Alberto Costa

The Secretary of State and I have separately met with the Chair and Director of the British Museum. The position of the Parthenon Sculptures was one of a number of issues discussed on both occasions.

I also met Greece’s Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni on 4 November for a meeting regarding tourism, and she briefly raised the Parthenon Sculptures.

Decisions relating to the care and management of the Parthenon Sculptures are a matter for the British Museum Trustees, acting within the law.

The department reviewed the abatement provisions as part of scheme reforms introduced in 2015 and removed abatement applying to any service accrued under the career average scheme that was introduced.

The abatement provision applies to pension accrued in the final salary section of the scheme only. The final salary section is closed to any further accrual, and all active members have now transitioned to the career average scheme.

Retired teachers are able to return to the profession and accrue further pension.

There are no plans to review the abatement provisions again.

Under The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations, environmental permits for quarries issued by local authorities must already include emission limit values, monitoring requirements and other controls for particulate matter and other air pollutants.

The Quarries Regulations 1999 require operators of quarries to take necessary measures to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the quarry and its plant are designed, constructed, equipped, commissioned, operated and maintained in such a way that persons at work can perform the work assigned to them without endangering their own health and safety or the health and safety of others. The duty holder for the quarry is required to ensure that risks and exposure to harmful substances are adequately controlled.

The Rail Minister met with CrossCountry in August. It is subject to a Remedial Plan that runs until March 2025. CrossCountry reinstated its full timetable from 10 November.

Officials meet CrossCountry regularly to discuss operational issues including progress with the Remedial Plan. CrossCountry will continue to be very closely monitored against the contractual benchmarks that are set out in its National Rail Contract.

On 27 April 2023, the remainder of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 was commenced, and the Department designated the use of a database, which previously operated on a voluntary basis supported by the Local Government Assocation, for the purposes of this Act. The Act mandates the use of a national database in England to record every decision to refuse, revoke or suspend a taxi or private hire vehicle driver licence due to safeguarding, road safety or discrimination concerns.

Calls to 999 are triaged to ensure the sickest patients get the fastest response. Suspected sepsis is generally allocated a Category 2 response. This category of response is for emergency incidents that require urgent assessment and rapid transportation.

The Government has committed to returning ambulance response time performance to the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. As a first step the Health Secretary has commissioned Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of National Health Service performance, which is due to report in September 2024. We will continue to support the public in accessing the NHS treatment and advice that best meets their needs.

To provide future certainty, Ukrainians who have been provided with sanctuary in the UK under the Ukraine schemes will be able to apply for further permission to remain in the UK through a bespoke Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme due to open in early 2025. The new route will provide an additional 18 months’ permission.

The scheme will provide the same rights and entitlements as the existing Ukraine Schemes, to access work, benefits, healthcare and education. Further details on eligibility and application processes will be available before the scheme opens.

We continue to work closely with relevant stakeholders to communicate these changes to landlords and employers, to support the stability of Ukrainian guests in these areas.

The Employer’s guide to right to work checks and the Landlord's guide to right to rent checks have been updated to reflect employment and renting of Ukrainian nationals. Updates have included advising of schemes which are now closed, and changes made to the Homes for Ukraine scheme which means some visa holders, who applied to the scheme after the 19 February 2024, will have 18 months permission to remain in the UK.

The government encourage water companies and other infrastructure providers to work proactively with local planning authorities to identify where supporting infrastructure will be required to meet the demands of new development.

On 23 October, the government announced an independent commission to review the water sector regulatory system and make recommendations to reform the water sector regulatory framework in England and Wales. The review is expected to report next year, and we will carefully consider its findings.