Lord Hampton

It is for retailers to determine the delivery services they make available to their customers and the Government has no plans to ask courier companies to provide tracking as standard.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure items ordered are delivered and Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector, has imposed an ‘Essential Condition’ requiring relevant parcel delivery companies to take all reasonable steps to minimise exposure of postal packets to risk of loss, theft, damage or interference.

Ofcom is the designated, independent regulator for the postal sector. The Government has no role in its regulatory decisions.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure items ordered are delivered and Ofcom requires postal operators to take all reasonable steps to minimise exposure of postal packets to risk of loss, theft, damage or interference in terms of an essential requirement.

In its 2022 review of postal regulation, Ofcom recognised that the safety and security of parcels remains a key consumer concern and will continue to monitor the issue.

Milk is an excellent food for children’s growth and development. This is why, as part of the School Food Standards, schools are already required to ensure milk is available to all pupils who want it during school hours. The National School Milk Subsidy Scheme can be used by primary schools to reduce the cost of milk for all their pupils.

Thanks to Universal Infant Free School Meals, pupils under seven years old are already eligible for free milk when it is offered as part of their school lunch. Older pupils entitled to benefits related free school meals are also eligible for free milk when made available during the school day. This is in addition to the free milk provided for children under five-years-old thanks to the Nursery Milk Scheme.

As with free school meals, the department believes it is important to support those most in need and to ensure policy remains affordable and deliverable for schools. The department does not have plans to change the current eligibility conditions for the scheme.

The department currently has no plans to alter the established publication timings for ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’. The department publishes a near final version of the guidance in late spring or early summer.

Schools and colleges are familiar with the department’s approach which ensures that schools and colleges have sufficient time to digest revisions and to plan any necessary training, ahead of implementation in the next school year.

It is rare for material changes to be made between the ‘for information’ version and the final publication in September. Where this does occur, changes are strictly limited to reflect vital information in response to unexpected or emerging issues and are made to support schools and colleges to better safeguard children.

The department’s guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), is updated annually in the summer term, for information to enable schools and colleges to plan for the commencement of the guidance in September.

For 2023, KCSIE was published for information on 6 June 2023, with a final version with only minor changes published on 1 September 2023.

Core academic subjects are defined as those that are included within the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). The EBacc is made up of English language and literature, mathematics, the sciences, including computer science, either history or geography, and a modern or ancient language.

The department is encouraged by the increased uptake in these core academic subjects because they are essential for many degrees, and they provide a sound basis for a variety of careers beyond the age of 16. In particular, they can enable pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to follow a curriculum which will give them similar post-16 options as their non-disadvantaged peers, fostering greater social mobility.

The EBacc’s core academic subjects provide a strong foundation for all pupils regardless of whether that want to take an academic, technical, or vocational route post-16.

In February 2023, the department updated the Data Protection in Schools guidance, which provides advice covering Subject Access Requests (SARs). The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-in-schools.

The department is developing the Education Privacy Assurance Scheme, which will provide targeted training, guidance, and templates on a range of data protection subjects. The department is prioritising responding to SARs as the first release in the next 12 months. This will help provide a consistent approach that is adopted by schools across the sector.

We have no plans to form an independent investigation unit specifically for bus safety incidents. However, as Lord Hampton is aware, the Automated Vehicles Bill includes measures for the Secretary of State to appoint ‘inspectors of automated vehicle incidents’. These inspectors will have the necessary powers to conduct safety investigation on self-driving vehicles to ultimately increase road safety across the transport mode. If it was the case that a self-driving vehicle was involved in an incident with a bus, or the bus was self-driving, then these inspectors could investigate it.

More widely, our National Bus Strategy, published in 2021, made clear that the bus sector must strive for the highest safety standards, upheld by the Traffic Commissioners. The Strategy required all Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to publish a local Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). The Department was clear that BSIPs should include plans on how LTAs and local bus operators will work together to ensure that bus services are safe and perceived to be safe by all. This may include measures such as appropriate passenger safety training for bus drivers to deal with emergency situations on or off the bus, and encouraging bus operators to liaise with local police and other stakeholders to address safety concerns.

The Department for Transport has not had any such discussions. Vehicle access restrictions used to create a Local Traffic Neighbourhoods are implemented and enforced using existing prescribed traffic signs. These are enforceable in the same way and with the same penalties as when used on any other part of the road network.

The use of any surplus revenue is strictly ring-fenced in legislation towards covering enforcement costs, specified local authority-funded local transport schemes, or road improvement and environmental measures.

The Building Safety Act 2022 requires the Building Safety Regulator to keep the safety and standards of all buildings under review.

For buildings defined as higher risk under the Building Safety Act 2022, essentially multi-residential buildings at least 18m in height or with seven storeys or more, those responsible are required to take proportionate and effective steps to manage fire and structural safety risks. Where this is not demonstrated, the Regulator will be able to use its enforcement powers to require improvements to prevent incidents before they take place.

For buildings not in scope of the new higher-risk buildings regime, local authorities and fire and rescue services have powers to investigate dangerous buildings and compel building owners to address safety risks under the Housing Act 2004, Building Act 1984, and Fire Safety Order 2005. These powers also continue to apply in respect of higher-risk buildings. Local authorities and fire and rescue services have also been granted new powers in the form of remediation orders under the Building Safety Act.

This Government is committed to providing the affordable housing the country needs and has introduced a range of measures intended to make it easier for people to enter the housing market.

The First Homes programme is designed to help local first-time buyers on to the property ladder, by offering homes at a discount of at least 30% of the market price. The discount is passed on to all future purchasers in perpetuity, meaning these homes will continue to benefit first-time buyers for generations to come.

Local authorities are able to prioritise certain groups in their local area, which can include key workers or those with a local connection.

Additionally, we are investing £11.5 billion to provide tens of thousands of new homes across the country, a significant number of which will be for Affordable and Social rent, to help those most in need.