Ben Obese-Jecty

Part 5 of the Equality Act 2010 provides protection against direct and indirect discrimination in employment and makes it unlawful for an employer or a recruitment agency to discriminate against an employee or someone applying for employment because of a protected characteristic.

Interns with, or applying for, a contract of employment that falls within the definition of “employment” are covered by the Equality Act 2010’s protections against discrimination based on sex, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, amongst other protected characteristics.

There are some circumstances in which employers may provide additional help to groups of people who share a protected characteristic, including interns. This is permitted by the positive action provisions in the Equality Act 2010. Whether positive action is permitted will depend on whether the test in those provisions is met.

Government guidance to help employers understand the difference between positive action and positive discrimination can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/positive-action-in-the-workplace-guidance-for-employers. The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Code of Practice provides employers with support and can be found at: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act-2010/codes-practice/employment-code-practice-0.

The Government Car Service operational fleet comprises the following makes of vehicles:

• Ford

• Nissan

• Jaguar

• Land Rover

• Honda

• Toyota

While we cannot comment on the commercial affairs of private companies, I can say that the Department of Business and Trade is in contact with both Nissan and Honda and we will work with the companies to support the future of the UK’s world-leading automotive industry.

The Government will consult shortly on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation will include proposals for rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030.

It is the Government’s priority to build support for developments by ensuring communities directly benefit, as per the commitment set out in the election manifesto. As such we are reviewing how to most effectively deliver community benefits for communities living near new energy infrastructure.

Through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, we are exploring several ways to reduce energy bills by making more efficient use of the energy infrastructure we are building.

The Government is continuing to assess the benefits and costs of zonal pricing alongside other options for reform within our current national pricing arrangements. We are considering these options carefully and will provide more information in due course.

This is a proposed Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and is currently at the pre-application stage of the Planning Act 2008 consent process. This is when the applicant starts to create their application and is required to consult with people and organisations in the area. We understand that the developer intends to hold four public consultation events, starting in early October 2024.

The application is expected to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate between January and March 2025.

Where an adult or a child uses generative AI to make sexual images of a child, that content is child sexual exploitation and abuse material, and is illegal.

We are also bringing forward provisions to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes images of adults without consent in the Crime and Policing Bill, making this behaviour criminal so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.

The sharing of or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is already a criminal offence under the Online Safety Act and was designated as a priority offence in November 2024. In-scope services will be required to proactively tackle this type of content, preventing its proliferation online.

The Government made a manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfake images, as part of the government’s commitment to halve the prevalence of violence against women and girls (VAWG) within the decade.

We are bringing forward provisions in the Crime and Policing Bill to meet that commitment. This will make this behaviour criminal, so that perpetrators can be brought to justice.

The sharing of or threatening to share a deepfake intimate image without consent is already a criminal offence under the Online Safety Act and was designated as a priority offence in November 2024. Companies in scope of the Act’s illegal safety duties will be required to proactively tackle this type of content, preventing its proliferation online.

AI is a general-purpose technology, with a wide array of applications. The vast majority of AI systems should be regulated at the point of use, and the UK's existing expert regulators are best placed to do this.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology engages regularly across government departments to understand how they are considering AI-related policy issues within their remit.

The Government recognises the importance of food biosecurity and the role of geospatial data in preventing the spread of disease-causing agents and protecting the safety of food, animals, and humans.

The Department engages regularly with geospatial data providers to continuously improve the data available to Defra, the Food Standards Agency and other stakeholders to support a range of cross-sectoral research and operational activities in this area.

I refer the Hon Member to the reply I gave in UIN 16568

The safety, wellbeing and welfare of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. National Governing Bodies are responsible for the regulation of their sports, and for ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect participants from harm.

The Government takes the issue of head injuries very seriously. National guidance for concussion in grassroots sport was introduced in 2023, developed by international experts on concussion and acquired brain injury to better identify, manage and prevent the issue. We continue to encourage National Governing Bodies to adapt the guidance to their own sport where appropriate.

The Government remains committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to build on the positive work that is already taking place to ensure that everyone can take part in sport as safely as possible.

More than £85 million will be allocated in recognition of the urgent need for more youth facilities. This will include £26 million of new funding for youth clubs to buy new equipment and undertake much needed renovations via the Better Youth Spaces programme. This funding will also enable the completion of current Youth Investment Fund projects.

Any further capital investment in youth facilities would be subject to the next stage of the Spending Review.

This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential.

The Culture Secretary has also announced that £100 million from the next tranche of dormant assets funding will be used to deliver youth outcomes between 2024 and 2028, supporting the provision of services, facilities and opportunities for young people across the country.

As part of statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. This includes being taught about what positive, healthy and respectful online relationships look like, the effects of their online actions on others, how to recognise and display respectful behaviour online and where to get help and support for issues that occur online. The guidance emphasises that schools should keep aware of issues such as grooming and sexual exploitation, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and that these should be addressed sensitively and clearly.

Teaching about online safety also complements the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face.

The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. The department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders, before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence. As part of this process, the department will explore whether additional content is required, including on online harms, and how this can complement the government’s wider actions to tackle harmful behaviour, sexual violence and exploitation.

As with other curriculum subjects, the department does not advise schools on which resources, external speakers or organisations to use, not least because schools operate in a variety of different contexts and have both the expertise and knowledge that makes them best placed to make these decisions. However, in 2023, the department published guidance on teaching online safety in schools, which sets out how to teach about all aspects of internet safety in a coordinated and coherent way across the curriculum, and also includes links to further sources of information, including the National Crime Agency’s resources. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.

As part of statutory relationships and health education in primary schools and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in secondary schools, pupils are taught about online safety and harms. This includes being taught about what positive, healthy and respectful online relationships look like, the effects of their online actions on others, how to recognise and display respectful behaviour online and where to get help and support for issues that occur online. The guidance emphasises that schools should keep aware of issues such as grooming and sexual exploitation, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and that these should be addressed sensitively and clearly.

Teaching about online safety also complements the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face.

The RSHE statutory guidance is currently under review. The department is looking carefully at responses to the public consultation conducted last year, considering the relevant evidence and discussing with stakeholders, before setting out next steps to make sure the guidance draws from the best available evidence. As part of this process, the department will explore whether additional content is required, including on online harms, and how this can complement the government’s wider actions to tackle harmful behaviour, sexual violence and exploitation.

As with other curriculum subjects, the department does not advise schools on which resources, external speakers or organisations to use, not least because schools operate in a variety of different contexts and have both the expertise and knowledge that makes them best placed to make these decisions. However, in 2023, the department published guidance on teaching online safety in schools, which sets out how to teach about all aspects of internet safety in a coordinated and coherent way across the curriculum, and also includes links to further sources of information, including the National Crime Agency’s resources. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.

The government predicts that 35,000 pupils will move into UK state schools in the long-term steady state following the removal of the VAT exemption to school fees. As such, the impact on the state education system as a whole is expected to be small.

This increase in the state sector represents less than 0.5% of total UK state school pupils, of which there are over 9 million. The number expected to move before the end of the 2024/25 academic year is around 3,000. The government expects the associated revenue costs of pupils entering the state sector to steadily increase to a peak of around £0.3 billion after several years.

Every year lots of pupils move between schools, including between the private and state-funded sectors. Local authorities routinely support parents that need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed. Where local authorities are experiencing difficulties in ensuring there are enough school places for children that need them, the department will offer support and advice.

The department collects pupil forecasts and school capacity data from local authorities annually through the School Capacity survey and this data shows that in May 2023, 11.7% of primary capacity and 11.5% of secondary capacity was unfilled nationally, meaning school places are available in many parts of the country. The department will monitor demand and capacity using our normal processes and continue to work with local authorities to meet any pressures.

The department provides capital funding through the Basic Need grant to support local authorities to provide school places, based on their own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools.

Alternative site arrangements for sitting exams, including home invigilation, can be put in place as an access arrangement if, in exceptional circumstances, it is required to enable a candidate to access exams and assessments.

As in any year, there is no way of knowing in advance of the exam season how many candidates will need access arrangements.

As the use of alternative site provision is a decision for centres based on the needs of individual candidates and for which centres do not need exam board approval, data on this arrangement is not published in Ofqual’s annual statistics on access arrangements.

This government has a driving mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child and young person, including boys, at every stage. The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider barriers and ceilings to attainment throughout children’s education and make recommendations on how they can be removed.

The review will ensure that the curriculum appropriately balances ambition, excellence, relevance, flexibility and inclusivity for all children and young people, to deliver a cutting-edge curriculum which enables every child to achieve and thrive. The review’s terms of reference can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-review.

The Environment Agency (EA) received an allocation of £155,000 for asset maintenance in the Huntingdon Constituency for 2024/25 and prioritises this budget towards higher consequence areas to ensure the biggest possible benefit to people and property. Alongside maintenance activities, the EA also has planned capital investment of £6.5 million in assets in the Huntingdon constituency across the current 6-year Capital Programme. We continually monitor asset condition and prioritise the funding available based on these ongoing condition assessments.

The Government inherited flood assets in their worst condition on record following years of underinvestment by the previous Government – 92.1% of the EA’s 38,000 high consequence assets are currently at required condition.

The Government published the Biological Security Strategy which sets out a vision and plans to protect the UK from significant biological risks.

Defra published the five-year Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britian and its associated Plant Health Research and Development Plan. Defra also invests in research to prevent and control risks to animal health and to support food security.

Defra assesses the potential impacts of cybersecurity risks along with other risks to the food supply chain as outlined in the National Risk Register (NRR) and supporting assessment. Defra works with the Cabinet Office, as leads for the NRR, and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, as the Lead Government Department for cybersecurity, to ensure the range of potential impacts on the food system from these types of risks are included in their assessment.

To inform this, Defra engages with external stakeholders to understand how they prepare for cybersecurity risks whilst promoting vigilance and improvements to resilience.

The Environment Agency (EA) has allocated over £13 million of funding across the Cambridgeshire area in 2024/25. Alongside this investment, the EA is working in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council to support over 30 local flood action groups across the county to effectively respond to and improve their resilience to flooding.

The Government inherited flood assets in their worst condition on record following years of underinvestment by the previous government – 92.1% of the EA’s 38,000 high consequence assets are currently at required condition.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.