Will Forster

Our sanctions are designed to minimise impact on the UK and avoid unintended consequences. The Department for Business and Trade has sought to minimise the impact on businesses through implementing appropriate exceptions, specific licences where appropriate, and wind-down periods when some sanctions are introduced. We have also published impact assessments alongside all Russia sanctions legislation.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation has also issued General Licences to address a range of issues affecting stakeholders, including permitting activities related to recovering funds, under specific circumstances and conditions.

The forthcoming Warm Homes Plan will set out the Government’s vision for upgrading and decarbonising buildings so that they are fit for the future, including through heat networks.

In January 2026, Ofgem will assume its role as heat network market regulator, within a regulatory framework which will provide similar levels of protection available to consumers on gas and electric networks.

Ofgem will have the powers to investigate and intervene in cases where prices appear to be unfair or disproportionate.

They will enforce guaranteed standards of performance to ensure a minimum quality of service is provided at all times, and regulations will include mandated technical standards to improve network reliability.

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) regulations consider the energy efficiency of buildings to ensure they are futureproofed for any usage, irrespective of the occupant. MHCLG also recently published a consultation on EPC reform to ensure they are a more effective tool for understanding a buildings energy performance in future.

Non-domestic MEES regulations currently only require buildings, including industrial buildings, below EPC E to improve their energy efficiency. We consulted on strengthening this to EPC B by 2030, and plan to publish our government response in the first half of 2025.

In regard to support for small manufacturers, government publishes various schemes on gov.uk, both local and national, that help with the costs of energy efficiency measures. This includes the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund which has offered up to £500 million. Our Business Energy Advice Service Pilot operates in the West Midlands also provides energy demand reduction and decarbonisation recommendations for SMEs with the provision of free match-funded grants available to support implementation. We also encourage SMEs to visit the UK Business Climate Hub, which provides information and advice on how to reduce energy use and carbon emissions.

Heat batteries are a promising technology because they utilise time-of-use tariffs, do not require outside space, and can be cheaper to install than heat pumps in some circumstances. However, they are less efficient than heat pumps and will therefore use more energy to meet the same heating demand.

The Department is exploring, through studies like the Homes for Net Zero Trial, the role heat batteries could play in the future. As the evidence base develops, we will continue to review the incentives available and whether this is sufficient, appropriate, and in line with our net zero ambitions.

DSIT is implementing the Online Safety Act which will bring in a number of protections for online users from the harms associated with doxing. In-scope providers will need to enact measures to take down illegal content and protect children from harmful content. Additionally, the largest services (Category 1) must ensure their terms of service are clear and consistently enforced. Ofcom can take enforcement action against companies failing to meet their duties, including fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

DSIT is implementing the Online Safety Act which will bring in a number of protections for online users from the harms associated with doxing. In-scope providers will need to enact measures to take down illegal content and protect children from harmful content. Additionally, the largest services (Category 1) must ensure their terms of service are clear and consistently enforced. Ofcom is required to consult with the Victim's Commissioner before drafting its codes of practice. Ofcom can take enforcement action against companies failing to meet their duties, including fines of up to 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Too often, opportunity for children and young people is defined by their background. Children whose families are experiencing homelessness face barriers to education and this is not acceptable. The Opportunity Mission will break the link between young people’s background and their future success.

As part of this mission, work is progressing urgently to publish the Child Poverty Strategy. The Strategy will tackle overall child poverty, including a focus on those children in deepest poverty lacking essentials.

Alongside this, homeless children are included in the Fair Access Protocol, a mandatory mechanism developed by local authorities in partnership with all schools in their area. This aims to ensure vulnerable children, and those having difficulty in securing a school place in-year, are allocated a school place as quickly as possible.

From April 2025, the department started to roll out Family Help reforms to children’s social care. These reforms prioritise supporting the whole family. Lead practitioners will undertake assessments of all the needs of the family, including families experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. Practitioners will intervene at the earliest opportunity to prevent challenges escalating.

This financial year, over £500 million is available to local authorities to roll out the Families First Partnership programme which includes Family Help.

The government’s new levy-funded growth and skills offer will introduce greater flexibility to employers and learners in England, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries, aligned with the government’s industrial strategy. This will include introducing new foundation apprenticeships for young people, as well as shorter-duration apprenticeships.

Foundation apprenticeships will be a work-based training offer that will provide young people with clear progression pathways into further work-based training and employment. Construction will be one of the key sectors that will benefit from new foundation apprenticeships, which will be launching in August 2025.

Further development of the growth and skills offer will be informed by the work of Skills England who will work closely with employers and other key partners to identify priority skills gaps. This will help to ensure that the levy-funded growth and skills offer delivers value for money, meets the needs of business and helps kick-start economic growth.

The government sets the maximum fees that higher education (HE) providers can charge home fee students on undergraduate courses. HE providers are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees up to the maximum caps provided for in legislation. The department does not formally monitor the fee levels charged for home students, such as those with Ukraine scheme leave, or other students who may be subject to international fees.

The term ‘generally’ used in the context of the answer to Question 42205, means that persons with Ukraine scheme leave must also meet other eligibility requirements to be eligible for home fee status and student finance, such as the requirement to be ordinarily resident in England on the course start date for student support, or in the UK for home fee status. They must also show they have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channels Islands and Isle of Man) since being granted Ukraine scheme leave.

The government sets the maximum fees that higher education (HE) providers can charge home fee students on undergraduate courses. HE providers are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees up to the maximum caps provided for in legislation. The department does not formally monitor the fee levels charged for home students, such as those with Ukraine scheme leave, or other students who may be subject to international fees.

The term ‘generally’ used in the context of the answer to Question 42205, means that persons with Ukraine scheme leave must also meet other eligibility requirements to be eligible for home fee status and student finance, such as the requirement to be ordinarily resident in England on the course start date for student support, or in the UK for home fee status. They must also show they have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channels Islands and Isle of Man) since being granted Ukraine scheme leave.

I refer the hon. Member for Woking to the answer of 2 April 2025 to Question HL5393.

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) is the first step in realising the Government’s circular economy manifesto commitment. This forms part of a set of interconnected reforms, including Simpler Recycling in England, the Plastic Packaging Tax, the expansion of the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Deposit Return Scheme for drink containers, which will provide the basis for system wide change.

In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector.

It is the responsibility of producers to estimate the cost of their fees. Producers are required to submit the next round of 2024 data by 1 April 2025. Following this and pending satisfactory regulatory checks, Defra intend to use these data to publish pEPR base fees by June 2025.

The strategic and local road networks are frequently used to support diversions for one another, typically without the need for compensation from either party. From the early stages of the project, extensive engagement was undertaken with Surrey County Council which is the main local authority impacted by the works. This included detailed discussions on diversion routes that would utilise Surrey County Council’s road network to support the scheme's delivery. The development of these diversion routes carefully considered local communities, road widths, weight and height restrictions, junction configurations, and other relevant constraints.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) understands that waiting times remain high for approved driving instructor (ADI) tests and has a rolling programme of recruitment and training for ADI examiners.

Since December 2024, the DVSA has also made available weekend slots for ADI part 2 and part 3 tests.

When managing the book to hold list, DVSA’s deployment team will look at the part 1 expiry date to help prioritise trainee driving instructors whose expiration date is approaching.

The legislation requires that a part three test is booked, not taken, before the expiry of the part one test. The DVSA has put measures in place to support candidates whose part one pass is due to expire by allowing them to book a part three test online, or if no tests are available they can book a test to hold. Both of these options meet the regulatory requirements.

The two-year qualifying period is set in legislation and there are no plans to extend this.

The Government committed in its manifesto to tackle the high costs of motor insurance. Our cross-Government Motor Insurance Taskforce, launched in October, is comprised of ministers from relevant government departments and the Financial Conduct Authority and Competition and Markets Authority.

This Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments aimed at stabilising or reducing the cost to all drivers, including those who have not previously made a claim on their motor insurance.

The outcome of my Department’s review into volumetric concrete mixers was published on 18 March. This can be accessed at the following link:

gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/volumetric-concrete-mixers-review.

The Department ran a call for evidence from October to December 2023 seeking views on three potential options on weight limits for Volumetric Concrete Mixers (VCMs). Evidence was provided to the Department on both the pros and cons of allowing VCMs to continue to operate at higher weights. The Department has reviewed the evidence provided and will publish its findings shortly. Any potential changes to the current policy position on VCM weight limits will need to consider the implications for road safety, infrastructure, the environment, and maintaining fair competition in the market.

We are modernising our services, enabling customers to self-serve online, while retaining non-digital channels for those that need them, avoiding digital inclusion and ensuring everyone gets the level of support they need.

For example, we are starting to use conversational platform in some service lines, which provides an automated conversational experience and reduces avoidable contact by signposting customers to more appropriate routeways.

For hearing and speech impaired customers:

DWP utilise the Video Relay Service (VRS) which enables customers to communicate in real time via a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter using a video connection on an electronic device. There is no need to be in the same location or for the customer to make an appointment. This service is available across DWP and Department for Communities Northern Ireland (DfCNI) service lines.

DWP also use Relay UK, previously known as Next Generation Text. The ‘app’ enables customer to contact a BT agent and type a message to them. The BT agent then calls DWP and verbally passes on the typed message. It works in reverse for a three-way conversation ie the DWP telephony agent speaks, and the BT Relay agent types the message back to the customer.

For customers with learning difficulties:

PIP

Customers with learning difficulties will often be represented by a third party or appointee who can support them to make a claim to disability related benefits, however we are aware that this does not apply in all cases.

When an application for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is made by someone with learning difficulties or cognitive impairments, who is acting on their own behalf, we apply a marker to the case which indicates to colleagues in DWP (and colleagues who are involved in the assessment) that the customer requires additional support. The system marker also prevents the case being closed if the customer fails to engage or is not able to meet requirements to complete or return forms.

Work Capability Assessment

Customers requiring a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) are sent a clerical WCA50. The WCA50 will also gather details of any Reasonable Adjustment (RA) or Alternative Format (AF) requirements. If a RA/AF requirement is established, we would update the availability constraints within Medical Services Referral System (MSRS) to advise the healthcare providers that a face-to-face assessment is required. All WCA appointment letters are sent out clerically too. In cases where customers are vulnerable, and require more intensive support, home visits can be arranged through the Visiting Service, who can help with form completion for example.

Disability Living Allowance

For someone who we need to speak to eg: Parent/Guardian (PG) where they have identified/requested a reasonable adjustment, any business with DLA Adult/DLA Child will be conducted in that manner, including if needed BSL. (Same service as PIP).

For learning difficulties, DLACS system(s) does not have a marker, however if the PG has an appointee DLA Child would need to make enquiries and potentially refer for a visiting officer to establish the child’s wellbeing and the PG support requirements.

For customers who do not have a telephone:

PIP:

Support can be provided by third parties, but a clerical process is available, which means applications for disability benefits can be made in writing. Where the disability benefit is subject to an assessment with a healthcare provider, appointments can be made for face-to-face appointments for those unable to participate in telephony assessments.

DLA Child/Adult:

Primarily DLA Child/Adult operate on a postal notification service, DLA uses a freephone number and where a customer does not have a telephone, DWP JCP resources would be available to initiate contact. From mid-March 2025 enhanced functionality will allow customers using the online option to advise DWP of any Reasonable Adjustment (RA) or Alternative Format (AF) requirements.

The independent Pensions Regulator (TPR) is responsible for providing detailed guidance to employers on how to meet their automatic enrolment duties. This includes guidance on avoiding common errors, such as incorrect pension contributions, failing to enrol employees correctly and missing or late payments. Pension scheme managers and trustees also have a responsibility to ensure the correct management of schemes including monitoring the payment of contributions.

If an employee has concerns regarding their workplace pension such as unpaid contributions, they should raise this with their employer in the first instance. An individual can report their employer to TPR if it is not complying with the law and/or make a complaint to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) who can investigate the complaint and provide a remedy if the employer is found to be at fault. TPO, in collaboration with MoneyHelper and TPR, has published a factsheet for customers about this: Workplace pensions – unpaid pension contributions | The Pensions Ombudsman.

Accessible information and good communications are important in enabling savers to better understand their pensions. Some schemes already offer online access to help members easily and securely view their pension details. The government is also supporting the delivery of pensions dashboards, which will allow people to view their whole pensions picture, including their State Pension, securely and in one place. This will help reunite people with their lost pension pots and support better engagement – empowering individuals to better prepare for retirement.

Increasing access to urgent community response (UCR) services is a requirement within the 2025/26 NHS Operational Planning guidance, with integrated care board plans showing increases in capacity across the country. UCR also features as a key service within the ‘urgent neighbourhood services’ component of the published Neighbourhood Health guidance.

Increasing access to urgent community response (UCR) services is a requirement within the 2025/26 NHS Operational Planning guidance, with integrated care board plans showing increases in capacity across the country. UCR also features as a key service within the ‘urgent neighbourhood services’ component of the published Neighbourhood Health guidance.

In a bid to improve patients' survival rates following out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the Government has committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED Fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil the existing applications to the fund.

As part of the application process, the Department has set out requirements to ensure that resources are allocated to where there is the greatest need, for instance in remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest, including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas. Three AEDs have been distributed through the AED Fund in Woking.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. The detail of the plan will be set out in due course, but all of these shifts are relevant to improving first aid in all parts of the county. Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan engagement process, we have sought the views of first aid charities and organisations, with representation from the British Red Cross at our Partners Council, where they have provided views on emerging policy themes.

Whilst the 10-Year Health Plan is being developed, we are continuing to invest in first aid training and equipment. For example, the Community Automated External Defibrillators Fund is a £1 million fund that is increasing the number of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) within England. Further to this, NHS England has partnered with St John Ambulance to co-ordinate skills development to significantly increase the use of AEDs by individuals in community settings.

The National Health Service has always benefitted from the generous support of volunteers. Volunteers will continue to play an important and complementary role in the NHS and care system, supporting patients, families, and staff.

NHS England invested £10 million last year to support programmes across 15 integrated care systems to improve volunteering infrastructure. NHS England is also continuing to invest in the NHS volunteer recruitment portal and deliver on recommendations from the NHS Volunteer Taskforce Report from 2023.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, so we can ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the right care to patients when they need it.

Since the launch of the UK's Ukraine schemes, 219,400 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK as of December 2024, in part thanks to the immense generosity of the British public.

Designated individuals and entities do not forfeit ownership of assets frozen in the UK. However, the UK has legislation in place allowing us to keep sanctions in place.

Russia's obligations are clear: it must end its illegal war of aggression and pay for the damage it has caused Ukraine. We continue to work with our allies to pursue all lawful ways to ensure that Russia does so.

The UK has now disbursed over half of the UK's £2.26 billion contribution to the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration scheme. That contribution will be repaid by the profits generated on sanctioned Russian sovereign assets.

We do not have exact figures for the number of British aid workers in Gaza. Humanitarian partners in Gaza are not required to provide staffing numbers to the UK government.

The UK is fully committed to international law and respects the independence of the International Court of Justice. We continue to consider the Court's Advisory Opinion carefully, with the seriousness and rigour it deserves.

In March, the Prime Minister convened international leaders to shape our support for Ukraine. The Foreign Secretary met EU High Representative Kallas, spoke to his Polish and French counterparts, and attended a Weimar+ meeting in Madrid. We are setting up structures to ensure our partnerships deliver in the long-term, including through summits with Ireland, France and the EU, and groups like the European Political Community, Calais Group and Joint Expeditionary Force. We look forward to re-starting negotiations on a UK-Germany treaty once the new German government forms. We continue to work closely with European partners in multilateral fora such as the Council of Europe and OSCE.

The Government is closely monitoring the situation in Turkey. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including swift and transparent judicial processes. We have been engaging with the Turkish government and there has been Ministerial contact with counterparts in recent days to raise these issues. The UK supports democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the world and will always support the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and media freedom. Travel advice for British nationals has been updated to include reference to the recent protests.