Al Pinkerton

From 1 January 2025, water companies will be required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).

In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce a duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning.

This will create an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and hold water companies to account. This will meet the Government commitment to ensure monitoring of every outlet.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill will also introduce a statutory duty for all water companies in England and Wales to publish annual Pollution Incident Reduction Plans.

The measures in this Bill will provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies in the next investment period, which is due to start in April next year.

It is essential to manage bottom trawling in our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) appropriately due to the significant damage it can have on protected seabed habitats. 60% of England’s MPAs have bottom trawling restrictions already. The department is considering next steps in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations and how we consider, and work with, the fishing industry as part of this.

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

The Government is committed to effectively protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030. There are 181 Marine Protected Areas, including three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), covering over 40% of English waters.

We are currently focusing on implementing management measures to ensure these three HPMAs receive the high level of protection needed and will consider next steps on HPMAs in due course.

National Highways play a key role in the planning process to determine the necessary strategic road requirements of new major housing projects, and new major developments are a key consideration in future network investment planning as part of the Road Investment Strategy. Alongside this, the Department continues to work with colleagues in the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government and other partners to deliver a well-designed, integrated, and affordable transport network that unlocks homes and supports new developments. This is key to realising wider growth benefits, including reducing congestion and emissions, and ensuring communities can access jobs and services.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, very often at significant profit.

DVSA deploys enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.

DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors.

In January 2023, DVSA changed its booking service terms and conditions to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since then, the DVSA has issued 327 warnings, 779 suspensions, and closed 727 business accounts for misuse of its booking service.

The law requires all driving licence holders to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any medical condition that could affect their fitness to drive and failure to do so is an offence.

When a driver declares a medical condition to the DVLA, or a third party (for example a doctor, police officer, family, friends or neighbours) raises concerns, the DVLA will carry out an investigation and a driving licence will only be issued or retained if the individual can meet the appropriate health standards. These medical investigations can range from the consideration of information provided by the driver or applicant to a more detailed investigation. This can include information provided by medical professionals, reports, examinations, eyesight tests or driving assessments.

All drivers are encouraged to discuss any concerns about their fitness to drive with their own healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals, doctors and opticians play an important role in the driver licensing process. They advise their patients of the implications of their condition on driving and the effect of any treatment or medication and they advise when a patient should notify the DVLA. If a patient is unwilling or unable to notify the DVLA, the General Medical Council offers clear guidance of when doctors should report any concerns and the DVLA treats such notifications as a high priority. Similar guidance is available to opticians.

In January 2022, The Highway Code was updated to improve road safety for people walking, cycling and riding horses. The changes aim to initiate a positive shift in road user behaviour by making road users aware of their responsibility to use roads safely and reduce the danger they may pose to others. The changes included the introduction of a “Hierarchy of Road Users”, which places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy.

Communications to raise awareness of the changes were launched via a factual awareness raising campaign in 2022, alerting road users to the changes as they came into effect. This was followed by broader behaviour change campaigns in the summers of 2022 and 2023, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the guidance. Over £2.4million has been spent on media across the campaign, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.

Campaign outcomes include 86% of road users having heard of the changes by September 2023, and 81% of drivers claiming to leave a gap of 1.5m when passing a cyclist all or most of the time.

We will continue to promote The Highway Code changes on THINK! and DfT social media channels and via our partner organisations.

Department officials work closely with South Western Railway and Network Rail to ensure that any areas of potential improvement that provide a positive outcome for both passenger and taxpayer are regularly considered and are introduced where possible. This includes within the Surrey Heath constituency, as well as between Camberley and London.

Neurodivergent people bring many positive benefits to businesses but can face stigma and disadvantage. We understand the importance of tackling discrimination and encouraging employers to adopt neuro-inclusive working practices so that everyone can thrive at work.

In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. We will be gathering expert evidence on how best to improve employment for all neurodivergent people and will be considering the Buckland Review of Autism Employment’s findings.

Employers have a key role to play. Our support to employers includes a digital information service for employers, and the Disability Confident scheme. Both help employers to understand their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. We will be considering how to enhance our work with employers in the months ahead, including in response to the independent employer review announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper.

There are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions in England, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, and the Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP).

The GIRFT National Specialty Report made recommendations designed to improve services nationally and to support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country. The report highlighted differences in how services are delivered, and provided the opportunity to share successful initiatives between trusts to improve patient services nationally. In addition, the NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home.

The NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home. The NTP has developed an online, interactive adult neurology dashboard to support systems to understand their local neurology landscape and benchmark against other ICBs. It sets out key metrics and visualisations for neurology services locally, providing information about the scope and quality of local neurology services, using existing whole population, whole pathway data.

Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with neurological conditions can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of care that patients may receive from 27 neurology centres across England. Within specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals, including neurological nurses, psychologists, and allied health professionals such as dieticians and speech and language therapists, and that they can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

The Department delivers research into neurological conditions via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In the financial year 2023/24, the NIHR spent £72.9 million on research into neurological conditions across research projects, programmes, and infrastructure.

The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including neurological conditions. The amount of funding for research into neurological conditions is determined by the number and quality of research applications received. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

The GP Contract requires all practices to offer patients an assessment of need, or signposting to an appropriate service, on the day they contact the practice, or the next day if they contact the practice in the afternoon. They will not be asked to phone back another day.

As independent businesses, practices have autonomy in the way that they function operationally, including the implementation of digital services and how they manage appointments and related processes. Therefore, each practice will have its own approach to managing appointment bookings in order to best meet the needs of the local population.

The Department recognises that the use of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, such as psilocybin, to treat mental illness is gaining attention both within the medical and scientific communities, as well as across the public more broadly. However, there is no proven medical use for psilocybin in the United Kingdom, and no such substance has yet been licensed as safe and effective in the treatment of mental health conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is supporting psilocybin research via the NIHR King’s Clinical Research Facility, the NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility, and the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, where researchers are developing and evaluating the efficacy and safety of psilocybin therapies.

The Department recognises that where the capacity of general practice (GP) services is not meeting patient demand, this can lead to some patients seeking advice and care in alternative settings, such as accident and emergency. We have already committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs from this October through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, increasing capacity in GPs. The latest information on accident and emergency waiting times is published monthly by NHS England, and is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2024-25/

It is unacceptable that many children and young people are not receiving mental health care and support when they need it, and we know that waiting times for mental health services are far too long. The Government is determined to change that.

At a national level, the Government will recruit 8,500 additional staff across children and adult mental health services, and will introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school. The Government will roll out open access Young Futures hubs for children and young people in every community, including in Surrey Heath constituency and Surrey.

Responsibility for onward commissioning of mental health services sits with integrated care boards (ICB). It is the role of local ICB decision-makers to consider the implications of mental health services, specific to each geography and including from the perspectives of healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, and local authorities.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) travel advice remains under regular review to ensure it reflects our latest assessment of risks to British nationals. The risks of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. We aim to include information in our travel advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases.

We provide information and guidance in our Travel Advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases. The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. In addition, two of our Travel Aware partners, RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and the Safer Tourism Foundation, run campaigns and continue to develop messaging to alert travellers to the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning around the world. We regularly review the work we do with all our Travel Aware partners ensuring that they are highlighting appropriate issues to British travellers.

Our international climate finance continues to prioritise support to the most vulnerable communities who are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change, including children. For example, we will triple our funding for adaptation from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion in 2025. In addition, we are committed to amplifying the voices of the most marginalised, empowering them as decision-makers, advocates and leaders in the climate response, ensuring gender and inclusion are a key part of our policy and programming. At COP29, I championed gender-responsive and inclusive international climate finance and policy, announcing over £5.8 million to support women's economic empowerment and in the context of insecurity created by the climate crisis.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.

The Government is working to support people and improve living standards for everyone across the country. As part of this, the Government committed to making no increase in employee National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT as we want to keep taxes as low as possible for working people. The Government has also put growth as its number one mission, which will help families by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets.

The Budget announced a £240 million Get Britain Working package to help people into work which will help to tackle the root causes of economic inactivity and to get those who can work, off benefits and into good employment. Further details have been set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, published on 26 November 2024.

On 1 April 2025, the new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates will come into force, expecting to benefit over 3 million eligible workers. For a full-time worker on NLW, the 6.7% increase of the rate to £12.21 per hour will provide a £1,400 increase to their annual earnings. These increases will ensure that the lowest-paid workers are supported and marks a step towards the government delivering a genuine living wage for all adults.

In addition, the Government is also supporting those on low incomes through continuing the Household Support Fund, increasing the Carers’ Allowance weekly earnings limit by nearly 30% from April 2025, and creating a new Fair Repayment Rate ensuring 1.2 million households claiming Universal Credit are on average better off by £420 per year, by capping the amount of debt deductions at 15% of the standard allowance.

On mental health, the Government has continued to expand access to mental health support to address the high levels of demand since the pandemic ended. This has included increasing the mental health workforce, treating more people through NHS Talking Therapies and improving urgent and emergency mental health care though new crisis houses and alternatives to A&E as well as making support available to those experiencing a crisis through the new ‘mental health option’ on 111.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

Further details about the review will be set out in due course.

The Government is committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

Further details will be set out in due course.

The Government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) tax regime from April 2025. This will equalise the tax treatment of FHL and non-FHL landlords’ income and gains.

The Government wants to support the visitor economy alongside housing for longer-term residents to rent or buy. Achieving this balance is crucial in supporting the tourism sector, and many of the people who work in the sector need access to local housing.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.

One of the key considerations when assessing a new VAT relief is whether the cost saving is likely to be passed on to consumers. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates. The Government has no current plans to zero-rate VAT on pedal and electric bicycles, but keeps all taxes under review.

Firefighters play a vital role in keeping the public safe and we are grateful for the work undertaken by fire and rescue services across the country in support of their local communities.

The Government is committed to ensuring fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work. Overall, fire and rescue authorities will receive around £2.87 billion during 2024/25. Standalone FRAs will see an increase in core spending power of £95.4m during 2024/25. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2023/24.

It is for the Fire Authority to guarantee that their Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) can secure sufficient resources to meet public safety during periods of insufficient staffing. This includes ensuring that their FRS has sufficiently trained, qualified and competent persons to meet their legislated functional requirements.

Tackling anti-social behaviour, theft and other crimes affecting local communities are a top priorities for this Government, and represent a key part of our Safter Streets Mission.

The Government recently announced Respect Orders, which will be introduced in the forthcoming Crime and Policing Bill. Respect Orders can be applied for by police and local councils and are issued by the courts. They will enable courts to place wide-ranging restrictions on the behaviour of the most persistent and disruptive ASB offenders. They will include a power of arrest for any suspected breach, meaning officers can take action quickly to disrupt ongoing ASB. Breach will be a criminal offence, which is heard in the criminal courts with a wide range of sentencing options, including community orders, unlimited fines and, for the most severe cases, up to two years’ imprisonment.

The Government also recognises that a key part of making theft less attractive to criminals is to tackle the market for stolen goods, making items such as mobile phones less attractive to steal in the first place. This is why we have announced that we will be working with tech companies and law enforcement to see what more can be done to break the business model of mobile phone thieves.

We will also put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities and ensure that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.

The White Paper we published before Christmas sets an ambitious new framework for English devolution, moving power out of Westminster and back to those who know their areas best. To deliver change, we need strong local leadership and empowered institutions. This is what devolution is all about.

A unitary council for Surrey residents will bring lower and upper tier services together, creating opportunities for service transformation which will support improvements in delivery. Ultimately, our goal is mayoral devolution that will prioritise the delivery of high quality, sustainable public services to citizens and communities, above all other issues.

Mayors will be equipped with a range of new powers across planning, infrastructure, transport, skills, business and energy, alongside strong and effective relationships with councils and other partners, to deliver the missions we have set out to transform the country.

I have interpreted not-for-profit freeholders as referring to registered social landlords (RSLs).

All RSLs are required to meet the outcomes of the regulatory standards set by the independent Regulator of Social Housing. The Regulator holds private registered providers accountable for meeting the economic standards and both local authorities and private registered providers accountable on consumer standards. Appropriate action is taken when the outcomes of the standards are not being delivered.

Since April 2024, the Regulator has begun proactively seeking assurance that registered providers are meeting the standards through routine regulatory inspections. Where social tenants are unhappy with the quality of homes or services provided by their landlord they can complain to the Housing Ombudsman Service.

The updated GPSR largely formalises how businesses are already operating in the UK. Where businesses need to make changes, we expect that they will be adapting anyway to be compliant with the new Regulation to continue trading with the EU.

On 3 December, the Department for Business and Trade’s Office for Product Safety and Standards published guidance for businesses on the application of the Regulation in Northern Ireland, which makes clear that authorities will continue to take a proportionate, risk-based, and intelligence-led approach to regulating the NI market, prioritising unsafe products.

DBT will continue to engage businesses directly to ensure they are familiar with the guidance and that the Government is supporting them to trade freely across the whole of the UK. My Department continues to have regular engagement with DBT on this new Regulation.

As part of my commitment to repeal and replace the Legacy Act, I am undertaking a wide range of engagements, consulting with interested parties, including victims and survivors, veterans, statutory bodies, Northern Ireland political parties, and wider civil society. This of course includes continued close discussion with the Irish Government, which this Government considers to be a valued partner in this process. These discussions focus on finding a pragmatic way forward that can both comply with human rights and command public confidence. I am encouraged by the willingness of those I have met to date to engage constructively, and I look forward to further discussions in the period ahead.

The Government remains committed to repealing and replacing the Legacy Act. In my statement to the House on 29 July, I made clear my commitment to propose measures to allow inquests previously halted under Section 44 of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 to proceed. I intend to implement the changes to the Act that I have promised, including allowing Troubles-related inquests to continue and reinstating prospective civil proceedings.

I have not had any discussions with the Secretary of State for Health or the Northern Ireland Executive regarding access to a UK-wide compensation scheme for victims of fetal valproate syndrome in Northern Ireland. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Health confirmed on 12 November that the Government will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity, and is engaging with devolved Governments, including the Northern Ireland Executive.

The Government remains committed to repealing and replacing the Legacy Act, in particular, those sections which have been most vehemently opposed by victims and survivors and found deficient by the court. The Government has already committed to bringing forward a remedial order under the Human Rights Act to remove conditional immunity provisions and we are considering the Dillon judgment. We are also consulting widely on a practical way forward that can obtain support and comply with our human rights obligations. I remain committed to retaining and reforming the ICRIR to further strengthen its powers and independence.

Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have recognised the ICRIR’s structural independence and wide powers to conduct effective investigations. The Government has confidence in the ICRIR’s ability to deliver results for victims and survivors.