Wera Hobhouse

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact of purpose-built student housing on house prices in Bath.

Our National Planning Policy Framework sets out that local planning authorities should identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community. This includes, but is not limited to, students.

Our planning practice guidance states that local planning authorities should plan for sufficient student accommodation, whether this consists of communal halls of residence or self-contained dwellings, and whether or not it is on campus. Encouraging more dedicated student accommodation may provide low cost housing that takes pressure off the private rented sector and increases the overall housing stock.

Work has begun on a new, ambitious cross-Government Estates strategy to look at how public sector land can be managed and released so it can be put to better use. This will include home building, improving the environment, contributing to net-zero goals and injecting growth opportunities into communities across the country.

National Planning Policy Framework sets out that it is for local authorities to assess the housing needs of different groups, including those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in their planning policies

There is no requirement on landlords to notify the Government when they serve notice of their intention to seek possession to their tenant. As such, the Department does not hold data on the number of Section 21 notices issued by ethnicity, or the gender of the person being evicted.

If the tenant does not vacate the property after the expiry of a notice, a landlord is required to make a claim for possession in the county court to legally regain possession of the property. This can result in the property being repossessed by a county court bailiff or High Court Enforcement Officer if the case is not otherwise resolved.

The Mortgage and Landlord Repossession Statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice, record the number of claims for possession brought by landlords in the county court in each quarter, and the number of repossessions carried out by county court bailiffs. These statistics show that there were 359 evictions via the accelerated procedure (section 21) in April to June 2021 but data on the ethnicity or gender of the occupiers whose property was repossessed is not collected.

The statistics are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2021/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-april-to-june-2021.

Local authorities are required make an entry on the database of rogue landlords and property agents where a person or organisation has received a banning order. In the last 12 months, there have been no entries made as a result of banning orders issued under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

The Government has committed to exploring the merits of introducing a national landlord register in England as part of a commitment to drive up standards in rented accommodation. We are engaging with a range of stakeholders from across the sector to inform this work and we will publish a White Paper in due course that will set out proposals for private rented sector reform.

The full breakdown of those in arrears with rent payments is provided in Table T15, including Table T15h, which details whether private renters are in arrears with rent payments by ethnicity. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/household-resilience-study-wave-3 in ‘Household Resilience Study: Wave 3 tables’.

To help support the most vulnerable renters, the Government has recently made available the £500 million Household Support Fund and £65 million in additional Homelessness Prevention Grant funding.

As hosts, we recognise how urgently world representatives must come together to agree on action to tackle climate change. To be successful, COP26 needs to be in person in Glasgow this November.

We are working closely with the UNFCCC, which is responsible for the accreditation and registration for COP, on determining the number of attendees for COP. This will be informed by the capacity of the venue, taking into account any COVID mitigation requirements.

We continue to monitor the COVID situation and will ensure the most appropriate protection measures are implemented, ensuring that the health of participants and the local community is foremost in our mind.

We will communicate the full set of measures to delegates in a timely manner once approved. Our focus remains on delivering a safe, successful, in-person COP26.

Accelerating the global energy transition from coal to clean power is a top priority of the UK COP26 Presidency. We are working with countries to expand the use of clean, renewable energy sources such as onshore and offshore wind, through both international forums and bilateral engagements. We launched the Energy Transition Council to bring together the political, financial and technical leaders of the global power sector to ensure that clean power is the most attractive option for new power generation for all countries. The Council engages with over twenty countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America. There has also been engagement on this topic with G7 members, who recently committed to achieving overwhelmingly decarbonised power systems in the 2030s. Wind generation will play an important role in delivering decarbonisation in the UK, and internationally we are working closely with partners including the Global Wind Energy Council.

As announced at the G7 Summit, the UK is working alongside the UNFCCC and other partners, to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Registered COP26 Attendees who would be unable to get them otherwise, including delegates from lower income countries.

We are now asking all those individuals looking to take up this vaccine offer to identify themselves through the UNFCCC COP registration process as soon as possible and no later than 23 July. Further logistic detail will be provided to the individuals involved via UNFCCC.

As set out in the Queen’s Speech in May, we will bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. The Minister for Women and Equalities has confirmed that the ban will protect people from harmful conversion therapy practices in relation to sexual orientation and/or gender identity. We will ensure the action we take to stop this practice is proportionate and effective, with no unintended consequences.

We want COP26 to be a physical event in Glasgow this November. That is the basis on which we are planning, and we are ensuring that we are exploring all measures to ensure the event is safe for participants and safe for the people of Glasgow.

We are working through the process to determine what mitigation measures are needed to safely host COP26, including for people from countries on our amber and red lists at the time of the conference. We will continue to work with colleagues in the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, Public Health bodies and the UN to explore the most appropriate measures; including testing, quarantine, vaccines and other COVID security measures. As announced at the G7 Summit, in order to enable more representatives to attend safely the UK will work to provide vaccines to those accredited delegations who would be unable to get them otherwise.

We will provide delegates and the House with an update in due course.

We want COP26 to be a physical event in Glasgow this November. That is the basis on which we are planning, and we are ensuring that we are exploring all measures to ensure the event is safe for participants and safe for the people of Glasgow.

We are working through the process to determine what mitigation measures are needed to safely host COP26, including for people from countries on our amber and red lists at the time of the conference. We will continue to work with colleagues in the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, Public Health bodies and the UN to explore the most appropriate measures; including testing, quarantine, vaccines and other COVID security measures. As announced at the G7 Summit, in order to enable more representatives to attend safely the UK will work to provide vaccines to those accredited delegations who would be unable to get them otherwise.

We will provide delegates and the House with an update in due course.

We want COP26 to be a physical event in Glasgow this November. That is the basis on which we are planning, and we are ensuring that we are exploring all measures to ensure the event is safe for participants and safe for the people of Glasgow.

We are working through the process to determine what mitigation measures are needed to safely host COP26, including for people from countries on our amber and red lists at the time of the conference. We will continue to work with colleagues in the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, Public Health bodies and the UN to explore the most appropriate measures; including testing, quarantine, vaccines and other COVID security measures. As announced at the G7 Summit, in order to enable more representatives to attend safely the UK will work to provide vaccines to those accredited delegations who would be unable to get them otherwise.

We will provide delegates and the House with an update in due course.

We want COP26 to be a physical event in Glasgow this November. That is the basis on which we are planning, and we are ensuring that we are exploring all measures to ensure the event is safe for participants and safe for the people of Glasgow.

We are working through the process to determine what mitigation measures are needed to safely host COP26, including for people from countries on our amber and red lists at the time of the conference. We will continue to work with colleagues in the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, Public Health bodies and the UN to explore the most appropriate measures; including testing, quarantine, vaccines and other COVID security measures. As announced at the G7 Summit, in order to enable more representatives to attend safely the UK will work to provide vaccines to those accredited delegations who would be unable to get them otherwise.

We will provide delegates and the House with an update in due course.

As set out in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month, we will bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. We will also launch a consultation before details of the ban are finalised to hear from a wide range of voices on how best to protect people from conversion therapy while protecting the medical profession, defending freedom of speech, and upholding religious freedom. We are considering all options for the scope of a ban and will be engaging the appropriate stakeholders, including organisations who support survivors of conversion therapy, to gather views. We have also already met with conversion therapy survivors, to hear about their experiences.

We have also undertaken research to understand practices, experiences and impacts associated with conversion therapy and will publish this in due course. Officials are also in discussion with international policy counterparts, to fully understand the detail and impact of other jurisdictions’ measures, in order to inform the UK’s next steps.

As set out in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month, we will bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. We will also launch a consultation before details of the ban are finalised to hear from a wide range of voices on how best to protect people from conversion therapy while protecting the medical profession, defending freedom of speech, and upholding religious freedom. We are considering all options for the scope of a ban and will be engaging the appropriate stakeholders, including organisations who support survivors of conversion therapy, to gather views. We have also already met with conversion therapy survivors, to hear about their experiences.

We have also undertaken research to understand practices, experiences and impacts associated with conversion therapy and will publish this in due course. Officials are also in discussion with international policy counterparts, to fully understand the detail and impact of other jurisdictions’ measures, in order to inform the UK’s next steps.

As set out in the Queen’s Speech earlier this month, we will bring forward legislation to ban conversion therapy. We will also launch a consultation before details of the ban are finalised to hear from a wide range of voices on how best to protect people from conversion therapy while protecting the medical profession, defending freedom of speech, and upholding religious freedom. We are considering all options for the scope of a ban and will be engaging the appropriate stakeholders, including organisations who support survivors of conversion therapy, to gather views. We have also already met with conversion therapy survivors, to hear about their experiences.

We have also undertaken research to understand practices, experiences and impacts associated with conversion therapy and will publish this in due course. Officials are also in discussion with international policy counterparts, to fully understand the detail and impact of other jurisdictions’ measures, in order to inform the UK’s next steps.

I have set climate criteria for businesses who will be involved in COP26, including for our corporate sponsorship and for those organisations which have applied for space at COP26 itself.

The climate criteria include requiring businesses to commit to the most ambitious and robust action possible, joining the Race to Zero by committing to net zero by 2050 at the latest and setting science based targets to meet this goal.

All climate-related work for COP26 is informed by the best available science, encapsulated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. The IPCC reports are the primary tool for providing the best available science to the UNFCCC. The first part of the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report is due to be released this year, and its findings will inform the negotiations and the wider COP26 conference.

We are also working with leading experts including a global group of Friends of COP, who are sharing their expertise in support of a successful summit.

Our European partners remain important allies in driving efforts towards a net zero, climate resilient future. I recently visited Brussels and Paris, and have had positive conversations with the European Commission and several Member State governments, including Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Italy and Spain, to discuss our cooperation ahead of COP26. We look forward to working closely with the EU and all negotiating groups and parties to ensure COP26 is a success.

The UK left the EU climate change negotiating group upon exiting the European Union. At COP26, the UK’s priority will be impartially presiding over the negotiations.

The Government is clear that all hate crimes are completely unacceptable and have no place in British society. To support LGBT youth, we have invested £4m since 2016 to prevent and address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, reaching 2250 schools in England.

The Government is committed to tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime. Our commitments include a Law Commission review of current hate crime legislation, an assessment of local support for hate crime victims, and improving reporting and recording of LGBT hate crimes through supporting additional police training.

The Government is clear that all hate crimes are completely unacceptable and have no place in British society. To support LGBT youth, we have invested £4m since 2016 to prevent and address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, reaching 2250 schools in England.

The Government is committed to tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime. Our commitments include a Law Commission review of current hate crime legislation, an assessment of local support for hate crime victims, and improving reporting and recording of LGBT hate crimes through supporting additional police training.

The members of the Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board are listed below. All members are invited to each meeting.

British Chambers of Commerce;

Confederation of British Industry;

Federation of Small Businesses;

Institute of Directors;

MAKE UK;

TUC;

Fawcett Society;

Pregnant then Screwed;

Working Families;

Equalities and Human Rights Commission;

Government Equalities Office;

Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

The Strategy and Policy Statement is intended to give a strategic steer to the regulator on the Government’s priorities. This will give further weight to Ofgem’s statutory objectives including achieving Net Zero by supporting low carbon technologies. Ahead of this, Government welcomed Ofgem’s regulatory response to the Net Zero target, including publication of its Decarbonisation Action Plan, asking network companies to show how their price control business plans could adapt to support Net Zero and consideration of how to set price controls to advance decarbonisation goals.

BEIS does not hold this information. The UK only supports sustainable biomass and generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria. Suppliers must demonstrate to the regulators (Ofgem) that they meet the criteria, and their evidence is independently audited. Ofgem make sustainability information publicly available on their website, with the latest dataset accessible here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2019-20.

The UK reports and accounts for biomass use in accordance with internationally agreed rules, follow the guidance from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This guidance avoids double counting of emissions in both the forest and energy sectors. The loss of carbon stock from harvesting operations in the forestry sector are reported in the Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry sector of the country of harvest and may lead to an increase in the carbon stock of other carbon pools such as deadwood, litter, soil and harvested wood products. The portion of forestry products that is used for energy is assumed to be instantaneously oxidised in the country in which harvesting happens.

For transparency, the UK reports internationally the emissions of carbon dioxide from bioenergy use as a memo item, outside of national totals, in accordance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change requirements. It also reports the emissions of nitrous oxide and methane from biomass combustion as part of the national total of GHG emissions. OFGEM also publishes data on company-specific supply chain emissions from biomass, which can be found here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/biomass-sustainability-dataset-2019-20

The Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination Advisory Board’s purpose is to consider non-legislative improvements to reduce pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace.  It is a collaboration between Government, employer and family representative groups and the membership needs the right balance between those different groups in order for the Board to do its job.

The Government plans to launch a public consultation on the Strategy and Policy Statement for Ofgem later this year.

The Government has committed to legislating within this parliament to regulate the district heating sector. In December 2021 the Government announced that Ofgem will take on the role of regulator for heat networks, which will give it new powers to regulate prices in this sector as a matter of priority. This will enable domestic heat network customers to receive equivalent protection to other energy customers as well as ensuring heat network operators are securing good deals for their consumers. This will mean that consumers are charged a fair rate for heating whilst encouraging investment in heat networks.

The Strategy and Policy Statement is intended to give a strategic steer to the regulator on the Government’s priorities in relation to the statutory objectives of Ofgem, including protecting consumers and achieving net zero. Allowing strategic investment to ensure the grid is prepared to support renewable energy and low carbon technologies, and investment in those technologies, is within scope of these objectives.

The Strategy and Policy Statement is intended to give a strategic steer to the regulator on the Government’s priorities in relation to the statutory objectives of Ofgem, including protecting consumers and achieving net zero. Allowing strategic investment to ensure the grid is prepared to support renewable energy and low carbon technologies, and investment in those technologies, is within scope of these objectives.

The Government responded to the National Audit Office’s recommendations that the decarbonising roles for national and local authorities be clarified in the Net Zero Strategy. This sets out the Government’s commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero, including setting clearer expectations on how local and national authorities interact in the delivery of net zero. The Government will use the Local Net Zero Forum to discuss these issues with local government.

The Government is in the process of establishing the Local Net Zero Forum. It will be a cross departmental effort and will bring together national and local government senior officials on a regular basis to discuss net zero policy and delivery options.

Statutory parental pay is intended to provide a degree of earnings replacement to support parents in taking time off around the birth of their children. It has never been intended to completely replace employee earnings; they represent only a portion of the state-funded support available to new families in the first year of their child's life. Many employers choose to offer more generous contractual provisions. The Government welcomes this, though we believe such arrangements are a contractual matter best agreed between employers and employees.

The National Living Wage (NLW) was introduced in April 2016. Minimum wage increase recommendations are made to the Government by the independent Low Pay Commission considering a wide range of economic and labour market factors. The Government continues to set a minimum hourly wage, but remuneration over and above that rate, again, is a contractual matter between the employer and the employee.

The table below shows the standard rate of statutory parental payments, the NMW/NLW and median weekly earnings for women and men in each year since 2010.

Table 1: Standard rate of statutory parental payments, the NMW/NLW and median weekly earnings for women and men, 2010-11 to 2022-23.

Notes

1. Statutory payments rates are the same across Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay and, since 2015/16, Statutory Shared Parental Pay. Statutory payments rates are updated each April using The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order. The uprating is based on September CPI figures as published by the Office for National Statistics.

3. The NLW was introduced in April 2016. For earlier years the NMW rate for those aged 21 and over has been presented in the table, these rates came into effect in October each year.

4. Average weekly earnings are taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings as published by the Office for National Statistics based on a snapshot date. Earnings estimates are based on a pay period that covers a specific date in April each year.

In the Heat and Buildings Strategy, the Government set out the actions it will be taking to reduce emissions from buildings to ensure that it remains on track to Net Zero by 2050. For example, the government is providing a package of support, including targeted funding of £950million for the Home Upgrade Grant, for consumers in fuel poverty off the gas grid to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. In addition to improving EPC standards, the government is supporting consumers to make the transition to low carbon heating by providing £450 million for the new Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

BEIS modelling on the energy efficiency of homes and their electrical connections suggests it would be feasible to install heat pumps in around 80 per cent of homes, potentially rising to around 90 per cent with fabric upgrades. Furthermore, the £14.6 million Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project has successfully demonstrated that heat pumps are a viable and effective heating solution across the diverse housing archetypes in the UK.

In the Clean Growth Strategy, the Government set the aspiration for as many homes as possible to reach EPC Band C by 2035 where practical, cost-effective, and affordable. There are 15.6 million owner occupied households in England, of which 9 million have an EPC rating below Band C.

The Government committed in the Energy White Paper to seek primary powers to create a long-term regulatory framework to improve the energy performance of homes, alongside a package of incentives. The Government has consulted with a wide range of stakeholders and will undertake further consultation on specific policy design before secondary legislation.

Subsequently, in the Net Zero strategy, the government also committed to consulting on phasing in higher minimum performance standards to ensure all homes meet EPC Band C by 2035 where practical, cost effective and affordable.

UK Government officials meet regularly with businesses and stakeholders that are involved in renewable electricity generation. As a major renewable electricity generator in the UK officials meet regularly with Drax Group.

The Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference schemes support Drax and other power stations that burn biomass to generate renewable electricity. There is no cost to the public purse as both schemes are paid for by compulsory levies on electricity suppliers. In 2020/21, the total cost to suppliers in Great Britain of the support for Drax under the Renewables Obligation was £467.2m, and the cost for all power stations, including Drax, that burn biomass for energy was £914.5m[1]. Payments to individual biomass generating stations supported by the Contracts for Difference scheme are published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company on their Data Portal[2]. The Government does not assess the cost to individual householders of the support specifically for stations using biomass.

[1] Support under the Renewables Obligation is through tradeable certificates. The figures, which are provisional as not all the certificates may have been issued yet, give the cost to suppliers based on Ofgem’s certificate report as at 14 January 2022 from their Renewables and CHP Register at: https://www.renewablesandchp.ofgem.gov.uk/Public/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportPath=/DatawarehouseReports/CertificatesExternalPublicDataWarehouse&ReportVisibility=1&ReportCategory=2

[2] The Low Carbon Contracts Company’s Data Portal is at: https://www.lowcarboncontracts.uk/dashboards/cfd/actuals-dashboards/historical-dashboard

The Energy Company Obligation Scheme has been in place since January 2013 and has delivered around 3.3 million improvements in 2.3 million homes up to the end of October 2021.

To date, the Energy Company Obligation Scheme has delivered £6.6 billion in Lifetime Bill Savings up to the end of October 2021 and an estimated lifetime energy saving of 211,300 Gigawatt Hours.

Since the Energy Company Obligation Scheme began in 2013, the average energy efficiency rating in England has increased from 59, to 66 in 2020. During that same period, 2012-2019, the number of fuel poor households in England fell from 4.4million to 3.2million.

In September 2019, the Department appointed Kantar to undertake a scheme evaluation, reporting in late 2022. The initial findings of the evaluation show that overall, more than half of households surveyed (57%) said they had benefitted a fair amount or a great deal from having the energy saving measures installed. Benefits cited by participants included savings on energy bills, a more comfortable temperature in the home and reduced worry about heating their home.

Last summer, the Government consulted on extending the Energy Company Obligation Scheme from 2022-26 and expanding it to £1billion per year. The Government keeps all costs on bills under review and will issue a response to the consultation in due course.

The Department, as it laid out in the recently published Energy-Related Products Policy Framework, will be looking at whether changes to minimum energy performance standards and labelling could encourage uptake of more efficient and cost-effective heating solutions, which would help protect consumers’ energy bills and reduce energy demand. This includes direct electric heaters such as panel heaters, electric radiators and electric storage heaters, which are currently expensive to run.

The Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive is scheduled to close as planned on 31 March 2022. There are currently no plans to delay closure or extend the scheme.

The Government has produced fuel poverty projections for 2021 which are published in the annual fuel poverty statistics projections report.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics

The energy price cap from 1 April 2022 will be announced by Ofgem next year.

My Rt. Hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Home Secretary have regular discussions covering a variety of issues.

Our new relationship with the EU means that there are new rules in place for UK nationals travelling to the EU. For short-stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, UK nationals will not need a visa when travelling to and within the Schengen Area, where they are undertaking a limited range of activities such as attending meetings, tourism, cultural or sporting events. Under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, business travellers do not require a work permit to carry out certain short-term business travel activities, such as attending meetings and conferences, providing after sale-services, or translation and market research services, unless otherwise stated in the agreement. Some Member States allow additional activities without the need for a visa or work permit. The types of additional activities allowed differ by Member State, and UK nationals should check relevant rules before travelling.

For those undertaking longer-term stays or stays involving work or providing a service under a contract, a visa and/or work permit may be required. How individual Member States regulate cross-border travel is a sovereign decision for them, including visa policy.

There is a comprehensive regulatory framework already in place for fireworks that the Government believes strikes the right balance for people to enjoy fireworks, whilst aiming to reduce risks and disturbances to both people and animals.

Existing legislation already limits the noise level of fireworks available to consumers to a maximum of 120 decibels.

The Government is currently undertaking an evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme.

This evaluation will include an assessment of both the numbers of fathers who are eligible for Shared Parental Leave and the number of fathers who have taken Shared Parental Leave in recent years. We intend to publish our findings in due course.

Since May, we have held a series of stakeholder meetings with key organisations from business and family/women’s representative groups to discuss the issues which pregnant women and new mothers can face in the workplace. These have focused on what an Advisory Board can usefully add to other work in this area – such as the Government’s commitment to extend the redundancy protection currently offered to someone on maternity leave into a period of return to work. The first full meeting of the Board will take place later in September and will agree Terms of Reference and the forward work programme.

While we are aware that pyrotechnics bodies are currently engaging with UKAS, and are in the process of getting accredited, we cannot share any information about those individual bodies due to commercial sensitivities.

We are working closely with the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) to ensure that a pyrotechnics conformity assessment body is accredited as soon as possible. We will provide an update as soon as a pyrotechnics body has been appointed by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

In order to further support businesses in adapting to the new goods regime, we will introduce legislation which will allows CE-marked goods to continue to be placed on the GB market (England, Scotland, and Wales) for a further year until 1 January 2023.

We are working closely with the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) to ensure that a UK approved body is accredited as soon as possible.   
 
We are also aware that pyrotechnics bodies are currently engaging with UKAS and are in the process of getting accredited.

Expressions of Interest (EoIs) were not sought prior to the launch of the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme Phase 1A application window. We received 86 applications in total for Phase 1A funding - 70 of these were from individual Local Authorities and 16 were from consortia made up of a total of 90 Local Authorities.

Experience of the Phase 1A application process informed design of the Phase 1B scheme, and we requested Local Authorities submit EOIs in order to estimate the likely quantum of applications. We received 83 EOIs and then subsequently 108 full applications for funding from Local Authorities or Consortia.

Lists of the Local Authorities which were successful in being awarded funding can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-homes-grant-local-authority-delivery-successful-local-authorities.

The application window for Local Authorities to apply for funding under Phase 1A of the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme was open from 4th August to 1st September 2020. A total of 86 applications were received; 70 of these were from individual Local Authorities and 16 were from consortia made up of a total of 90 Local Authorities.

The application window for Phase 1B of LAD was open from 23rd October to 4th December 2020. A total of 108 applications were received: 87 of these were from individual Local Authorities and 21 from consortia made up of a total of 133 Local Authorities.

Lists of the Local Authorities which were successful in being awarded funding can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-homes-grant-local-authority-delivery-successful-local-authorities.

We received 83 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from Local Authorities indicating their interest in applying for funding under the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme Phase 1B. When the application window closed on 4^th December 2020 we had received 108 applications for funding from Local Authorities or consortia - this was comprised of 87 applications from individual Local Authorities and 21 from consortia made up of a total of 133 Local Authorities.

Onshore wind is a key part of the government’s strategy for low-cost decarbonisation of the energy sector. Achieving net zero will require increased deployment across a range of technologies, including onshore wind. Our recent Energy White Paper stated that we will need sustained growth in the capacity of onshore wind over the next decade alongside solar and offshore wind.

This is why we announced on 2 March 2020 that onshore wind and other established renewable technologies such as solar PV will be able to compete in the next Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round. The round will open in December 2021 and aim to deliver up to double the renewable capacity of the last successful round in 2019.

The Government encourages all employers and employees to engage in dialogue. Where there is a dispute between an employer and a trade union, the Government considers that the resolution of the dispute is a matter for the parties involved. ACAS stands ready to assist the parties to resolve their dispute, should they wish it.

This November, the UK will host COP26 in Glasgow bringing together world leaders, climate experts, business leaders and citizens to agree ambitious action to tackle climate change. We are setting out ambitious plans across key sectors of the economy, and ahead of COP26 we will be publishing further plans including a comprehensive Net Zero Strategy. We are extremely grateful to our independent advisors, the Climate Change Committee (CCC), for their expert analysis and advice in this process, including their recommendations on the level of the Sixth Carbon Budget published in December 2020.

The Government expects all holders of public office to work to the highest personal and professional standards. According to the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, members must ensure that no conflict arises, or could reasonably be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.

In order to prevent conflict of interests within the CCC, BEIS carries out thorough due diligence exercises on each new member prior to approving their appointment. The CCC also have their own conflict of interest policies, which require members and staff to recognise and disclose activities that might give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

The UK remains deeply committed to domestic and international efforts to tackle climate change and we are working hard to lower emissions. Member States of the Energy Charter Treaty are currently engaged in a process to modernise the Treaty. The UK will seek to ensure the Treaty helps to deliver the Government’s energy priorities, which include tackling climate change and supporting the global clean energy transition.

We are currently assessing the responses from the consultation on high-level options for reforming parental leave and pay. We have also conducted a formal evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme, including large-scale, representative surveys of employers and parents. Together, these will give us a fuller picture of how well the current system of parental leave and pay is working for parents and employers.

We are currently processing and analysing the data that we have collected and will consider this in tandem to the information that we have collected through the consultation. This has taken longer than expected due to the impact of Covid-19 on our research partners and because we have necessarily prioritised work on supporting parents during the pandemic. We will publish our findings in due course.

The evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme is ongoing. This has included commissioning and interrogating information collected through large scale, representative, surveys of employers and parents and a qualitative study of parents who have used the scheme. The various data sources will help us to better understand the barriers and enablers to parents taking Shared Parental Leave.

We are currently processing and analysing the data that we have collected. This has taken longer than expected due to the impact of Covid-19 on our research partners and because we have necessarily prioritised work on supporting parents during the pandemic. However, the evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme remains important for Government and we will publish our findings in due course.

Ensuring access to justice remains a priority for this Government. In response to the pandemic, we are installing new video technology, recruiting more judges and introducing reforms to improve efficiency.

The Department has worked closely with the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), to implement a package of measures to help Employment Tribunals hear more cases, enable deployment of a greater range of judicial expertise including from non-employment judges, and support greater use of virtual hearings.

As a result, since September 2020, Employment Tribunals have been able to return to pre-Covid levels of sitting days and case disposals, and they are the single largest user of video hearings among tribunals.

The Department continues to work closely with Ministry of Justice to ensure the system is equipped for future challenges.

The Safer Workplaces guidance includes robust health and safety measures to ensure businesses are supported or, where required, challenged. Alongside legal requirements covered in the guides, they outline the enforcement powers held by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities (section 1.2).

Renewable technologies will make a critical contribution to meeting our 2050 net zero commitment, alongside firm low carbon power such as nuclear and gas or biomass generation with carbon capture, usage and storage, and a significant increase in flexibility. The role of government is to enable the market to deliver the levels of deployment required whilst minimising both emissions and systems costs.

We recognise that achieving our 2050 net zero target will require increased deployment across a range of renewable technologies, including sustained growth of both onshore wind and solar by 2030. This is why we announced on 2 March 2020 that onshore wind and large-scale solar PV projects will be able to compete in the next Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation round. The round will open in late 2021 and aim to deliver up to double the renewable capacity of last year’s successful round, potentially providing enough clean energy for up to 10 million homes.

By 2030 we aim to build a world leading offshore wind industry. We have set a target to deliver 40GW of capacity by 2030, which represents an increase of 10GW against our previous ambition. This increase, including a new target of 1GW of floating offshore wind by 2030, will galvanise industry, open up new possibilities in areas of deeper water around our coastline, and demonstrates that the UK will be at the forefront of the green industrial revolution as we accelerate our progress towards net zero.

Government and industry have worked together to launch a new Hydrogen Advisory Council, which met for the first time on 20th July 2020. The Council will enable Government to work in partnership with industry to ensure the UK is at the forefront of low carbon hydrogen production and supply. The Council will oversee a range of workstreams to support the development of a robust UK hydrogen economy.

We are currently developing our strategic approach to hydrogen and its potential to deliver against our net zero goals. This includes extensive stakeholder engagement to inform our approach, including through the Hydrogen Advisory Council.

We committed in the Clean Growth Strategy to look at a trajectory to improve as many privately rented homes as possible to EPC Band C by 2030, where practical, cost-effective, and affordable. The Government remains committed to this ambition and intends to consult on improving the energy performance standards of privately rented homes in due course.

In his Summer Economic Update, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £2bn Green Home Grant scheme that will support homeowners and landlords in England to improve the energy efficiency of their properties, reducing energy bills and carbon emissions, and supporting a green economic recovery.

The funding will be spent on paying for accredited tradespeople to install a range of measures, for example insulation, to improve the energy performance of their homes. The scheme is due to be launched in Autumn 2020. Further details on the scheme are due to be released in the coming days.

With regards to energy, under the Energy Act 2013, a Strategy and Policy Statement (SPS) requires that my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State set out the Government’s strategic priorities in formulating its policy for the energy sector. The forthcoming Energy White Paper will address the transformation of our energy system, promoting high-skilled jobs and clean, resilient economic growth as we deliver net-zero emissions by 2050.

Latest figures indicate we now have more than 27GW of combined onshore wind and solar PV capacity installed in the UK, enough to power over 13 million UK homes. A number of renewable energy projects, including onshore wind and solar PV projects, are now deploying without subsidy in the UK and we expect others may follow.

No decisions have been taken on future Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation rounds for established technologies such as onshore wind and solar PV. We keep the CfD scheme under review and will announce the scope of future allocation rounds in due course.

DCMS has worked closely with its arm’s-length bodies to deliver tailored support packages at speed, including the £160m Emergency Funding Package announced by Arts Council England (ACE) in March. In providing immediate support for this vital sector, it was necessary for ACE to make decisions on how existing budgets could be reprioritised, in light of the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19.

DCMS will continue to support ACE in its hugely important role in supporting and developing England’s arts and culture, including in its upcoming role in the delivery of the £1.57 billion of new funding announced on 5 July, to provide support for key organisations across the cultural, heritage and creative sectors.

We have published guidance on how to open guest accommodation businesses safely whilst minimising the risks of COVID-19.

If a guest is displaying signs of COVID-19 while staying in overnight accommodation, they should inform the accommodation provider, immediately self-isolate where they are to minimise any risk of transmission, and request a test. If they are confirmed to have COVID-19, they should return home if they reasonably can. If a guest cannot reasonably return home, their circumstances should be discussed with an appropriate health care professional and, if necessary, the local authority.

Unless otherwise provided for in the contractual terms of the booking, the guest will be expected to pay the costs of an extended stay in all but exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances may include, but are not limited to, where the accommodation provider has failed to follow government guidance to create a COVID-secure environment.

The Government has developed a comprehensive support package to help businesses and workers deal with various COVID-related pressures, which hotel and bed and breakfast businesses can continue to access.

The national funding formula (NFF) continues to distribute core schools funding fairly, based on the needs of schools and their pupil cohorts.

The government does not allocate specific amounts for mainstream school pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Within the total funding allocated, local authorities are required by regulations to provide schools with sufficient funds to enable them to provide additional support costing up to £6,000 for each pupil with SEND. When support costs for an individual pupil exceed £6,000 per year, the local authority provides top-up funding from its high needs budget.

High needs funding is allocated to local authorities for children and young people with more complex SEND. The total high needs funding allocations for all local authorities since the 2015-16 financial year are as follows:

[1] 2022/23 figures are provisional, including supplementary funding

The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance 'keeping children safe in education' (KCSIE) contains extensive safeguarding advice which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

It contains extensive advice about all forms of abuse and neglect including the indicators of these harms. KCSIE is clear that all staff should have an awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm. So-called conversion therapy, whilst not explicitly referenced, may well in many instances fall into this category.

Currently so-called conversion therapy is not illegal, though some of the practices will be as they are already considered to be abusive and/or illegal.

KCSIE currently contains guidance on matters such as female genital mutilation and other specific harms that are underpinned by legislation. Once similar legislation is in place for so-called conversion therapy we will consider whether it is necessary and/or appropriate to reflect any changes in KCSIE as we do on a routine and annual basis.

The department has undertaken extensive communications with the sector and continues to consider what more it can do on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) matters such as this.

We are currently consulting on revisions to KCSIE for 2022, in which we have incorporated departmental advice, such as on the issue of sexual violence and sexual harassment between children in schools and colleges. In particular we have reminded schools and colleges of their legal duties with regard to the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. We have also included a new section on how children who are LGBT can be targeted by other children. In some cases, a child who is perceived by other children to be LGBT (whether they are or not) can be just as vulnerable as children who identify as LGBT.

We expect to publish revised guidance for information in May 2022, with it coming into force in September 2022.

The consultation can be found here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/safeguarding-in-schools-team/kcsie-proposed-revisions-2022/.

The department works closely with the Disabled Children’s Partnership and we are reviewing the findings of their latest report.

The Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 97) requires local authorities to assess and support the needs of parents/carers as well as those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Assessments are based on individual needs but should include parents’ well-being and ‘control over day-to-day life’.

The SEND code of practice also makes clear that local authorities must give their decision in response to any request for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which a child or young person was brought to the local authority’s attention.

However, the SEND system currently does not deliver for all children and young people with SEND. We further recognise that the COVID-19 outbreak disproportionately impacted young people with SEND and their families, which is why we are conducting a review of the SEND system. The department uses data to monitor and assess local authority performance and has been supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including by providing challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission continue with their full inspection programme and our team of SEND advisers and colleagues in NHS England are continuing to provide support and challenge to help improve performance.

Depending on the underlying issues that each local authority faces, such as those relating to EHC assessments, we commission specialist and regional support from our delivery partners or facilitate peer to peer support.

The department works closely with the Disabled Children’s Partnership and we are reviewing the findings of their latest report.

The Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 97) requires local authorities to assess and support the needs of parents/carers as well as those of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Assessments are based on individual needs but should include parents’ well-being and ‘control over day-to-day life’.

The SEND code of practice also makes clear that local authorities must give their decision in response to any request for an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment within a maximum of 6 weeks from when the request was received or the point at which a child or young person was brought to the local authority’s attention.

However, the SEND system currently does not deliver for all children and young people with SEND. We further recognise that the COVID-19 outbreak disproportionately impacted young people with SEND and their families, which is why we are conducting a review of the SEND system. The department uses data to monitor and assess local authority performance and has been supporting local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including by providing challenge and support to those local authorities where there are long-standing delays.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission continue with their full inspection programme and our team of SEND advisers and colleagues in NHS England are continuing to provide support and challenge to help improve performance.

Depending on the underlying issues that each local authority faces, such as those relating to EHC assessments, we commission specialist and regional support from our delivery partners or facilitate peer to peer support.

The department is supporting the Department for Work and Pensions to develop an adjustments passport that aims to smooth the transition into employment and support people changing jobs including people with special educational needs and disabilities. Twelve-month pilots of the adjustments passport are now underway in higher education and post-16 provider pilot sites. The adjustments passport will capture the in-work support needs of the individual and includes the aim to empower them in having confident discussions about adjustments with employers.

Having an adjustments passport is voluntary and the department will continue to monitor take up alongside communications as to how we might increase visibility and awareness to inform a future approach were the pilots to be successful. Following an evaluation, if the pilots prove successful, the adjustments passport will be made available to support all people with disabilities and health conditions providing a transferable record of adjustments and reduce the need for unnecessary assessments.

The government launched the SEND Review in September 2019, a cross government review being led by the department. The goal of the SEND Review is to substantially improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, build parental confidence and bring financial sustainability to the system. The government plans to publish proposals for public consultation, in a Green Paper, in the first three months of 2022.

The department is supporting the Department for Work and Pensions to develop an adjustments passport that aims to smooth the transition into employment and support people changing jobs including people with special educational needs and disabilities. Twelve-month pilots of the adjustments passport are now underway in higher education and post-16 provider pilot sites. The adjustments passport will capture the in-work support needs of the individual and includes the aim to empower them in having confident discussions about adjustments with employers.

Having an adjustments passport is voluntary and the department will continue to monitor take up alongside communications as to how we might increase visibility and awareness to inform a future approach were the pilots to be successful. Following an evaluation, if the pilots prove successful, the adjustments passport will be made available to support all people with disabilities and health conditions providing a transferable record of adjustments and reduce the need for unnecessary assessments.

The government launched the SEND Review in September 2019, a cross government review being led by the department. The goal of the SEND Review is to substantially improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, build parental confidence and bring financial sustainability to the system. The government plans to publish proposals for public consultation, in a Green Paper, in the first three months of 2022.

In the ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper, published in January 2021, we announced the introduction of a three point plan to enforce provider access legislation (the ‘Baker Clause’, commenced in 2018). This requires that all maintained schools and academies provide opportunities for providers of technical education and apprenticeships to visit schools to talk to all year 8-13 pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This plan includes creating clear minimum legal requirements, specifying who is to be given access to which pupils and when. This is an important step towards real choice for every pupil.

Through the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) we support careers leaders in schools and colleges to design and deliver careers education programmes tailored to the needs of young people with SEND. As part of this work, the CEC has worked with the Gatsby Foundation and Disability Rights UK to create support material to help schools and colleges use the Gatsby Benchmarks to deliver high-quality career guidance for students with a wide range of needs and disabilities.

As set out in the National Disability Strategy, we will work to improve supported internships in England, including updating guidance and, through our contract/grant delivery partners in financial year 2020-21, developing a self-assessment quality framework for providers, and helping local authorities to develop local supported employment forums. In addition, the CEC continues to encourage employers to provide work experience and supported internships for young people with SEND.

We are also encouraging more young people to consider apprenticeships through our Apprenticeship Support & Knowledge (ASK) programme which reached over 600,000 students across England in the last academic year. As part of this, we are working with 40 schools through the ASK Development Schools project to support students who have the potential to progress into a traineeship or apprenticeship but who are facing significant personal barriers, including disabilities.

In partnership with Disability Rights UK, we have launched a Disabled Apprentice Network to provide valuable insight and evidence on how to attract and retain disabled people into apprenticeships. We have also improved our ‘Find an Apprenticeship’ and ‘Find a Traineeship’ services to allow people to identify Disability Confident employers offering opportunities.

We are also taking several measures to raise awareness of traineeships and increase uptake. We have created a new online collection of free resources for schools including factsheets, case studies and a guide for teachers. We are also working with the National Careers Service and the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that young people understand the different options available to them and are supported on the right path.

The government is committed to having clear oversight of local areas’ performance on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We work closely with Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and our delivery partners to support and, where appropriate, challenge those local areas at risk of, or who are, underperforming.

We are still looking at the Autumn Spending Review settlement and working across the department to ensure that it does have a measurable impact in reducing backlogs in Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments.

However, we currently support local authorities to meet their statutory duties for SEND, including challenging those local authorities where there are long-standing backlogs in EHCP assessments. As part of this support, we deliver a training programme to local authorities, health, and social care staff on their statutory duties, as well as funding projects to support children with SEND. This in turn supports improved practice so that local authorities are able to address backlogs more effectively.

Additionally, this year, local authorities have access to £51.3 billion to deliver their core services, including SEND services. Local authorities have the flexibility to spend according to local needs and priorities, including to undertake Education, Health and Care needs assessments.

Also, educational psychologists have a statutory duty to assess the needs of individual children and young people for EHCPs. We provide funding to train cohorts of educational psychologists. Since 2020, the number of trainees has increased from 160 to over 200 per year.

As highlighted in the Disabled Children’s Partnership ‘Then There Was Silence’ report earlier this year, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Through the autumn Spending Review 2021, schools will receive an additional £4.7 billion in core funding in the 2024/25 financial year, including £1.6 billion for schools and high needs in 2022/23 on top of already planned increases from the 2019 Spending Review. This is equivalent to a total cash increase of £1,500 per pupil between 2019/20 and 2024/25; taking the total core schools budget to £56.8 billion in 2024/25.

This core funding sits alongside a further £1.8 billion dedicated to supporting young people to catch up on missed learning, following on from the existing investment in catch up for early years, schools and colleges, including for tutoring and teacher training opportunities. This includes a one-off £1 billion recovery premium for the next two academic years - 2022/23 and 2023/24 - to support disadvantaged pupils in all state-funded primary and secondary schools.

Outside of the Spending Review, specifically on mental health and wellbeing, the government announced on 5 March 2021 that as part of the £500 million for mental health recovery, £79 million will be used to significantly expand mental health services for children, including disabled children. £31 million will also be used to address particular challenges faced by individuals with a learning disability and autistic people, including £3 million for community respite services. For the 2021/22 academic year, the department is also providing more than £17 million to build on existing mental health support available in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million to enable up to a third of schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead, as part of our commitment to fund training for leads in all schools and colleges by 2025, and £7 million into our Wellbeing for Education Recovery programme, enabling local authorities to continue supporting schools and colleges to meet ongoing mental wellbeing.

The government also announced on 6 September 2021 an additional £5.4 billion for the NHS to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months, bringing the total government support for health services in response to COVID-19 to over £34 billion this year. This includes £2 billion to tackle the elective backlog, reducing waiting times for patients, including disabled children. We are providing over £42 million in 2021/22 to continue funding projects to support children with SEND including £27.3 million to the Family Fund in 2021/22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses.

I refer the hon. Member for Bath to the answer given to Question 44424, on 14 September 2021.

Information gathered through the educational setting status form is used by the department to monitor attendance in schools, and across government to model the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. This allows the department to provide support in developing policies to help schools manage, and ensure our ability to target educational recovery support.

The department is grateful to schools for providing this information. Following the removal of the advice to teach pupils in bubbles, the department has announced that from the beginning of October 2021 schools will only be asked to complete the educational setting status form once a week. This will be kept under review and, should the national situation require, daily reporting may be reinstated.

We believe it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services, including early help, are required locally.

Respite care services for disabled children are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs, and it is right that this individual focus continues. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we ensured that respite care services for disabled children and their families were allowed to continue to operate. This applied to services which care for children in and away from home. Where parents have a disabled child under the age of 5, they were also able to establish a support bubble with another household to provide respite care.

To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. We will continue to work with other government departments, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.

In addition to statutory services, we are providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in financial year 2021-22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.

We believe it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services, including early help, are required locally.

Respite care services for disabled children are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs, and it is right that this individual focus continues. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we ensured that respite care services for disabled children and their families were allowed to continue to operate. This applied to services which care for children in and away from home. Where parents have a disabled child under the age of 5, they were also able to establish a support bubble with another household to provide respite care.

To support local areas, the government has given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. We will continue to work with other government departments, including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to ensure the upcoming Spending Review reflects the needs of children’s services.

In addition to statutory services, we are providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in financial year 2021-22 to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.

I refer the hon. Members for the City of Durham, Bath, and Stockton North to the answer I gave on 2 June 2021 to Question 7328.

The department has consulted in two stages on proposals for the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3. The second stage of consultation ran from 23 October 2020 to 31 January 2021. It set out proposals for ensuring that all qualifications that are approved for funding alongside A levels and T Levels are high quality, necessary, and allow progression to good outcomes. We will publish our response and updated impact assessment shortly.

Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are disproportionately affected by being out of education, including missing out on important social interaction with their peers. The Department has kept schools open for vulnerable children, including those with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), during periods of national lockdown.

As part of the £1.7 billion funding announced so far for education recovery, the £302 million Recovery Premium will help schools to deliver evidence-based approaches for supporting the most disadvantaged pupils. We have applied additional weighting to special schools, alternative provision and hospital schools to recognise the significantly higher per pupil costs they face. Eligible pupils attending special units within mainstream schools will also attract the higher funding rate.

All schools should use the Recovery Premium funding available to them as a single total from which to prioritise support for particular pupils, including children with SEND or education, health and care plans, according to their need.

In addition, the National Tutoring Programme is a key part of the Government’s COVID-19 catch-up response and provides additional, targeted tuition to disadvantaged children who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. People with SEND aged 19 to 24 who have an EHCP will be eligible for support via the 16 to 19 tuition fund, where they meet the fund criteria. Schools are asked to have regard to the needs of students with SEND when prioritising students that would benefit most for small group tuition.

The Department is also making £200 million available to all secondary schools, including specialist schools, to deliver face to face summer schools, providing opportunities for social interaction. Summer schools funding includes an uplift for pupils in special schools, maintained units in mainstream schools and alternative provision. Guidance for schools includes advice on helping to make a summer school accessible to vulnerable children and those with additional needs.

Supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families is a priority for this government, and their educational, physical and mental wellbeing remains central to our cross-government response to the COVID-19 outbreak. That is why education settings have remained open for children and young people with an education, health and care plan throughout periods of national lockdown.

The return to school for all pupils was prioritised due to the significant and proven impact caused by being out of school, including on wellbeing. The support schools provide to their pupils as they return to face-to-face education should include time devoted to supporting wellbeing, which will play a fundamental part in supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing recovery. The expectations for schools in this regard are set out clearly in the main Department for Education guidance to schools, which also signposts further support, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.

We have worked with our partners, including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Health Education England, Public Health England and other key voluntary sector organisations to deliver the Wellbeing for Education Return programme, which has provided training and resources to help school staff respond to the wellbeing and mental health needs of pupils. This £8 million government backed programme provided schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and access to resources they need to support children and young people, teachers and parents.

The return to school on 8 March 2021 has been supported with a new £700 million package, which includes a Recovery Premium for state primary, secondary and special schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged students. This will help schools to provide academic and pastoral support for disadvantaged pupils that has been proven most effective in helping them recover from the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

£200 million will be available to all secondary schools, including specialist settings, to deliver face-to-face summer schools. Schools will be able to target provision based on pupils’ needs. The size and shape of the summer schools will be decided by school leaders who know best what the most effective summer school will look like for their pupils, allowing them to tailor support for pupils, including those with SEND.

Additionally, we have expanded the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018. From 2021, the programme will cover the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays at a cost of up to £220 million. It will be available to children in every local authority in England, building on previous programmes and we are working to ensure that the programme is fully inclusive and accessible for children with SEND.

Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as the Education Recovery Commissioner and is considering how schools and the system can more effectively target resources and support at pupils in greatest need. Additionally, Dr Alex George was appointed on 4 February as Youth Mental Health Ambassador to advise government and raise the profile of mental health education and wellbeing in schools, colleges and universities. He will use his clinical expertise and personal experience to champion government’s work on children’s and young people’s mental health and shape policy on improving support for young people in schools, colleges and universities.

In the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with DHSC and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams for all schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.

The department will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and its subsequent COVID-19 recovery plans on all pupils, including those with SEND, to ensure it targets support across the system most effectively.

The Department for Education has been working with the Department of Health and Social Care to support higher education (HE) providers to deliver twice-weekly asymptomatic testing of students and staff using lateral flow device (LFD) tests.

LFD tests are a vital tool in helping to identify cases of COVID-19 and to stop the spread of the virus. With up to a third of individuals who have COVID-19 showing no symptoms and potentially spreading it without knowing, rapid LFD tests enable us to find these cases and prevent the spread of infection.

LFD tests used by the UK government have gone through a rigorous evaluation by the country’s leading scientists. Published analysis shows that LFD tests have a very high specificity, possibly as high as 99.97%. This means fewer than one false positive in every 1,000 lateral flow tests carried out.

No test is perfect, and to minimise the chance of false positives, confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was introduced for positive lateral flow tests when the level of prevalence of the virus is low. Confirmatory PCR tests were re-introduced on 31 March, having been temporarily paused in January, for positive LFD tests conducted at an assisted testing site, such as those at universities. Where a PCR test is taken within 2 days of a positive LFD test result and the result is negative, students and their household can stop self-isolating.

We are working closely with the HE sector in delivering asymptomatic testing, and we understand the impact that self-isolation can have on students. For those students who do need to self-isolate at university, we are asking HE providers to ensure their students are safe and well looked after during their self-isolation period. Universities UK has also produced a checklist for HE providers to support students who are required to self-isolate. They have also produced bespoke guidance for HE providers on how to prepare for and care for students who are required to self-isolate on arrival in the UK, and we encourage HE providers to use this guidance.

We are continuing to work closely with other Government Departments and local authorities to secure the most effective approach to asymptomatic testing for the whole of the early year's sector.

This includes ongoing discussions about providing testing via the education testing programme as well as encouraging local authorities to consider prioritising appropriate testing for PVIs and childminders via the Community Testing Programme, which is being rolled out to all local authorities. Many local authorities’ community testing programmes are already underway for early years staff to access asymptomatic testing where appropriate.

We are rolling out our asymptomatic testing programme to primary schools, schools-based nurseries and maintained nursery schools who will receive testing kits for staff from 18 January. The asymptomatic testing programme will offer all primary school, schools-based nursery and maintained nursery school staff home Lateral Flow Device test kits for twice-weekly testing. This will help to break the chains of transmission of COVID-19 in schools and nurseries by identifying asymptomatic positive cases. Those who test positive will then self-isolate, helping to reduce transmission of COVID-19.

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.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

We consulted on compulsory scanning of microchips in the recent consultation on Cat and Dog Microchipping and Scanning in England. We are currently analysing the responses and we will respond to the consultation in the autumn.

We have worked closely with the veterinary profession and jointly agreed that the principle of scanning healthy dogs prior to euthanasia should be incorporated in the guidance that underpins the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons. This guidance is now in force and applies to all veterinary surgeons operating in the UK.

On 8 June 2021, the Government published its response to the Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). The Government accepted the central recommendation that we should take forward pilot sites and we will designate these next year. The purpose of HPMAs is biodiversity recovery and by setting aside areas of sea with high levels of protection, HPMAs will allow nature to recover to a more natural state, allowing the ecosystem to thrive in the absence of damaging activities. The Benyon Review Panel reviewed clear evidence and heard strong support for the ecological benefits that HPMAs can deliver. The Government will identify pilot HPMAs with ecological value, including areas with potential to recover. Defra will then use social and economic principles to minimise the impacts on sea users, including fishing communities. Defra will evaluate socio-economic concerns, including fisheries displacement, before designating HPMAs.

Over the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan, we want to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will achieve this and move towards a circular economy. The Government continues to monitor the development of viable alternatives to the use of plastic tree guards and is committed to encourage recycling and the more thoughtful use of resources.

Options for protecting young trees include biodegradable tree guards, temporary fencing and wildlife management, but currently these options are less effective than plastic tree guards in deterring browsers, particularly deer.

The forestry sector is carrying out work to develop and trial more effective biodegradable tree guards and other alternatives - the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will look at how to support this and eliminate unnecessary plastic waste.

In the meantime, current practice demands that tree guards should be retrieved after they have reached a point where they are redundant. Plans to collect and recycle the tree guards have been introduced by a number of forestry institutions.

The Environment Bill will require local authorities to arrange for the separate collection of food waste from households in England, at least once a week. Businesses and organisations will also be required to arrange for the separate collection of food waste. Ahead of implementation of this and other reforms to increase the consistency of recycling collected from households and businesses, we continue to work with local authorities, businesses, WRAP and other stakeholders to ensure the successful roll-out of separate food waste collections.

The Government will ensure that local authorities are resourced to meet net costs arising from new statutory duties. This will include the additional costs associated with the requirement to separately collect food waste, including upfront transition costs and ongoing operational costs. We are carrying out a new burdens assessment for this policy and will provide further detail on new burdens funding in due course, following the outcome of the second consultation on recycling consistency, which we are preparing to launch in the spring. In this consultation, we expect to seek further views on implementing separate food waste collections, including transition timelines for local authorities and businesses, as well as statutory guidance for waste collectors.

The Government will ensure that local authorities are resourced to meet net costs arising from new statutory duties. This will include the additional costs associated with the requirement to separately collect food waste at least once a week from households, introduced through the Environment Bill. This includes upfront transition costs and ongoing operational costs.

We are carrying out a new burdens assessment for this policy and will provide further detail on new burdens funding in due course, following the outcome of the second consultation on recycling consistency, which we are preparing to launch in the spring.

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 use of face coverings has been mandatory on public transport services since 15 June 2020, unless a passenger is exempt. The Department continues to work closely with our partners to ensure an effective approach to compliance and enforcement. Compliance rates are currently strong, indicating public support and observance of existing regulations. From 9 – 13 June, ONS data found that when asked, 98% of adults self-reported wearing face coverings when using public transport in England. Passengers are also advised to walk or cycle where possible, regularly wash/sanitise their hands, wear a face covering unless exempt and make sure the space is well ventilated by opening windows and maintaining social distancing where possible. The Department has also launched the ‘It’s everyone’s journey’ campaign to reset travel behaviours and support disabled people to return to the transport network.

Highways England commissioned Transport Focus to produce this report to improve its understanding of road user needs for park and ride facilities, and to identify steps which would help improve journeys.

Highways England is currently considering how to apply the report’s recommendations across its network, and how benefits, such as improved air quality will be realised.

Highways England will start the review of park and ride locations in 2021/22.

Highways England commissioned Transport Focus to produce this report to improve its understanding of road user needs for park and ride facilities, and to identify steps which would help improve journeys.

Highways England is currently considering how to apply the report’s recommendations across its network, and how benefits, such as improved air quality will be realised.

Highways England will start the review of park and ride locations in 2021/22.

Highways England commissioned Transport Focus to produce this report to improve its understanding of road user needs for park and ride facilities, and to identify steps which would help improve journeys.

Highways England is currently considering how to apply the report’s recommendations across its network, and how benefits, such as improved air quality will be realised.

Highways England will start the review of park and ride locations in 2021/22.

Sweden was added to the Travel Corridors list on Saturday 12 August.

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.

The Health and Safety Executive does not routinely publish figures of the number or breakdown of requests for advice received and does not intend to do so. Details of all enforcement action are available on HSE’s website.

However, over the last five financial years and current year to date, the number of concerns reported to HSE related to the terms ‘pregnant’, ‘pregnancy’ and ‘new mother’ are:

There has been no enforcement action taken over this period related to the same terms.

The Health and Safety Executive is currently working with stakeholders and interested parties to update this guidance and will publish this as soon as possible.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 do not require the collection of this information. The Health and Safety Executive cannot provide an estimate of the number of workers who are suspended on full pay by their employer.

The Government is committed to seeing one million more disabled people in work between 2017 and 2027 and reducing the disability employment gap. The disability employment gap

has closed by around 5 percentage points since 2013 (the earliest comparable date, when the current way of measuring disability began) and in the last four years, the number of disabled people in employment has increased by 850,000. This is good progress, however, we know we need to go further to help more disabled people and people with health conditions start, stay and succeed in work, where it is right for them.

We have committed in both the recent Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper and the National Disability Strategy, to continue to improve employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions to help support more people to move towards and into work. We are reviewing Green Paper responses now and will come forward with a White Paper next year.

The Spending Review committed £339 million per year for the continued funding of existing disability employment programmes such as the Access to Work scheme and the Work and Health programme.

In addition to this, £156 million has been agreed over the Spending Review 2021 period to provide job finding support for disabled people, with a focus on additional work coaches. We are continuing to develop detailed plans for a range of disability employment support to best support disabled people towards and into work across the Spending Review period.

The Government is committed to seeing one million more disabled people in work between 2017 and 2027 and reducing the disability employment gap. The disability employment gap

has closed by around 5 percentage points since 2013 (the earliest comparable date, when the current way of measuring disability began) and in the last four years, the number of disabled people in employment has increased by 850,000. This is good progress, however, we know we need to go further to help more disabled people and people with health conditions start, stay and succeed in work, where it is right for them.

We have committed in both the recent Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper and the National Disability Strategy, to continue to improve employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions to help support more people to move towards and into work. We are reviewing Green Paper responses now and will come forward with a White Paper next year.

The Spending Review committed £339 million per year for the continued funding of existing disability employment programmes such as the Access to Work scheme and the Work and Health programme.

In addition to this, £156 million has been agreed over the Spending Review 2021 period to provide job finding support for disabled people, with a focus on additional work coaches. We are continuing to develop detailed plans for a range of disability employment support to best support disabled people towards and into work across the Spending Review period.

The National Disability Strategy will be published in the coming months. The strategy will take into account the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people and will focus on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects of life, including employment, transport, housing and education.

Whilst this information is not readily available, we can see from official statistics a gradual and steady increase in paying parent compliance (from March 15 at 56% to March 20 at 68%).

The available information on the number of households with children with Universal Credit in payment, by parliamentary constituency, is published and can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

UK nationals living in an EEA state or Switzerland by 31 December 2020 are covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, EU rules on social security coordination will continue to apply to them for as long as they remain in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement.

UK nationals who are currently being paid a pension or benefit by an EEA state or Switzerland will need to check with the organisation that pays them to find out what they will need to do to continue receiving any benefits or pension after 31 December 2020. For example, they may be required to register their residence. Country specific guidance can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/overseas-living-in-guides#eu-and-other-countries-affected-by-brexit

The rules for UK nationals who are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and move to live in an EEA state or Switzerland from 1 January 2021 will depend on the outcome of negotiations with the EU and may change.

The Government is committed to supporting the ambulance service to manage the pressures it is facing.

Investments in the ambulance workforce have increased the number of NHS ambulance and support staff by 38% since July 2010, and boosted 999 call handler numbers to over 2,400 at the end of March, 500 more than in September.

Ambulance trusts receive continuous central monitoring and support through NHS England’s National Ambulance Coordination Centre and there is targeted, intensive support to the most challenged hospitals to improve patient handovers, helping ambulances get swiftly back on the road.

The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ ‘Language interpreting and translation: migrant health guide’ provides advice for healthcare practitioners on the health needs of migrant patients, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/language-interpretation-migrant-health-guide

The guidance states it is the responsibility of National Health Service providers to ensure that interpreting and translation services are made available to patients free at the point of delivery.

On 6 September 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement published ‘Equity and equality: Guidance for local maternity systems’, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/C0734-equity-and-equality-guidance-for-local-maternity-systems.pdf

It asks local maternity systems to consider the impact of language on women’s needs and ensure personalised care and support plans are available in a range of languages. The guidance directs staff to resources to support communication between healthcare staff and ethnic minority pregnant women, including the ‘Help us help you’ maternity campaign, a communications toolkit and the interpretation and translation services framework.

The information is not held in the format requested. Specialist care for children and young people from a non-white ethnic background with serious mental health problems is funded by local and national commissioners. Services are provided in the same way for people from all ethnic backgrounds and by a range of providers in England.

We have no plans to make such an estimate as information on used later flow device and polymerase chain reaction tests is not held. The UK Health Security Agency is committed to reviewing options for minimising testing related wastage.

No assessment was made. However, work on improving the environmental and sustainability aspects of all testing products is continuing.

From 3 February 2022, children aged 12 years old and over can access a digital NHS COVID Pass for international travel. The travel digital NHS COVID Pass will show evidence of prior infection or recovery for 180 days following a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction test and provide a record of COVID-19 vaccinations received. The pass is available via NHS.UK for those aged 12 years old and over and via the NHS App for those aged 13 years old and over.

No estimate has been made of the number of dentists that have left the National Health Service in the last twelve months. Data on NHS dentists is not available by parliamentary constituency or on the specific date requested. However, the number of dentists providing NHS care from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 is expected to be published in the third quarter of 2022/23.

Data is not held on the number of private dentists by area. Information on the number of National Health Service dentists is held at clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. In the ending 31 March 2021, 405 dentists had delivered NHS activity in NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell MP) on 18 January 2022 to Question 100611.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards, as part of its clinically led review of National Health Service access standards. This includes a standard for adults presenting to community-based mental health services, including those with eating disorders, should start to receive help within four weeks from referral. This consultation closed on 1 September 2021 and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect to publish a response in due course. Data will be published on any new waiting time standards when fully implemented and embedded in services.

This information is not held in the format requested. While messages around responsible alcohol consumption were communicated throughout this period, no individual awareness campaigns were undertaken.

The Better Health and One You adult health campaigns have provided information and advice to help adults consume less alcohol in each of these years. Better Health continues to offer tips and online tools to help people drink less including the Drinks Tracker app, ‘How Are You’ health quiz, Better Health website and email programme. We also provide the Drinkline service and a webchat service.

Every eligible adult in England aged 18 years old and over has been offered a COVID-19 booster vaccination, including those who are housebound in Bath and England. Local arrangements are in place, with general practitioners, community pharmacies and volunteers visiting those who are housebound and eligible for a booster dose.

The Spending Review settlement provides £5 billion for health-related research and development. The National Institute for Health Research’s budget will be finalised as part of a detailed financial planning process. The distribution across health research areas will be confirmed before funding is made available in April 2022.

National Health Service funding allocations, including provision for different service areas and regions in England, will be announced in due course.

This code enables the Department to track test kit distribution, send reminders to submit results, identify take up and assist the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in case of a batch recall. While a collect code is encouraged, people can still pick up test kits from pharmacies without one.

Information is not held on the number of children and young people and adults referred to specialist secondary mental health services with a primary reason of referral of eating disorders. However, the number of referrals of children and young people, and adults referred to specialist secondary mental health services with a primary reason of referral for eating disorders is shown in the table below.

Not all referrals of children and young people, and adults to specialist secondary mental health services with a primary reason of referral for eating disorders are recorded as being made to eating disorder services. Some of these referrals are recorded as being made to other service team types, such as community mental health teams, psychiatric liaison services and single point of access services.

Source: Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS), NHS Digital

¹ Some people may have been referred more than once during a particular time period

² Includes eating disorders/dietetics services, community eating disorder services for children and young people and community eating disorder services

³ Some referrals may have been referred to multiple service team types

On 6 September 2021 the Government announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service to support the COVID-19 response over the next six months, bringing the total Government support for health services to over £34 billion in 2021/22. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children. The forthcoming Spending Review will set out the Government’s spending plans for health and social care for future years.

The Department has not had any direct discussions. However, the Department has discussed the issue with NHS England which has issued a reminder to clinical commissioning groups in England of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance and their responsibilities and will be monitoring uptake.

The latest guidelines from NICE recommend Sativex to treat moderate to severe spasticity in adults with multiple sclerosis, if other pharmacological treatments for spasticity are not effective. The decision on whether to prescribe must be taken by a specialist clinician on a case by case basis and funding of this medicine is subject to local National Health Service decisions.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have no plans to do so. All mental health services providers are required to submit their plans, which also outlines measures to recruit and retain staff. In addition, all mental health providers take part in an annual workforce planning process, which captures vacancy rates.

We are investing approximately £1 billion to improve care for adults with a range of severe mental health problems, including eating disorders, in England by 2023/24. The majority of this funding is to be spent on staffing and contracting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, with an ambition to recruit 10,000 new staff in community mental health services, including eating disorder services

The NHS People Plan seeks to improve staff retention, through areas such as flexible working, health and wellbeing and equality, diversity and inclusion. In addition, the NHS Retention Programme supports staff to stay whilst keeping them well to ensure we can retain staff, including those working in eating disorder services.

No specific assessment has been made. However, as part of COVID-19 recovery planning we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health services and support, including therapies, to disabled children. In 2020, NHS England and NHS Improvement published guidance making clear that restoration of essential community services must be prioritised for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities aged up to 25 years old and who have an Education Health and Care Plan in place or are going through an assessment for one.

The School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme will continue to be offered from September 2021 to all children in Key Stage 1 at state-funded primary schools.

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:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/calorie-labelling-for-food-and-drink-served-outside-of-the-home

The Government does not issue any specific written guidance on cost limits on legal proceedings over whistleblowers.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has determined that those with severe mental illnesses (SMI) are within cohort 6 for the vaccine rollout, and we are encouraging General Practitioners (GPs) to take a similar approach for this group of people to that being proposed for people with learning disabilities, working in partnership with secondary care mental health services and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise partners to ensure appropriate outreach mechanisms are in place.

People with SMI (including people who are severely unwell with an eating disorder, who have a high or low body mass index) and their carers should receive an invitation from their GP to get their COVID-19 vaccine. This might be by letter, text message or phone, or a combination of all three. If someone is unsure if they have an SMI which falls within the official definition above, they are encouraged to contact their GP, or mental health team. GP teams are encouraged to keep prioritising people with severe mental illness, applying a flexible approach to defining SMI.

Discussions are ongoing with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee about additional funding for costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of its ongoing assessment of COVID-19 costs incurred by the sector the Government will take account of the £370 million increased advance payments paid to community pharmacies.

The support package for community pharmacy also included general COVID-19 business support, funding for Bank Holiday openings, social distancing measures and the medicine delivery service to shielded patients, free personal protective equipment and non-monetary support including the removal of some administrative tasks, flexibility in opening hours and the delayed introduction of new services.

At present, there is very limited data on vaccination in adolescents and no data on vaccination in younger children. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advises that only those children at very high risk of exposure and serious outcomes, such as older children with severe neuro-disabilities that require residential care, should be offered vaccination as part of phase one. Clinicians should discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with a person with parental responsibility, who should be told about the paucity of safety data for the vaccine in children aged under 16 years. The Green Book also sets out that children under 16 year of age, even if they are clinically extremely vulnerable, are at low risk of serious morbidity and mortality and given the absence of safety and efficacy data on the vaccine, are not recommended for vaccination.

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.

2021 is a year of UK leadership on the world stage, including on girls' education. In May, G7 Foreign and Development Ministers endorsed two new, global, SDG 4 milestone targets of getting 40 million more girls in school, and 20 million more girls reading by age 10 in the next 5 years. The Prime Minister will also be using the G7 Leaders' Summit to call on G7 Leaders to re-endorse our girls' education targets and declaration in the Leaders' Communique, and make pledges to support the Global Partnership for Education as we look ahead to the Global Education Summit next month.

As announced by the Foreign Secretary on 21 April, the FCDO will also spend £400 million bilaterally on girls' education this year. This very substantial investment of UK ODA is only one of our tools in achieving our ambitions.

Tackling the complex barriers to girls' accessing and staying in education, including child marriage, sexual exploitation, child labour, and gender-based violence, will be key to achieving our global education targets. The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to raising awareness of these issues, and we have ensured that ender equality, including girls' education, is at the centre of the UK's G7 Presidency.

FCDO's £38 million investment since 2015 to tackle child marriage has contributed to a 15% reduction in the global prevalence of child marriage over the last decade. As a leading supporter of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, the UK is driving the international movement to the end violence, abuse, and exploitation of children. The UK is proud to be a global leader in efforts to end violence against women and girls. Through our What Works to Prevent Violence Programme, we have pioneered approaches worldwide that have shown reductions of around 50% in violence.

2021 is a year of UK leadership on the world stage, including on girls' education. Meeting under the UK Presidency, G7 Foreign and Development Ministers endorsed two new, global, SDG 4 milestone targets on girls' education, which we are calling on the world to help deliver. G7 Foreign and Development Ministers also endorsed a girls' education declaration, which specifically states that the G7 will work in collaboration with developing country partners, multilateral institutions, civil society, girl-led groups, and youth leaders, to remove the obstacles to education that stand in the way of girls. This includes committing to address the social, environmental, and institutional barriers to education for adolescent girls, such as reducing violence, including sexual and gender-based violence in and out of schools, increasing access to comprehensive sexuality education, promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights, and amending restrictive policies or legislation that prevent girls from thriving in school.

The Prime Minister is calling on G7 Leaders to re-endorse both the targets and declaration in the Leaders' Communique, and we have already met with a number of stakeholders to discuss how we can galvanise action towards our two global objectives.

In line with the Foreign Secretary's announcement of 30 October, the UK Government has provided the International Committee of the Red Cross with £1 million in support of its humanitarian efforts in the region. This financial support is being used to provide urgent medical supplies, food and shelter to thousands of people affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We have supported the wider international response by providing funding for additional monitoring and analysis of the humanitarian situation through organisations such as the Humanitarian 2 Humanitarian network. We are keeping the situation under close review, coordinating with local and international partners and will continue to explore opportunities to support partners to deliver an effective international response.

On 6 July, the UK Government established the Global Human Rights sanctions regime. The Government's position remains that it is not appropriate to speculate about who may be designated under the Global Human Rights sanctions regime, as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations. We will keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.

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.

The objective of the CJRS is to enable employers to keep people in employment. In order to achieve this, the grants compensate employers for the payments that they are contractually obliged to make in order to avoid the need for redundancies. Covering maternity suspension would go beyond the objectives of the scheme. It is also the case that the level of support provided through the CJRS must remain the same for all employers and employees, and that the CJRS is only one part of a wider package of support for business and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since March 2020, the Government has provided support for people, businesses and public services totalling an estimated £280 billion. In particular, businesses have received billions in loans, tax deferrals, Business Rate reliefs, and general and sector-specific grants. This support can be used by businesses to top up the CJRS grant, ensuring that they can suspend pregnant employees on full pay.

The Government recognises the valuable contribution of the cider industry to the UK economy, and has in recent years provided considerable economic support. Since 2014, the Government has ended the cider duty escalator, and has frozen or cut cider duties at five of the last six Budgets. Cuts and freezes to alcohol duties since 2013 have cost the Treasury £6.2 billion in revenue.

The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the parliamentary constituency level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in Bath was 500.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-provisional-awards-geographical-analyses-december-2013.

Information on following months is not readily available. The next update to this publication will provide statistics relating to December 2020 and will be available in January 2021.

Final annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-finalised-annual-awards-2018-to-2019.