Baroness Randerson

The Government recognises the importance of the aviation sector to the UK economy. International connectivity, underpinned by strong airports and airlines, drives economic activity through facilitating trade and investment and enabling the movement of workers and tourists.

In the Green Paper the Government committed to engage widely throughout the development of our Industrial Strategy. This will include convening and co-design of ambitious Sector Plans for all eight growth-driving sectors (e.g. advance manufacturing). The UK approach to developing the Industrial Strategy focuses on growth that is aligned with our net zero and environmental objectives.

As part of their Targeted Charging Review, Ofgem undertook analysis on the impact their reforms would have on different network users. It has estimated a resulting total consumer saving of £4 billion up to 2040. We are aware that the reforms are causing particular concern for a small number of sites, including public electric vehicle charge point operators. Ofgem will be undertaking a broad review of system costs and will consider whether other cost recovery options provide potential for improvements. Proposals are currently being progressed through industry, and Ofgem are engaging with this process and the detailed proposals under discussion.

The announcement in the Budget extends funding for the three city regions piloting the Innovation Accelerator programme for an additional year. Longer-term decisions regarding the future of the programme, including any extension to new areas, will be considered as part of the next phase of the Spending Review.

We recognise the unique and valuable role that Welsh National Opera has to play in our cultural life. The funding settlement it receives from Arts Council England puts it among the highest funded cultural organisations in the country.

Taking into account funding received to support transition to a lower grant level, Welsh National Opera are expected to have received up to £15.25 million over 3 years (2023-26) from ACE.

While DCMS is aware of recent developments regarding Welsh National Opera’s programme, the department has not carried out an in depth assessment regarding their plans. This is because Welsh National Opera is not supported directly by the department, but instead by an arm's-length body, Arts Council England, whose core funding decisions are taken independently from central government.

I will work with colleagues across government and with the Welsh Government to understand Welsh National Opera’s situation.

We recognise the unique and valuable role that Welsh National Opera has to play in our cultural life. The funding settlement it receives from Arts Council England puts it among the highest funded cultural organisations in the country.

Taking into account funding received to support transition to a lower grant level, Welsh National Opera are expected to have received up to £15.25 million over 3 years (2023-26) from ACE.

While DCMS is aware of recent developments regarding Welsh National Opera’s programme, the department has not carried out an in depth assessment regarding their plans. This is because Welsh National Opera is not supported directly by the department, but instead by an arm's-length body, Arts Council England, whose core funding decisions are taken independently from central government.

I will work with colleagues across government and with the Welsh Government to understand Welsh National Opera’s situation.

In line with the department’s aims of advancing social justice and opportunity for young people, in 2024/25 the department has allocated funding by using the relative proportion of disadvantaged students in the application, with those applications with the highest proportion of disadvantaged students having their requested funding scaled down the least compared to those with the lowest proportion of disadvantaged students. All successful applicants received all the funding they had requested to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds with essential travel costs such as passports and visas, and for the extra costs faced by students with special educational or additional needs or disabilities.

The department will continue to keep the approach to funding under review, subject to future Spending Review allocations.

Education is a devolved matter. The Welsh Government is responsible for reducing inequalities in Wales.

The government recognises that international students enrich university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK, as well as making a significant economic contribution to the higher education sector and the UK.

The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has 4 universities in the top 10, and 15 in the top 100 and international students are offered the opportunity to remain in the UK on a graduate visa for 2 to 3 years after their studies come to an end. Admissions into universities for the 2024/25 academic year are ongoing and the department is closely monitoring them.

The department is working to reset the relationship with its European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, has said that we must do more to champion ties between the UK and the EU’s people and culture, for example through holidays, family ties, school and student exchanges, the arts and sport.

This is not about renegotiating or relitigating Brexit, but about looking forward and building a strong and constructive relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

It is important for universities, their students and staff, that there is a sustainable higher education (HE) funding system that provides opportunities, supports students and maintains the world-leading status of our universities. The government is committed to a sustainable funding model, which supports high value provision thereby powering opportunity and growth and meeting the skills needs of the country.

The government keeps the HE funding system under continuous review. The department will work with universities to support students and deliver for the economy. An announcement on student finance arrangements for the 2025/26 academic year will be made in due course.

The National Food Crime Unit’s 2024 strategic assessment of food crime concluded it is unlikely that adulterated honey is broadly present on the UK market. All honey on sale must meet the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 which lay down detailed specifications for honey in terms of its composition and quality criteria. The Government keeps its rules under continuous review to ensure they continue to meet their objective and protect consumers.

Honey authenticity analysis is challenging due to natural variations in honey composition and harvesting practices. No single test can definitively determine a honey’s authenticity.

The Government has an active programme of research dedicated to standardising and improving honey authenticity testing, working to support monitoring and enforcement to protect consumers and legitimate businesses. This includes enabling ways to validate testing approaches to assess compliance to ensure they are fit for purpose including use of a weight of evidence approach.

As announced in the King’s Speech, the Government will be laying legislation to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism that will support SAF production in the UK. We expect the legislation for a revenue certainty mechanism to be in place by the end of 2026.

We also announced in the Budget that we will extend the Advanced Fuels Fund for a year to support the development of SAF plants in the UK.

While we recognise the concerns about connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester, we will not reverse the previous government's decision to cancel Phase 2 of HS2, and our primary focus now is the safe delivery of HS2 between Birmingham and London at the lowest reasonable cost. We are committed to a long-term approach to infrastructure and investment, taking account of local transport priorities. We are taking into consideration the recent proposal from the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands for enhancing rail connectivity between the Midlands and the North-West, including their ideas for private sector partnerships. We will thoroughly review the fiscal position we have inherited before setting out a clear plan to address capacity and connectivity issues in due course.

There are currently no plans to centralise the procurement of bus service contracts. The government believes that local leaders are best placed to make decisions about funding and bus services in their communities.

As announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July 2024, the government will introduce a Buses Bill later this session. The Bill will increase powers available to local leaders to choose the model that works best in their area, whether that be franchising, high-quality partnerships with private operators or local authority ownership.

This Government is committed to delivering a railway which is safe and secure for the public.

Reducing the number of deaths by suicide is a priority for the Department for Transport (DfT), with each rail operator currently responsible for delivering a suicide prevention plan, which includes the training of public-facing rail staff in suicide prevention and working with the British Transport Police (BTP) to deliver mitigation measures.

The Government will continue to make suicide prevention a priority for public sector operators, and will work with the BTP, Network Rail, the operators and DfT OLR Holdings Limited (DOHL) to enhance the existing approach to suicide prevention, including improvements to training for all staff working on our railways.

Network Rail has a long-standing relationship with The Samaritans, and funds the ‘Small Talk Saves Lives’ campaign. Since launching in 2017, the campaign has successfully raised awareness within railway stations and other public settings about the need to trust your instincts and start a simple conversation if you think someone might need help.

The Department for Transport is committed to working with the rail industry to reduce the number of deaths by suicide. Each rail operator is responsible for delivering a suicide prevention plan and maintaining accreditation to the independently assessed Safeguarding on Rail Scheme.

Their plan must include training of public-facing staff in suicide prevention, putting in place mitigation measures at stations and promoting avenues of help for vulnerable people at risk of suicide or self-harm.

The British Transport Police works in collaboration with its partners to ensure incidents are managed swiftly and people are treated with dignity.

Network Rail has a long-standing relationship with The Samaritans and funds the ‘Small Talk Saves Lives’ campaign. Since launching in 2017, the campaign has successfully raised awareness within railway stations and other public settings about the need to trust your instincts and start a simple conversation if you think someone might need help.

The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) will combine the functions of the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure and Projects Authority. NISTA will bring oversight of strategy and delivery into one organisation, driving more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country.

As announced by the government in October, NISTA will be operational by Spring 2025. NISTA’s governance will be confirmed in due course.

Public sector bodies pay VAT in the same way that businesses and consumers do. As their activities are 'non-business', they are not ordinarily able to reclaim VAT incurred.

However, specific provisions in the VAT Act mean that most public bodies can already claim refunds for some or all of the VAT they incur in meeting their statutory responsibilities.

The government continues to keep all taxes under review.

The Government has not conducted any such assessment.

As a general rule, how the police enforce the law is a matter for individual Chief Constables who will decide on the deployment of officers in dealing with all the issues for which the force is responsible, taking into account any specific local problems and demands.