Bell Ribeiro-Addy

The government recognises the importance of access to post for all users, especially the most vulnerable and is committed to the universal service obligation.

As the independent regulator for postal services, it is Ofcom’s responsibility to secure the provision of a universal postal service and must ensure the provision of sufficient access points to meet the reasonable needs of users of the service. In its proposals, Ofcom committed to continue to engage with other stakeholders on the issue of ensuring that specific vulnerable groups have access to post.

No decisions regarding Crown, or ‘Directly Managed’ Branches, have been taken.

Any decisions on staffing are a matter for Post Office but we would expect any changes to be carried out in line with due process, including engagement and consultation.

One of the central aims communicated within Post Office's recently announced transformation plan was to prioritise postmasters, including increases in postmaster pay.

No decisions have yet been taken on the future of any Crown, or ‘Directly Managed’ Branches. Although staffing is an operational matter for the Post Office, we would expect any changes to be carried out in line with due process including engagement and consultation.

Post Office has committed to working with the unions to discuss the Chair’s transformation plans over the next three months. A new Consultative Council will also be introduced to work with the Post Office on how these new plans are taken forward, to provide genuine challenge and to make sure the plans remain focused on the needs of postmasters and the communication they serve.

Customers can deposit cash or cheques, withdraw money and check their balance at all the branch types listed as well as at Banking Hubs operated by the Post Office.

Customers can use the Post Office Branch Finder tool online to find out what services are available at their local branch.

No decisions regarding Crown, or ‘Directly Managed’ Branches, have been taken. The Post Office works with local communities to consider how to best meet needs for Post Office services in a local area. The Post Office will continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement set by Government.

Shop theft continues to increase at an unacceptable level, with more and more offenders using violence and abuse against shopworkers to do this. We will not stand for this, everybody has a right to feel safe on the job.

We will end the effective immunity, introduced by the previous Government, granted to low level shoplifting of goods under £200.

We have announced £100 million of new funding to kickstart the recruitment of 13,000 additional neighbourhood officers, community support officers and special constables into neighbourhood policing teams, as announced by the Prime Minister earlier this month.

Whilst Government does not generally intervene in the commercial pricing decisions of insurers, we are determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority rules.

As set out in the Clean Power Action Plan, electricity generated by renewables and nuclear power will form the backbone of a clean electricity system by 2030, supported by low carbon flexible sources of power. EDF has announced extensions to four of its existing nuclear plants, with Heysham 2 and Torness now due to generate until 2030. Hinkley Point C, the first nuclear plant under construction in the UK in a generation, is expected to see its first unit come online between 2029-2031.

The latest published cost and technical assumptions for power technologies, including renewables and nuclear, can be found in the published Generation Costs series. [1]

Renewables and nuclear play different roles in a decarbonising system and full power sector modelling evaluates costs at the system level. For example, analysis of many power sector scenarios [2] indicates that a cost-effective system requires a mix of technologies.

^[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-generation-cost-projections#2023

^[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modelling-2050-electricity-system-analysis

The Department regularly engages across Government to promote the sustainable development of AI technologies in line with the UK’s Net Zero goals. This includes inter-departmental collaboration through initiatives such as the recently announced AI Energy Council and AI Growth Zones, aimed at addressing the growing energy demands of AI through sustainable, efficient, and scalable solutions.

Government is consulting on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The Renters’ Rights Bill will also put in place new regulations to protect tenants. This includes providing stronger protections to ensure that tenants are able to appeal excessive above-market rents, abolishing Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’, and moving to a simpler tenancy structure where all assured tenancies are periodic. These measures provide more security for tenants and enable them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases without fear of eviction.

The Government has made several spending announcements since July to deliver the UK’s 2019 pledge to spend £11.6bn in International Climate Finance between April 2021 and March 2026, and is supporting workers to move from carbon-intensive sectors to clean energy industries with initiatives like the Energy Skills Passport.

Additionally, the temporary Energy Profits Levy, which applies to upstream oil and gas producers, is expected to raise £12.6bn between now and 2030. This revenue will help support the transition, enhance energy security and independence, provide sustainable jobs, and help protect electricity bills against price shocks.

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to public health. Keeping people warm and well at home and improving the quality of new and existing homes will play an essential part in enabling people to live longer, healthier lives, reducing pressures on the NHS.

There are multiple targeted schemes delivering energy efficiency measures to low-income and fuel poor households. The Warm Home Discount schemes provide a £150 rebate off bills to eligible low-income households across Great Britain.

The Government has kickstarted delivery of the Warm Homes Plan, including an initial £1.8 billion to support fuel poverty schemes over the next 3 years.

UK higher education (HE) creates opportunity, is an engine for growth in our economy and supports local communities. The department is committed to supporting the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, regardless of their background, where they live and their personal circumstances.

It is reasonable to ask graduates who benefit financially from HE to contribute towards the cost of their studies. Graduates can expect, on average, to earn around £100,000 more in their lifetime than someone who does not attend HE. The government is determined that the HE funding system should deliver for our economy, for universities and for students.

Student loans have very different terms and conditions to commercial loans and carry significant protections for borrowers. For lower earners who will not repay much of their loan, any outstanding debt, including interest built up, is written off at the end of the loan term (or in case of death or disability) with no detriment to the borrower. This government subsidy of student loans is a deliberate investment in our young people and the economy.

Student loans are subject to interest, set with reference to inflation, to ensure that those who can afford to do so contribute to the full cost of their degree. Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers. Regular repayments are based on earnings above the repayment threshold, not on amount borrowed or interest rates. As an additional borrower protection, interest rates on loans taken out after 2012 are automatically capped by the prevailing market rate for comparable unsecured personal loans. This cap was triggered and protected borrowers during the recent spikes in inflation. Interest rates for undergraduate loans taken out before 2012 are also capped at the retail price index or the Bank of England base rate plus 1%, whichever is lower.

It is our ambition that all families have access to high quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life. This is key to the government’s Plan for Change, which starts with reaching the milestone of a record number of children being ready for school. That also means ensuring the sector is financially sustainable and confident as it continues to deliver entitlements and high quality early years provision going forward.

That is why, despite tough decisions to get public finances back on track, the government is continuing to prioritise and invest in supporting early education and childcare providers, including social enterprise nurseries, with the costs they face.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, the department plans to spend over £8 billion on early years entitlements. We have also announced the largest ever uplift to the early years pupil premium, increasing the rate by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year.

On top of this, the department is providing a further £75 million through the early years expansion grant to support the sector as it prepares to deliver the final phase of expanded childcare entitlements from September 2025, recognising the significant level of expansion needed and the effort and planning this will require.

Early years childcare providers, including social enterprise nurseries, may also benefit from the Employment Allowance. The Allowance is being increased to protect businesses and provides them with relief of up to £10,500 per annum on their employer Class 1 National Insurance contributions liabilities from 6 April. Early years childcare providers are entitled to claim the Allowance if they are private businesses or charities, and the department expects the vast majority will be eligible to do so.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced in Parliament on 17 December, will protect children at risk of abuse, stopping vulnerable children falling through cracks in services.

To keep children safe, the department plans to improve the sharing of information across and within agencies by enabling the use of a Single Unique Identifier. To better protect children from harm, we also plan to strengthen the delivery of a local decisive multi-agency child protection model through integrated multi-agency child protection teams, put a new duty on safeguarding partners to ensure education is sufficiently involved in multi-agency safeguarding arrangements, and ensure parents have consent from local authorities to home educate children where there are safeguarding concerns.

Beyond the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, it is paramount the department acts to protect children from all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation. To that end, on 16 January, my right hon. Friend, the Home Secretary made clear that, before Easter, the government will lay out a clear timetable for taking forward the 20 recommendations from the final Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse report.

This government’s mission is to break down barriers to opportunity by driving high and rising standards across the whole education and care system to give every family certainty that they will be able to send their child to a good local school. The department is working across government to deliver commitments related to this, such as on expanding Mental Health Support Teams and improving special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

The department recognises that some parents are currently reporting that they are moving their children into home education due to dissatisfaction with their school, SEND provision, concerns about the child’s mental health, and other concerns. To ensure that local authorities can identify all children not in school in their areas, which includes those who are not receiving a suitable education or otherwise need support, we have introduced a package of Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. These measures include a requirement for all local authorities in England to keep compulsory registers of Children Not in School, improvements to the School Attendance Order process, and a requirement for parents of children on child protection plans, who are the subject of child protection enquiries, or who are at special schools to seek permission from the local authority before they can be removed from the school roll to be home educated. We will publish statutory guidance to help local authorities carry out these new duties.

The department’s ‘Elective home education’ guidance for local authorities and parents includes advice for local authorities on the reasons why families may home educate. It emphasises that local authorities should consider individual circumstances when engaging with families and considering what support they may require.

Since 2022, the department has collected aggregate data from local authorities on home educating children in their area, which is now published annually. Whilst local authorities are now required to provide this information to the department, parents are under no obligation to provide information to the local authority, including the reason for home education.

The proposed compulsory Children Not in School registers will support local authorities to fulfil their existing education and safeguarding duties towards children. As part of these measures, parents and certain providers of out-of-school education will be required to provide specific information to local authority registers. These registers will be required to include such information as the reasons for home education, to the extent that this information is reasonably obtainable. However, only certain information will be required to be provided by the parent (such as name, address, date of birth, etc.), which does not include reasons for home education.

This government’s mission is to break down barriers to opportunity by driving high and rising standards across the whole education and care system to give every family certainty that they will be able to send their child to a good local school. The department is working across government to deliver commitments related to this, such as on expanding Mental Health Support Teams and improving special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.

The department recognises that some parents are currently reporting that they are moving their children into home education due to dissatisfaction with their school, SEND provision, concerns about the child’s mental health, and other concerns. To ensure that local authorities can identify all children not in school in their areas, which includes those who are not receiving a suitable education or otherwise need support, we have introduced a package of Children Not in School measures in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. These measures include a requirement for all local authorities in England to keep compulsory registers of Children Not in School, improvements to the School Attendance Order process, and a requirement for parents of children on child protection plans, who are the subject of child protection enquiries, or who are at special schools to seek permission from the local authority before they can be removed from the school roll to be home educated. We will publish statutory guidance to help local authorities carry out these new duties.

The department’s ‘Elective home education’ guidance for local authorities and parents includes advice for local authorities on the reasons why families may home educate. It emphasises that local authorities should consider individual circumstances when engaging with families and considering what support they may require.

Since 2022, the department has collected aggregate data from local authorities on home educating children in their area, which is now published annually. Whilst local authorities are now required to provide this information to the department, parents are under no obligation to provide information to the local authority, including the reason for home education.

The proposed compulsory Children Not in School registers will support local authorities to fulfil their existing education and safeguarding duties towards children. As part of these measures, parents and certain providers of out-of-school education will be required to provide specific information to local authority registers. These registers will be required to include such information as the reasons for home education, to the extent that this information is reasonably obtainable. However, only certain information will be required to be provided by the parent (such as name, address, date of birth, etc.), which does not include reasons for home education.

The department collects aggregate data on penalty notices from local authorities in England through the annual parental responsibility measures attendance census. Information is not collected on measures previously used before issue of a penalty notice, nor the characteristics of the children concerned.

The available data is published in the following statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/parental-responsibility-measures.

The department also collects aggregate data on school attendance orders issued from local authorities in England through the collection on elective home education and children missing education. No information is collected on characteristics of the children concerned.

The available data is published in the following statistical release: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education.