Antony Higginbotham

As set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, infrastructure and connectivity are key to levelling up the country.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is currently conducting a review of the annual Government grant provided to the Canal and River Trust, and the potential role of the canal network in the levelling-up agenda is being considered as part of that review.

As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement made on 2^nd November 2021, the Government remains committed to establishing a new beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property. This register will help combat money laundering and achieve greater transparency in the UK property market. We are continuing to finalise the draft legislation, to align with the broader reform of Companies House. We will legislate when parliamentary time allows.

The Department’s plans for Register Reform and improvements to the powers of Companies House will deliver significant improvements to the integrity of the UK’s register of companies and assist greatly in the fight against economic crime.

We will legislate when Parliamentary time allows.

We are working to ensure that Parliamentary business can continue as far as possible during this period.

We are committed to reopening facilities as soon as it is safe to do so including indoor gyms and health spas. BEIS published guidance on 23 June to help spas prepare for reopening.

The Government is also in discussions with representatives from the sport and physical activity sector about the steps required to reopen these facilities, hopefully from mid-July.

As with all aspects of the Government’s response to Covid-19, we will be guided by science to ensure that as restrictions are eased people can return to these facilities safely.

Arts Council England (ACE) funds a number of national music and cultural education programmes across the country focused on children and young people.

For example, DCMS works closely with DfE to deliver Music Education hubs which help hundreds of thousands of young people learn to play an instrument in whole classes every year. Alongside this, ACE supports a range of organisations that provide cultural programmes specifically aimed at children.

DCMS has also committed £2m to the Creative Careers Programme: an industry-designed and led initiative to raise awareness amongst children and young people of opportunities for work across the creative economy.

We have introduced a wide range of reforms to improve the quality of apprenticeships and to encourage employers across England to create more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities.

From August 2020, all starts will be on the new apprenticeship standards which are replacing frameworks. Over 530 standards, designed and driven by industry, have already been approved for delivery. These high-quality standards are directly benefitting young apprentices as they allow them to gain transferable skills, knowledge and behaviours which are recognised by industry and to become fully competent in their chosen occupations.

We are working hard to encourage take-up of apprenticeships among young people. The first 2 phases of the Fire it Up campaign have targeted young people, parents and schools to improve the perception and take-up of apprenticeships by young people. The third phase of the Fire it Up campaign, which launched in January, will continue this work as well as targeting audience groups that contribute to widening participation in apprenticeships.

Our 13^th annual National Apprenticeship Week took place in February. Nearly 900 events were held across the country, aiming to change perceptions of apprenticeships.

In January 2018, we introduced a legal requirement for schools to give training providers the chance to talk to pupils about technical qualifications and apprenticeships so that young people hear about the alternatives to academic routes.

We also offer a free service to schools through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools and Colleges (ASK) programme to ensure that teachers have the knowledge and support to enable them to promote apprenticeships to their students. In the last academic year, ASK reached over 300,000 students throughout England. We have recently extended the programme to include younger pupils in key stage 3 (years 7 to 9).

We are making good progress and remain on track for the introduction of the first three T levels this September. A further seven T levels will be delivered in 2021, completing the construction and digital routes and introducing T levels from the health and science route.

We have appointed awarding organisations to deliver T levels for 2020 and 2021 and expect to award contracts for 2022 T levels in the autumn.

We have an extensive programme of support for providers and employers to get them ready to deliver Industry Placements under T levels. Funding of nearly £60 million in 2018/19 and nearly £55 million in 2019/20 has helped providers to build capacity and deliver T level industry placements, with over 18,000 T level-style placements already successfully completed in 2018/19 and many more expected this academic year.

Up to March 2020, £20 million has been allocated to help teachers and leaders prepare for the introduction of T levels, with a further investment of £15 million for 2020/21.

We want T level students to have access to the latest, high quality equipment and state-of-the-art facilities during their studies. £38 million capital funding supports the 2020 rollout and we have announced an extra £95 million to help upgrade the facilities of 2021 providers.

We have introduced a wide range of reforms to apprenticeships to improve their quality and encourage employers across England, include those in the engineering sector, to increase the number of apprenticeships they offer.

In 2018-19, there were almost 60,000 starts in the engineering and manufacturing technologies sector. There are currently 122 high-quality industry-designed apprenticeship standards available in the engineering sector, including engineering and manufacturing technician and rail and rail systems engineer, with a further 24 standards in development.

We continue to work closely with employers and industry sector bodies, including the Institute for Engineering and Technology, MAKE UK and the Royal Aeronautical Society, to help them make the most of the long-term benefits of apprenticeships.

This support ranges from direct engagement with key employers to support growth in apprenticeships, helping to promote apprenticeships on employers’ websites and social media, and running sector-specific apprenticeship events. We also provide guidance for small employers who do not pay the levy to transition onto the apprenticeship service, through webinars, workshops and face to face meetings.

Our Intermediary Ambassador Network, which currently has 60 members, includes representation from the engineering and manufacturing sector. We are supporting these ambassadors to effectively promote apprenticeships in their sectors.

The Agriculture Bill currently before Parliament sets out how farmers and land managers in England will in future be rewarded with public money for public goods including improved access to the countryside. These improvements should benefit horse riders and pedestrians on bridleways and other paths.

Local highway authorities are also required to maintain a rights of way improvement plan which should consider the needs of multiple types of user.

Burnley and the wider North West economy already benefit from the higher productivity and better-quality jobs associated with international trade. According to new experimental research, 630,000 jobs in the region were estimated to be linked to exports in 2016, and Foreign Direct Investment projects created over 5,000 new jobs in 2019-20.We are confident the new Free Trade Agreements we are striking around the world will create even more opportunities for Burnley companies and that this increased trade will help level up the UK economy further.

The Government supported the reopening of the Todmorden Curve in 2015 which has allowed a new faster and direct train service between Manchester Victoria and Burnley, opening up job prospects and tourist and leisure opportunities.

Work is progressing to assess the potential role of a re-opened Skipton-Colne rail line to deliver real benefits for passengers in East Lancashire, freight users and the local economy to complement the initial Strategic Outline Business Case completed in December 2018. These will inform the Government’s decision as to whether a reinstatement scheme should progress to the ‘develop’ stage of the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.

More widely, to help communities both in East Lancashire and across the country, we have pledged £500m to start reopening lines closed following the Beeching report.

This Government is committed to providing targeted support for people, regardless of the length of time they have been unemployed, so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work.

In both Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, the Work and Health Programme uses the expertise of private, public and voluntary and community sector providers to deliver sustained employment for disabled people, certain priority groups and the long term unemployed (more than 2 years).

For claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance, Additional Employability Support provides additional time for claimants who are long term unemployed – 18 months or longer – with their Work Coach to tackle barriers to work: it also includes targeted group sessions; case conferencing with a work psychologist; mock interviews and job application support; and a rigorous skills assessment.

This Government is committed to providing targeted support for people, regardless of the length of time they have been unemployed, so that everyone, no matter what their start in life, is given the very best chance of getting into work.

In both Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, the Work and Health Programme uses the expertise of private, public and voluntary and community sector providers to deliver sustained employment for disabled people, certain priority groups and the long term unemployed (more than 2 years).

For claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance, Additional Employability Support provides additional time for claimants who are long term unemployed – 18 months or longer – with their Work Coach to tackle barriers to work: it also includes targeted group sessions; case conferencing with a work psychologist; mock interviews and job application support; and a rigorous skills assessment.

We are committed to recovering cancer services by the end of March 2022, returning to February 2020 levels for waiting times between a general practitioner appointment and referral and the number of people waiting for over 62 days for treatment.

Diagnostic capacity is being increased, particularly in endoscopy, computerised tomography and targeted lung health checks. Rapid diagnostic centres are bringing together diagnostic equipment and expertise and increasing capacity. The National Health Service is maximising innovative treatments adopted during the pandemic, including new radiotherapy methods to deliver targeted treatment in fewer hospital visits.

At the Spending Review 2021, we announced an extra £5.9 billion to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology over the next three years. This includes £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and launching community diagnostic centres to address backlogs of clinical tests.

The Government continues to support the integrated provision of health and social care because of the improvements it brings to the quality of care people receive. Integrated provision has been found to improve health, quality of care and patient satisfaction.

Integration across health and social care commissioning also enables improved co-operation and joint decision-making between health and social care partners in delivering shared outcomes. A number of local areas have reported improved outcomes through the adoption of integrated approaches.

At the national level, evidence of savings due to integrated provision is limited, therefore, the Department does not have an estimate of the annual savings of integration.

The information is not available in the format requested.

NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, general practitioner (GP) surgeries, local authorities or other providers.

As at November 2019, the latest available data, there are 2,323 nurses and health visitors at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, headcount.

The following table shows the number of nurses and health visitors joiners for the period specified to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, headcount.

We have a number of national programmes in place focused on improving mental health staff retention, return to practice, overseas and domestic recruitment and improving sickness absence. These include:

- providing funding for the fast track mental health social work programme that is delivering around 100 social workers into mental health services each year and supporting the development of social work as a profession in mental health services;

- increasing the nursing workforce by expanding the number of nurse training places and launching the ‘We are the NHS’ campaign to highlight nursing opportunities in mental health to increase interest in this profession; and

- increasing the number of psychiatry placements available for junior doctors undertaking foundation training.

The Government has no current plans to apply an excise duty to non-tobacco nicotine or vaping products. We believe these are an effective way of encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives.

Non-tobacco nicotine and vaping products are currently subject to the standard rate of VAT at 20%. Medicinally regulated products are subject to the reduced rate of VAT at 5%.

The Government has no current plans to apply an excise duty to non-tobacco nicotine or vaping products. We believe these are an effective way of encouraging smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives.

Non-tobacco nicotine and vaping products are currently subject to the standard rate of VAT at 20%. Medicinally regulated products are subject to the reduced rate of VAT at 5%.

In response to calls that current law on economic crime may require reform, the Government carried out a Call for Evidence in 2017 and published its response in November 2020. This is an extremely complex area of the law and the public consultation unfortunately proved inconclusive.

The Government has therefore asked the Law Commission to undertake an in-depth review of the laws around corporate criminal liability for economic crime and - if considered necessary - make recommendations on proportionate and appropriate options for reform. The Commission is aiming to publish an Options Paper shortly.

It is important that we get this right, and any reforms must be proportionate and evidence-based. We intend to engage with the Law Commission on the findings of the review once it has concluded.

Since 2018, Border Force staffing has increased from 7,700 to over 8,700 to boost wider operational resilience. This includes a brand-new Readiness Task Force (RTF) of c. 300 multi-functional officers, available to deploy across the UK at short notice in response to emerging issues and peaks in demand.

The Government is developing a new global border and immigration system that makes better use of data, biometrics, analytics and automation to improve both security and fluidity across the border

We intend to introduce a requirement for visitors and transit passengers who do not currently need a visa to come to the UK to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), as an additional security measure. This will enable the Government to conduct security checks on passengers and make more informed decisions on information obtained at an earlier stage, as to whether individuals should be allowed to travel to and enter the UK.

We are also investing in new technology, including ePassport gates and other modern detection technology to improve security and prevent illegal entry.

As previously announced, we intend to phase out the acceptance of EEA and Swiss national identity cards to enter the UK in the future. National identity cards are often the most insecure and forged documents detected at the border and are not compatible with the ePassport gates. By making better use of digital technology and automation, Border Force will be able to provide an improved service whilst maintaining security.

Local authorities are equipped with a range of powers and strong incentives to tackle empty homes, including those that are derelict. Through the New Homes Bonus, they earn the same financial reward for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. Billing authorities have the discretion to charge up to 100 per cent extra council tax – on top of the standard bill – on properties that have been empty for at least two years.

In certain circumstances, local authorities can apply for an Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) to temporarily take over the management of a property that has been empty for more than two years and bring it back into use. Local authorities have a variety of compulsory purchase powers which they can use to acquire and develop derelict or empty property, including for housing purposes. However, compulsory purchase is intended for use as a last resort and there must always be a compelling case in the public interest.

This Government’s £3.6 billion Towns Fund will support an initial 100 Town Deals, unleashing towns’ economic potential and sharing prosperity across the country. We are forming a Towns Hub to make Whitehall work for towns and communities and have provided places with over £16 million capacity funding – to prepare their plans and secure up to £25 million each.

We will be investing in town centres and high streets to help them evolve – with more housing, safer streets, culture and transport to make them more accessible.

Prison Officers are some of our finest public servants, and we do not underestimate the challenges faced by everyone working in prisons. We are committed to making prisons a safe place to work and providing prison officers with the right support, training and tools to empower them to do their jobs.

We have recruited more than 4,300 new prison officers over the last two years, and this has given us the capacity to implement the key worker role which will help us deal with emerging threats and to improve safety. We’re also investing £2.75 billion to transform the estate, to make prisons safer and cut crime behind bars.

We are rolling out body worn cameras, police-style restraints and PAVA incapacitant spray to prison officers to help them do their job more safely.

In light of recent developments concerning Covid-19, we have put in place robust contingency plans in consultation with Public Health England and the Department of Health and Social Care. This includes specific advice for staff on steps they should take should they become unwell, or if they have been exposed to Covid-19.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by ensuring all offenders have the tools they need to turn their backs on crime. The Ministry of Justice regards every crime as serious, so does not group offence types on that basis. The ‘Proven Reoffending Type Data Tool, January to December 2016, England and Wales’ can be used to look at the various reoffending rates for specific offence categories:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/797424/Reoffence_type_data_tool.xlsx

As an example, from this toolkit, the relevant reoffending rates for a selection of index offences were:

Note:

1. The January-December 2016 cohort in the table above refers to all adult offenders in the calendar year who were released from custody. A proven reoffence is then defined as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period that resulted in a court conviction or caution in this timeframe or a further six month waiting period to allow time for cases to progress through the courts.

2. The index offence is the proven offence that leads to an offender being included in the cohort.

The Scotland Office, the Secretary of State for Scotland, and I are all in frequent contact with stakeholders across the Scottish defence sector to ensure their valuable perspective is heard and understood.

In my Moray constituency, Kinloss Barracks and RAF Lossiemouth have remained busy supporting the efforts to fight COVID-19 and to continue to protect our country. So I place on record our thanks to them for all their efforts.