in a setting.

If an education or childcare setting cannot obtain the PPE they need they should approach their local authority.

Local authorities should support them to access PPE suppliers and available stock locally, including through coordinating the redistribution of available supplies between settings according to priority needs.

The department has undertaken surveys of providers about their finances throughout the pandemic. The latest report is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945249/SCEYP_COVID-19_Wave2_Main_Report_171220.pdf. The next wave of the study is currently taking place and asks questions about the cost of PPE, cleaning and workforce. Findings from this wave of the study will be published in due course.

The government prioritised the opening of early years settings in full because of the clear benefits to children’s education and wellbeing, and to support working parents. In July 2020, when the Pregnant Then Screwed survey was in the field from the 16-18 of July, official data shows there were an estimated 43,000 settings open with 417,000 children attending. This data is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/2020-week-29.

Since then, we have continued to see more early years settings open, and attendance has steadily increased over the course of the 2020 autumn term. As of 10 December 2020, official data, also available via the above link, shows an estimated 55,000 early year settings were open with 792,000 children in attendance. On a typical day in the autumn term, we expect attendance to be 929,000, due to different and part-time patterns of childcare during the week. We estimate that the 792,000 children attending early years settings was approximately 85% of the usual daily level.

On 21 December 2020, I wrote to Directors of Children’s Services at local authorities, to remind them of the statutory responsibilities shared between local authorities and the Secretary of State for Education to ensure there is enough Early Years childcare for parents. We are not aware of any local authority reporting a current sufficiency issue. However, we anticipate that the role of local authorities in market stewardship through the next year may prove significant in ensuring that the market is able to continue providing free early education entitlements, and to meet the needs of parents.

We will continue to both monitor sufficiency of childcare places through our regular ongoing contact with early years departments in local authorities, and work in partnership with local authorities and the sector to support working parents.

It is not possible to estimate the number of students who were not eligible for student finance on the first day of the first academic year of their course because their Indefinite Leave to Remain application was delayed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The requirement for a student to hold settled status on the first day of the first academic year of their course is a condition that is defined in the Education (Student Support) Regulations. Where certain events occur after the first day of the first academic year of the course (for example, the student is recognised as a refugee) the student may qualify for student support for that year and any subsequent years depending on when the event occurred. Indefinite leave to remain is not, by itself, an event. Most students acquiring indefinite leave to remain part way through a course (for reasons other than Permanent Residence, under the EUSS or as a victim of domestic violence) will not become eligible for full support as a settled person under the Student Support Regulations.

In assessing eligibility for student finance, the Student Loans Company will rely on information from the Home Office on all immigration matters, including in relation to the grant of settlement.

Music and movement classes for children under 5 need to meet necessary exceptions to continue during the COVID-19 November 2020 national restrictions.

Ofsted-registered early years settings can continue to engage peripatetic teachers for music, dance and drama, including staff from music education hubs, during the period of national restrictions, provided the relevant guidance is followed. Early years settings should continue to follow the guidance available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures#infection-prevention-and-system-of-controls.

Support groups for new parents can continue to be held.

Where these are held in Ofsted registered settings, they should follow government guidance on the COVID-19 outbreak for early years and childcare providers. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures.

Support groups for new parents in community settings, such as places of worship, community centres or halls, or libraries, and that are essential to deliver in person, can continue. These can be conducted with up to 15 participants where formally organised to provide mutual aid, therapy, or any other form of support. These groups must be organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent, or philanthropic institution, or a public body, and must follow COVID-19 secure guidance. Restricted businesses which are required to close, such as coffee shops, cannot hold support groups. When national restrictions apply, in determining the limit of 15 participants, no account is to be taken of any child who is below the age of 5.

Informal groups, such as those organised by a parent, need to comply with the gathering and household mixing rules. In practice, during the period of national restrictions, this means these groups should only meet virtually.

Supervised activity for children can continue to take place where it is reasonably necessary to enable parents to work, search for work or to undertake training or education, for example in indoor gyms, fitness studios, indoor sports facilities and other indoor leisure centres, community centres or halls.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is operated by the NHS Supply Chain on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. A decision was taken in March that the scheme would not operate for the whole of the summer term of 2020, recognising the substantial operational difficulties which would need to be resolved in order to restart a large, national scheme like this part-way through a term. This ensured that as little fresh produce went to waste as possible.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme will resume in September, helping infants to develop healthy eating habits by getting an extra portion of fruit or vegetables every day while at school.

The government does not collect or hold specific data in relation to schools’ provision of free fruit and vegetables during this period. However, infant pupils currently attending schools are entitled to a free lunch under universal infant free school meals. As stated within the School Food Standards, schools must offer one of more portions of fruit every day and one of more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment to meals every day.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme is operated by the NHS Supply Chain on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care. A decision was taken in March that the scheme would not operate for the whole of the summer term of 2020, recognising the substantial operational difficulties which would need to be resolved in order to restart a large, national scheme like this part-way through a term. This ensured that as little fresh produce went to waste as possible.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme will resume in September, helping infants to develop healthy eating habits by getting an extra portion of fruit or vegetables every day while at school.

The government does not collect or hold specific data in relation to schools’ provision of free fruit and vegetables during this period. However, infant pupils currently attending schools are entitled to a free lunch under universal infant free school meals. As stated within the School Food Standards, schools must offer one of more portions of fruit every day and one of more portions of vegetables or salad as an accompaniment to meals every day.

From the week commencing 1 June at the earliest, we will be asking primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups. The rationale for identifying these year groups is included in guidance for schools and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June 2020:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020/actions-for-education-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020.

The three year groups within mainstream primary have been prioritised because they are key transition years – children in reception and year 1 are at the very beginning of their school career and are mastering the essential basics, including counting and the fundamentals of reading and writing, and learning to socialise with their peers. Year 6 children are finishing Key Stage 2 and are preparing for the transition to secondary school, and will benefit immensely from time with their friends and teachers to ensure they are ready.

We will prioritise younger children in the first phases of wider opening, for several reasons. Firstly, because there is moderately high scientific confidence in evidence suggesting younger children are less likely to become unwell if infected with COVID-19; and secondly because evidence shows the particularly detrimental impact which time spent out of education can have upon them. In addition, older children are more likely to have higher numbers of contacts outside of school so pose a greater transmission risk, and they are typically better able to learn at home.

Our approach is in line with other countries across Europe, who have begun to bring pre-school and school-age children back in a phased way and are focusing on primary schools and younger children.

The Department has worked closely with the sector throughout the period of school closures in preparation for reopening. There continues to be extensive engagement with teaching unions and other school stakeholder organisations both at a ministerial and official level.

Ensuring that vulnerable children remain protected is a top priority for government. We know that, for many vulnerable children, attending an education setting is a protective factor from harm. We have therefore asked schools to remain open for children who are vulnerable, as well as for those children of workers critical to the COVID-19 response. Where a child or young person who has a social worker does not attend school, providers should follow up with the parent or carer – and social worker/local authority, where appropriate – to explore reasons for absence.

Our latest guidance on supporting vulnerable children and young people during the coronavirus outbreak can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

Local authorities have the key day-to-day responsibility for delivery of children’s social care, and we are working closely with them to ensure stability of services for our most vulnerable children.

In addition, through the Coronavirus Act 2020 we have taken powers to bring previously registered social workers onto the register of social workers held by the regulator, Social Work England. Information about this is available at: www.socialworkengland.org.uk/news/social-work-together/.

£3.2 billion of additional funding is being provided to support local authorities to address any pressures they are facing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including for delivering children’s social care.

The government is also making £1.6 million of funding available immediately for the NSPCC to expand and promote its national helpline for adults. Expanding the helpline will mean that many more adults know how and where to raise concerns and seek advice or support about the safety and well-being of any children they are worried about.

We have also published safeguarding advice to support schools and colleges to work with local authorities to keep children safe, including online. This advice is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-safeguarding-in-schools-colleges-and-other-providers/coronavirus-covid-19-safeguarding-in-schools-colleges-and-other-providers.

Local authorities already have a number of powers available to them to tackle air pollution – for example powers to tackle idling and smoke emissions from domestic chimneys.

The Environment Bill will improve the local air quality management framework to enable greater local action on air pollution by ensuring that responsibility for addressing air pollution is shared across a wider range of partners. We are amending the Local Air Quality Management Framework so that it brings in neighbouring authorities and where relevant, the Environment Agency, and can be extended to include additional relevant public authorities.

Through the Environment Bill we are also making it easier for local authorities to use their existing powers to tackle a major contributor to fine particulate matter emissions – domestic solid fuel burning, and are expanding the scope of the power for local authorities to enable them to tackle smoke emissions from vessels within a smoke control area.

Since 5 October 2015, large retailers in England have been required by law to charge a minimum of 5p for single-use plastic bags and to report on the number they sell each year.

The total number of single-use plastic bags that were sold by large retailers each full reporting year is as follows: 2.12 billion in 2016/17, 1.75 billion in 2017/18,1.11 billion in 2018/19 and 564 million in 2019/20.

Retailers are not required to report on the number of plastic bags for life sold as these are not within the scope of the carrier bag charge. However, they can provide this information voluntarily.

The full datasets for each reporting year are on GOV.UK and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charge-summary-of-data-in-england.

Since 5 October 2015, large retailers in England have been required by law to charge a minimum of 5p for single-use plastic bags and to report on the number they sell each year.

The total number of single-use plastic bags that were sold by large retailers each full reporting year is as follows: 2.12 billion in 2016/17, 1.75 billion in 2017/18,1.11 billion in 2018/19 and 564 million in 2019/20.

Retailers are not required to report on the number of plastic bags for life sold as these are not within the scope of the carrier bag charge. However, they can provide this information voluntarily.

The full datasets for each reporting year are on GOV.UK and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charge-summary-of-data-in-england.

The total amount donated to good causes per year was: £29.2 million in 2015/2016, £65.4 million in 2016/2017, £51.6 million in 2017/2018, £22.9 million in 2018/2019 and £9.2 million in 2019/2020. The reduction in later reporting years is primarily due to retailers selling fewer single-use carrier bags in those years.

Data for 2015/2016 covered only 6 months (5 October 2015 to 6 April 2016), so is not directly comparable to other reporting years.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys on 13 July 2020, PQ UIN 69511.

https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-07-06/69511/

We recognise that in the current circumstances local authorities may have more challenges than usual, including when collecting waste. The Government has responded with an unprecedented £4.3 billion support package for local authorities. This includes £3.7 billion of un-ringfenced grants which can be used by councils to meet local priorities including, should they see fit, cleaning up beaches and local beauty spots.

Defra has also supported, and provided funding for, Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks campaign, which encourages people to treat our parks with respect this summer. Further information about the campaign is available at:

https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/news/new-campaign-launched-face-littering-epidemic-parks

Additionally, Defra has launched a 'Respect the Outdoors' campaign this summer. This has been promoted both online and in locations near to urban parks, beaches and national parks to further highlight the impacts of littering, as well as unauthorised barbeques and campfires, and breaches of the countryside code.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow on 19 May 2020, PQ UIN 46697, which remains the current situation.

[www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-05-13/46697]

The Department has provided funding to assist the purchase of low emission buses. Funding to date has been technology neutral, including, the ultra-low emission bus scheme (ULEBS) and the low emission bus scheme (LEBS). These provided successful bidders with £43,517,720 which was used to purchase 341 fully electric buses.

In addition to this, the Department is currently considering its response to expressions of interest in a £50 million All-Electric Bus Town competition.

The Government has supported the use of a range of low carbon bus technologies, including hydrogen, through funds including the Low Emission and Ultra Low Emission Bus Schemes. These schemes have provided funding for the purchase of 62 hydrogen buses.

The Prime Minster announced £5 billion of new funding to boost bus and cycling links on 10 February, including at least 4,000 new zero emission buses to make greener travel the convenient option, driving forward the UK’s progress on its net zero ambitions. The details of these programmes will be announced in due course.

The Secretaries of State are in on-going contact and discuss a range of issues concerning HS2 and the environment. The Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd work closely with DEFRA, Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission to ensure the project complies with environmental commitments, and to mitigate environmental impacts.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently reviewing whether to publish learnings from the early implementer sites.

Due to current pressures on the system as a result of the impact of COVID-19, a number of our assurance and evaluation activities have been paused. Timescales relating to the early implementer phase are under review. Implementation learnings from the eight sites which have received additional funding to improve the adult eating disorders pathway are being shared to ensure that the lessons from these early implementer sites are made available. These include peer support sessions to share learnings with each other, as well as national webinars where lessons from these sites are shared with those starting their expansion and transformation from 2021/22.

Improving eating disorder services is a key priority for the Government and a vital part of our work to expand and transform mental health services.

The National Health Service will invest almost £1 billion extra in community mental health care for adults. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, 12 areas in England have received funding to test new integrated models of primary and community mental health care since 2019/20. Eight sites have also received specific additional funding to transform the eating disorders pathway, including early intervention for young adults with eating disorders.

Building on this, the NHS has announced the roll out of the first episode rapid early intervention for eating disorders model in 18 sites across the country for young people, aged 16-25 years old, with eating disorders. This model advocates treatment within two to four weeks and aims to contact patients within 48 hours of referral.

The Department through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a range of research in mental health to inform national mental health policy, including eating disorders. Since 2011, the NIHR’s research programmes have invested over £7.8 million in eating disorders research.

The 2018 Framework for Mental Health Research recommended a portfolio review of United Kingdom mental health research funders, including the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research. MQ has subsequently led on a second portfolio review of UK mental health research funders in 2019, building on previous work. The report, ‘UK Mental Health Research Funding 2014-2017’, was published in 2019 by MQ.

General practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists are responsible for ordering flu vaccine from suppliers which are used to deliver the national flu programme to adults, with deliveries phased through the season. The Department has procured additional doses of seasonal flu vaccine to ensure 30 million flu vaccines are available this winter. GPs, community pharmacists and trusts who have exhausted their own supply are now able to order from this central stock. Guidance has been issued with information on how to do this.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with local areas to ensure that local providers are supported to meet increased demand for the flu vaccination this winter. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has granted dispensation to allow the movement of vaccines locally between practices and other National Health Service provider organisations this season, to help address local shortages.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has led on this work in the context of the European Electronic Communications Code Directive. The Directive was finalised and published in December 2018 after negotiations and is required to be transposed into domestic legislation by 21 December 2020. A public consultation was launched in July 2019, closing in September 2019 with a Government response published in July 2020. The draft transposition statutory instrument was laid in Parliament via the affirmative procedure on 12 October and passed by Parliament on 10 November. No further body was required to be created or designated as a competent authority as part of transposition as Ofcom acts as the telecommunications regulator in the UK.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Questions 97685 and 97686 of 9 and 10 November respectively.

The information requested is in the following tables:

Source: Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS), NHS Digital

I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Questions 97685 and 97686 of 9 and 10 November respectively.

We estimate that around 10% of smartphone users are unable to download the National Health Service COVID-19 app due to their phones not supporting the necessary version of iOS or Android.

Officials have on-going discussions with Google and Apple to support app development. The app currently supports Apple iOS versions 13.5 and higher, and Android version Marshmallow (v6.0) and higher. This is because the app needs the Exposure Notification framework developed by Apple and Google, which is only available in these versions.

This is the same in all countries with apps using the Google and Apple exposure notification API for contact tracing.

In response to concerns about gaps in provision and access to appropriate treatment for children and young people with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, NHS England and NHS Improvement funded a national pilot in seven community eating disorder services in England which ran from September 2019 to March 2020.

The pilot funded training, delivered by expert academics and clinicians, to support the adaptation of existing care pathways, assessments and treatment interventions to better meet the needs of children and young people with this condition.

This autumn, learning from the pilot will be shared with all other community eating disorder teams to support delivery of appropriate care across England. This learning will also support adult community eating disorder teams in providing quality care to adults with the condition.

We recognise concerns people with eating disorders may have on measures to reduce obesity and are committed to striking a careful balance between enabling people to make healthier food and drink choices whilst not negatively impacting on those with or recovering from an eating disorder.

Obesity represents a huge cost to the health and wellbeing of the individual, the National Health Service and the wider economy. With over six in 10 adults and more than one in three children aged 10 to 11 years old overweight or obese, it is right we take action.

Changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) are agreed as part of wider amendments to the General Medical Services Contract. These changes are negotiated by NHS England and NHS Improvement and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee (GPC) England. NHS England and NHS Improvement and GPC England have agreed to an ongoing programme of indicator review in key priority areas, including mental health in 2020/21.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing potential indicators on anxiety and depression suitable for use in the QOF. Indicators are open to consultation with stakeholders. Stakeholders can register their interest with NICE via indicators@nice.org.uk

The Government continues to consider a range of options to manage the risk of imported cases, including the role COVID-19 virus testing could play as part of measures at the border.

To keep number of transmissions in the United Kingdom as low as possible, and to protect UK residents and international students in the UK, subject to some exemptions international arrivals are required to supply their contact and accommodation information, and self-isolate in their accommodation for 14 days where they have departed from or transited through a non-exempt country in the 14 days before the date of their arrival. It remains the case that we have the capacity to provide free tests to anyone in the UK who is showing symptoms.

People can stay overnight with another household – both in their home or away from home, for example at a hotel or in self-catered holiday accommodation, but they should follow social distancing rules and limit their interactions with those outside their household (or support bubble). This means that although more than two households can book into the same hotel, they should stay socially distanced from each other and limit gatherings to two households. The scientific advice is to minimise the number of households you come into contact with, in order to avoid creating chains of transmission

Venues providing accommodation should follow COVID-19-secure guidance to minimise the risk of infection to customers and staff.

We continually closely monitor the infection rate and are easing restrictions only when it is safe to do so.

Public Health England (PHE) works with appropriate organisations to develop campaigns that promote healthy eating, for example Start4Life, Change4Life and One You.

PHE has recently met with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Obesity UK.

On 18 March the Government announced that from 23 March 2020, as part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools would remain open only for a limited number of pupils - vulnerable children and children of key workers, as defined by the Government.

A decision was taken in March that the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme would not operate for the whole of the summer term of 2020, recognising the substantial operational difficulties which would need to be resolved in order to restart a large, national scheme like the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme part-way through a term. This ensures that as little fresh produce goes to waste as possible. The funding for the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme which will not be spent during the summer term is being used to support the NHS and other priorities during the pandemic.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme will resume in September when all children will return to school. As before, all children in Key Stage 1 in state-funded primary schools will receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable every school day.

On 18 March the Government announced that from 23 March 2020, as part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools would remain open only for a limited number of pupils - vulnerable children and children of key workers, as defined by the Government.

A decision was taken in March that the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme would not operate for the whole of the summer term of 2020, recognising the substantial operational difficulties which would need to be resolved in order to restart a large, national scheme like the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme part-way through a term. This ensures that as little fresh produce goes to waste as possible. The funding for the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme which will not be spent during the summer term is being used to support the NHS and other priorities during the pandemic.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme will resume in September when all children will return to school. As before, all children in Key Stage 1 in state-funded primary schools will receive a free piece of fruit or vegetable every school day.

The Government Office for Science currently publishes the latest estimate of the United Kingdom-wide range for R on a weekly basis. At the time of writing the current range is estimated to be 0.7-0.9 and is based on latest data available to determine infection and transmission rates. We do not calculate the R rate in different regions or local authority areas.

R is an average number and so can be highly uncertain if based on small quantities of data, for example, the R value for Northern Ireland will be more uncertain than England as the population is smaller and there have been fewer COVID-19 cases to date from which R can be calculated. R is not usually a useful measure on its own and needs to be considered alongside the number of new cases. Because of this uncertainty, The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ view is that it is unhelpful to use estimates of R rates to monitor the epidemic in different regions.

The Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of vitamin C in relation to COVID-19. However, Public Health England (PHE) is not aware of any robust evidence that vitamin C can “boost” the immune system to prevent us from catching COVID-19 or mitigate its effects.

PHE is monitoring emerging evidence on nutrition and COVID-19 and assessing its quality, involving the Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition as appropriate.

The impact of COVID-19 on lives across Syria is alarming. Health care capacity across Syria is overstretched; the regime's brutal pursuit of conflict and bombing of its own hospitals has left the whole of Syria ill-prepared for a pandemic that continues to spread. Deaths due to lack of humanitarian access are unacceptable, and the UK will continue to work with the international donors, the UN and humanitarian partners to pressure all parties to the conflict to allow unfettered humanitarian access across the whole of Syria.

The UK is one of the largest donors to the humanitarian response to the Syria Crisis across the region. Since 2012, we have committed over £3.3 billion to help Syrian civilians displaced and vulnerable within their country, and host communities and Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. This includes a pledge of at least £300 million for 2020 at this year's Brussels conference that ensures the most vulnerable Syrians continue to have access to life-saving and essential services, including healthcare, food, water and sanitation. We continue to monitor the situation and work closely with UN and NGO partners in Syria to respond to the outbreak and to adapt our ongoing programming effectively to ensure the safe delivery of sustain life-saving services in light of the pandemic.

HMG considers all export applications against the Consolidated Criteria which provides a strict assessment framework and we keep all licences under careful and continual review. HMG complies with the OSCE arms embargo relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which is considered as part of our export licensing process. We have not issued licences contrary to the arms embargo. We continue to monitor developments in the region closely.

In September 2018, six members of the Lima Group (Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru) referred the situation in Venezuela and possible commission of crimes against humanity there to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On 27 September 2019, the Foreign Secretary announced the UK's support for the Lima Group's referral.

The Court has yet to conclude the Preliminary Examination into the situation in Venezuela. The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is carrying out a Preliminary Examination to determine whether the situation meets the legal criteria established by the Rome Statute to warrant investigation by the OTP. The OTP will provide an update on the Preliminary Examination in December in its annual report on Preliminary Examination Activities. We look forward to hearing about the progress the OTP has made. It would not be appropriate for the UK to comment further at this stage. The UK respects the independence of the ICC Prosecutor and her role in undertaking a Preliminary Examination into the situation in Venezuela.

We are aware of the allegations contained in Mr Al Hajee's article, which have been investigated by Bahrain's independent human rights oversight bodies. The UK Government takes note of a number of sources of information on Bahrain when making assessments. Our latest assessment was published as part of our Human Rights and Democracy Report in July 2020.

We have raised the cases of Loujain al-Hathloul, Ahmed Mansoor and Abduljalil al-Singace at senior levels with the Saudi, Emirati and Bahraini authorities respectively. The UK urges all countries to comply with their human rights obligations. Our close relationship with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain allows us to discuss important issues such as human rights.

We consistently underline the importance of political freedoms globally. This includes respect for the right to peaceful protest, the rule of law, and freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. We continue to raise concerns about individual cases regularly. Where the UK has cause for concern, we raise these concerns at official and Ministerial level.

The Government of Bahrain is fully aware that the UK is firmly opposed to the death penalty, in all circumstances. The right to a fair trial is enshrined in the constitution of Bahrain; we continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to follow due process in all cases and meet its international and domestic human rights commitments.

We have raised the cases of Zuhair Ibrahim Jasim Abdullah and Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain.

The Government of Bahrain is fully aware that the UK is firmly opposed to the death penalty, in all circumstances. The right to a fair trial is enshrined in the constitution of Bahrain; we continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to follow due process in all cases and meet its international and domestic human rights commitments.

In most circumstances the provision of a bank’s services are a commercial decision for the bank. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own.

In line with international standards on money laundering and counter terrorist financing set by the Financial Action Taskforce, banks are expected to apply risk-sensitive customer due diligence measures when considering the services they provide to current or potential customers. Banks should then make a decision on whether and how to provide banking services on the basis of an assessment of each customer’s circumstances. The decision of whether to provide banking services

may, of course, be informed by more than just the bank’s risk appetite and may include an assessment of profitability or other commercial factors.

The treatment of customers by UK firms which are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is governed by its Principles of Business. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all their customers.

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is available for those with trading profits of no more than £50,000, with the requirement to have submitted a Self-Assessment tax return for the 2018/2019 tax year. Recipients of the SEISS have must submitted a tax return for 2018/19 to allow HMRC to mitigate the risk of fraudulent applications.

Chambers and individual barristers may be eligible for other Government support, such as the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, and income tax and VAT deferrals. Chambers can also use the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to reduce staffing costs.

The Government will continue to listen to feedback on the support available.

Treasury ministers regularly speak to Secretaries of State and Junior Ministers on all matters of public spending. We will continue these conversations, including on Further Education funding, as we approach the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

At the 2019 Spending Round we announced a £400 million extra for 16-19 funding in 2020-21. This is the biggest increase in a year for a decade, recognising the vital role of this sector in delivering the skills needed in the UK.

Addressing Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) remains a key priority of this Government. We are committed to fighting VAWG crimes, of which domestic abuse is a high-harm and high-volume subset.

Our aim in having two strategies is for twice as much focus on these crimes. allowing space, within the VAWG strategy, for consideration of other evolving or less understood crimes, such as those perpetrated through digital or online means. The approach does not separate domestic abuse out from the umbrella term of VAWG, but allows a dedicated focus on it.

The two strategies will be complementary and work together to drive down VAWG crimes and their impact on society and will put victims and survivors at the heart of our response.

We meet regularly with organisations that support survivors to discuss our approach to the VAWG and DA strategies, and will continue to engage with women’s, girls’ and victims’ organisations on this important work, including several sector-wide sessions in the last few months, individual calls with leading VAWG organisations, and participation in the Domestic Abuse Commissioners regular sector calls.

Addressing Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) remains a key priority of this Government. We are committed to fighting VAWG crimes, of which domestic abuse is a high-harm and high-volume subset.

Our aim in having two strategies is for twice as much focus on these crimes. allowing space, within the VAWG strategy, for consideration of other evolving or less understood crimes, such as those perpetrated through digital or online means. The approach does not separate domestic abuse out from the umbrella term of VAWG, but allows a dedicated focus on it.

The two strategies will be complementary and work together to drive down VAWG crimes and their impact on society and will put victims and survivors at the heart of our response.

We meet regularly with organisations that support survivors to discuss our approach to the VAWG and DA strategies, and will continue to engage with women’s, girls’ and victims’ organisations on this important work, including several sector-wide sessions in the last few months, individual calls with leading VAWG organisations, and participation in the Domestic Abuse Commissioners regular sector calls.

Hate crime is completely unacceptable, and this Government takes it very seriously. That is why the Government published the Hate Crime Action Plan in 2016 and refreshed it in October 2018.

The Action Plan established a public awareness campaign which included examples of disability hate crime to make clear that such acts are completely unacceptable, held two ministerial meetings with disability groups and social media companies to help tackle online abuse of disabled people and provided £193,000 in funding for community projects that directly tackled disability hate crime.

This is a matter for the College of Policing, but I can confirm that it does provide bespoke training packages to international partners.

From October students will be able to apply for a visa up to six months in advance of the course start date listed on their Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. This is an extension on the current period of three months.

Students who require a Secure English Language Test (SELT) must obtain a SELT from an approved provider. A SELT test can be obtained from any of the test centres listed in the below list of approved test centres:-https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-applying-for-uk-visa-approved-english-language-tests

Higher Education Providers (HEP) with a track record of compliance are able to self-assess the English ability of their students at degree level or above. As part of the Covid-19 concessions, we extended this to also permit HEPs to self-assess the English ability of students on pre-sessional courses.

From October students will be able to apply for a visa up to six months in advance of the course start date listed on their Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. This is an extension on the current period of three months.

Students who require a Secure English Language Test (SELT) must obtain a SELT from an approved provider. A SELT test can be obtained from any of the test centres listed in the below list of approved test centres:-https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-applying-for-uk-visa-approved-english-language-tests

Higher Education Providers (HEP) with a track record of compliance are able to self-assess the English ability of their students at degree level or above. As part of the Covid-19 concessions, we extended this to also permit HEPs to self-assess the English ability of students on pre-sessional courses.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2018-to-2019

However, from the information we hold it is not possible to identify the number of instances of hate crime, serious violence or malicious communications directed specifically at BAME LGBTQ+ youth or trans youth.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2018-to-2019

However, from the information we hold it is not possible to identify the number of instances of hate crime, serious violence or malicious communications directed specifically at BAME LGBTQ+ youth or trans youth.

The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. In October 2019, we launched the first stage of a two-part consultation on Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations. We proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of a Future Homes Standard from 2025. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards.

We have consulted on a meaningful and achievable increase to the energy efficiency standards for new homes as a first step towards the 2025 standard. The preferred option set out in consultation is a standard that should result in a 31 per cent reduction in emissions, compared to current standards.

We have proposed a stringent minimum standard for energy efficiency, to be applied across the country, to address issues of ambition, consistency, offsetting and targeting. This means that there may no longer be any need for local planning authorities to set higher standards at a local level. Our research suggests that few local planning authorities set higher standards, but those who do often set a 19 per cent improvement over 2013 standards. Our stage-one proposals will see a 31 per cent improvement over 2013 standards. In some local areas carbon offsetting schemes form part of the energy efficiency framework for buildings; and in others energy efficiency standards are targeted at specific kinds of building work. A single, national standard may minimise any confusion and uncertainty for local planning authorities, and better support the growth of supply chains of key products required to deliver the Future Homes Standard.

The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February. The responses we received will be considered carefully, and a Government response will be published in due course.

Mandating a particular renewable technology, such as solar panels, may not be appropriate for all dwellings in all areas. Building regulations and national planning policy encourage the use of renewables without requiring any particular technology. Building regulations are deliberately couched in performance terms, allowing builders, local councils and architects the flexibility to select from a range of renewable energy technologies to suit the potentially unique circumstances of a particular development.

United Kingdom Nationals returning from abroad who have been stranded as a result of Covid-19 and who encounter difficulty sustaining accommodation, are entitled to advice and support under the provisions of the Homelessness Reduction Act. This will include the provision of emergency accommodation for the most vulnerable who return from abroad and are homeless.

Under the Homelessness Reduction Act, local authorities and other public bodies must work together to actively prevent homelessness for people at risk.?Local authorities?must do so?irrespective of whether they are a family or single person,?the?reason they are at?risk, or if they have a local connection to the area.

We have announced over £3.2 billion of additional funding to enable local authorities to respond to other COVID-19 pressures across all the services they deliver, including stepping up support for services helping the most vulnerable, including homeless people.