Lord Freyberg

The government’s ambition to build 1.5 million new homes over this Parliament needs a strong, skilled workforce. So far, the government has taken steps to achieving this ambition, including overhauling the planning system and introducing 32 new Homebuilding Skills Hubs. These will deliver fast-track training in critical areas such as bricklaying, groundwork, and site carpentry, to boost housebuilding and drive forward the government’s Growth and Opportunity Missions.

Around 5,000 more construction apprenticeship places will be made available per year by the 2027/28 financial year from £140 million industry investment.

The specific skills needed for retrofit and green construction are increasingly in demand. Green construction skills include heat pump installation and historic building retrofit, as well as a breadth of traditional construction skills such as insulation and electrical. The sector needs a combination of upskilling and new recruits to meet the demand induced by new infrastructure projects, the 1.5 million houses target and ongoing steady-state demand.

As set out in Skills England’s first report, the Construction Industry Training Board (sponsored by but independent of government) forecast that, before any new projects had been factored in, 252,000 extra workers were needed between 2024 to 2028 across the UK. Also as mentioned in report, construction is one of the sectors where upskilling is required to enable workers to use new technology, particularly as pertains to retrofit and green building methods.

The construction sector faces some acute skills and workforce shortages. According to the department’s 2022 Employer Skills Survey, which is the latest available data, construction was the industry with the highest proportion of vacancies due to skills shortages. Roughly a third of construction occupations are in high demand (6% in 'critical demand' by Standard Occupational Classification Code). These include quantity surveyors, groundworkers and crane drivers.

The Secretary of State has asked Defra to convene a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts from industry, academia, civil society, and the civil service to develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis.

Additionally, the Secretary of State has convened a Small Ministerial Group on Circular Economy that will govern, join up and drive Circular Economy work across government departments to support the government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower.

We will consider the evidence for action right across the economy and evaluate what further interventions may be needed in the construction and waste sectors as we develop the Circular Economy Strategy.

NHS England carried out an evaluation of National Health Service-developed electronic health record (EHR) solutions in late 2022, the findings of which were endorsed at the NHS England Digital, Data and Technology Committee in March 2023. The review found that while NHS-developed EHR systems have some benefits, the lack of appetite for their adoption in neighbouring organisations was a limiting factor in their broader use, at a time when sharing EHRs across organisations is being encouraged. The review concluded that there was no current basis to replace NHS-developed solutions, except where, through local decision making, it was deemed appropriate to do so.

We want a society where every person, including those with neurodegenerative conditions, receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported. Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department is also investing in research on novel means of detecting neurodegenerative diseases. For example, the NIHR has invested almost £11 million to fund six projects to improve diagnosis in dementia until 2028.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including neurological and systemic diseases.

To improve secure access to linked health datasets across the National Health Service in England, the Government and NHS England are investing in a network of Secure Data Environments in England at a national and regional level, through the data for Research and Development programme. The Data for R&D Programme also funds the NHS DigiTrials service, which supports both clinical trials and cohort studies to recruit and follow up on consented participants, supporting the Our Future Health Study to recruit over 1.5 million participants.

The Government is supporting the work of studies of patients who have consented to share their detailed health information for longitudinal research; the Secretary of State has announced his intention to direct NHS England to improve the way data can be made to studies where patients have consented to share it for research.

There is currently no NHS screening programme for the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases; therefore, there are no plans to facilitate the integration of eye scan technology into screening for dementia.

The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) last review in 2019 recommended not to screen for dementia as the there were no screening tests which could find people with dementia before they show symptoms, and there was no evidence that current treatments for dementia were effective.

The UK NSC has commissioned an evidence map to determine the volume and type of evidence available on the accuracy of screening tests used to detect mild cognitive impairment and/or any type of dementia, as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions offered to treat asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic adults with either condition.

The ability of optometrists to detect neurodegenerative conditions is not yet fully developed and therefore there are no plans in place to encourage collaboration between optometrists and general practitioners to streamline early diagnosis of such conditions.

We want a society where every person, including those with neurodegenerative conditions, receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported. Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department is also investing in research on novel means of detecting neurodegenerative diseases. For example, the NIHR has invested almost £11 million to fund six projects to improve diagnosis in dementia until 2028.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including neurological and systemic diseases.

To improve secure access to linked health datasets across the National Health Service in England, the Government and NHS England are investing in a network of Secure Data Environments in England at a national and regional level, through the data for Research and Development programme. The Data for R&D Programme also funds the NHS DigiTrials service, which supports both clinical trials and cohort studies to recruit and follow up on consented participants, supporting the Our Future Health Study to recruit over 1.5 million participants.

The Government is supporting the work of studies of patients who have consented to share their detailed health information for longitudinal research; the Secretary of State has announced his intention to direct NHS England to improve the way data can be made to studies where patients have consented to share it for research.

There is currently no NHS screening programme for the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases; therefore, there are no plans to facilitate the integration of eye scan technology into screening for dementia.

The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) last review in 2019 recommended not to screen for dementia as the there were no screening tests which could find people with dementia before they show symptoms, and there was no evidence that current treatments for dementia were effective.

The UK NSC has commissioned an evidence map to determine the volume and type of evidence available on the accuracy of screening tests used to detect mild cognitive impairment and/or any type of dementia, as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions offered to treat asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic adults with either condition.

The ability of optometrists to detect neurodegenerative conditions is not yet fully developed and therefore there are no plans in place to encourage collaboration between optometrists and general practitioners to streamline early diagnosis of such conditions.

We want a society where every person, including those with neurodegenerative conditions, receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers supported. Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department is also investing in research on novel means of detecting neurodegenerative diseases. For example, the NIHR has invested almost £11 million to fund six projects to improve diagnosis in dementia until 2028.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including neurological and systemic diseases.

To improve secure access to linked health datasets across the National Health Service in England, the Government and NHS England are investing in a network of Secure Data Environments in England at a national and regional level, through the data for Research and Development programme. The Data for R&D Programme also funds the NHS DigiTrials service, which supports both clinical trials and cohort studies to recruit and follow up on consented participants, supporting the Our Future Health Study to recruit over 1.5 million participants.

The Government is supporting the work of studies of patients who have consented to share their detailed health information for longitudinal research; the Secretary of State has announced his intention to direct NHS England to improve the way data can be made to studies where patients have consented to share it for research.

There is currently no NHS screening programme for the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases; therefore, there are no plans to facilitate the integration of eye scan technology into screening for dementia.

The UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) last review in 2019 recommended not to screen for dementia as the there were no screening tests which could find people with dementia before they show symptoms, and there was no evidence that current treatments for dementia were effective.

The UK NSC has commissioned an evidence map to determine the volume and type of evidence available on the accuracy of screening tests used to detect mild cognitive impairment and/or any type of dementia, as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions offered to treat asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic adults with either condition.

The ability of optometrists to detect neurodegenerative conditions is not yet fully developed and therefore there are no plans in place to encourage collaboration between optometrists and general practitioners to streamline early diagnosis of such conditions.

The Government has introduced a number of tax measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises across the country, including those in the pottery sector in Stoke-on-Trent.

At the Autumn Budget, the Government published the Corporate Tax Roadmap to provide certainty for businesses to invest, committing to maintaining the Annual Investment Allowance at £1 million, which covers the qualifying expenditure of the vast majority of businesses.

The Government also took the decision to support the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500, which means that this year, 865,000 employers (43%) will pay no National Insurance contributions at all.

At Autumn Budget, the Government also froze the small business multiplier. Together with Small Business Rates Relief, which exempts over a third of properties from business rates, these measures protect 90% of properties from inflationary increases in business rate liabilities. The Government also remains committed to delivering a fairer business rates system.

The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, in order to ensure they strike the right balance between keeping taxes simple to administer, well-targeted and effective.

Relief from import duties can be claimed when bringing goods back into the UK. Returned Goods Relief allows individuals and businesses to claim relief from customs duty and import VAT on goods which are exported from the UK and subsequently returned to the UK, subject to meeting the relief’s conditions.

Guidance on the financial and logistical support which may be available for moving goods temporarily between the UK and other countries without payment of import duties can be found on GOV.UK.

Any job which meets the skill requirement of the Skilled Worker immigration route can be sponsored for a visa. The majority of the occupations on the red list are eligible to be sponsored.

The Shortage Occupation List (SOL) was replaced with the Immigration Salary List (ISL).

In the Home Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement on 30^th July, she outlined that the UK government would be retaining the salary thresholds set in April this year. Further details can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024- 07-30/hcws51.