Caroline Voaden

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 introduced greater powers to remove false and misappropriated company addresses from the register and more stringent requirements around what constitutes an appropriate address.

It will also introduce compulsory identify verification for company officers. The automated nature of these processes means that they can manage a large amount of data at speed. Verifying an address and a company's link to it, however, would rely on different evidence, requiring much more manual processing. Given Companies House registers over 800,000 companies per year, the vast majority of which are entirely legitimate, the resource demands are likely to be disproportionate and such checks are not currently part of government plans.

Great British Energy will support the roll out of small and medium-scale renewable energy projects, using established technologies, to develop up to 8 GW of cleaner power. To ensure Great British Energy is set up to deliver its Local function effectively, my officials will continue to engage with local and community groups as GBE continues to be developed and implemented.

The Value for Money assessments already undertaken by the Department follow HMT guidelines in the appraisal of carbon abatement, comparing the emissions of the capture projects with and without CCUS technology. Hydrogen projects seeking support from Government are assessed in respect of their compliance with the Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard, developed to ensure hydrogen production contributes to our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under the Climate Change Act.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent body responsible for regulating advertising in the UK and co-regulates broadcast advertising under contract with Ofcom. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), sister organisations of the ASA, are responsible for codifying the standards for advertising to the marketing industry as part of their CAP and BCAP Codes.

We are considering the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and working closely with the relevant organisations to inform decisions on how best to fulfil our manifesto commitment to reducing gambling-related harm. We will provide further updates to the House soon.

The department does not have entry requirements for apprenticeships, but we understand that employers may wish to set their own as apprentices are employees.

The department does have specific English and mathematics exit requirements which apprentices must meet, and we recognise the concerns that have been raised by learners, employers and providers about the barriers these can pose to accessing or completing an apprenticeship.

The department is considering how its English and mathematics exit requirements policy can be improved to make sure it recognises the benefits to upskilling in these subjects, while also being delivered in a way that supports people to achieve.

The department continues to fully fund apprentices who do not hold the required English and mathematics qualifications to achieve these as part of their apprenticeship.

The impact on the state sector as a result of the introduction of VAT on private school fees is being carefully considered. HM Treasury will deliver the tax changes. Further details of the government’s assessment of the expected impact will be published at the Budget. A Tax Information and Impact Note will be published alongside the Finance Bill once the independent Office for Budget Responsibility has scrutinised and certified the impacts of the final policy.

To support schools with overall costs, the department is providing almost £1.1 billion in 2024/25 through the new Core Schools Budget Grant (CSBG). This matches what the department has calculated is needed to fully fund, at a national level, the teacher pay award and the support staff pay offer in the 2024/25 financial year, over and above the available headroom in schools’ existing budgets. Guidance on the new CSBG can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-schools-budget-grant-csbg-2024-to-2025.

The department understands that the picture will be different for individual schools and that funding will not always match a school’s precise costs. The formula allocates funding based on schools’ pupil numbers and their characteristics. Schools can then decide how to use this funding, including how many teachers and support staff to employ. When the department allocates grant funding for additional costs, it calculates the cost across the whole system and then adds that cost into the formula. This approach keeps funding fair. If grant funding was based on each schools’ specific teacher costs, then funding would be disproportionately allocated to the schools that already spend the most on their teachers and support staff, rather than giving every school a fair increase in their spending power.

Defra routinely use the best available scientific advice, including that provided by the International Council of the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), within international fisheries negotiations, where catch limits are agreed on shared stocks, and in wider policy development The best available scientific advice is considered as part of our policy approach which seeks to balance obligations and objectives, as set out in the Fisheries Act 2020 and the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS).

In line with the JFS, making use of ICES advice, the UK seeks to achieve greater environmental sustainability and provide profitable outcomes for the industry including aiming to increase over the medium term the total number of stocks fished at Maximum Sustainable Yield. As part of the annual negotiation process, Defra officials provide Ministers with an assessment of how the UK negotiating position on fishing opportunities balances these objectives on a stock-by-stock basis.

There is no reduction in the International Council of the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) advice for Western Channel (7e) sole, from 2024 to 2025. For the 2024 fishing year, the ICES advice was 1057t, for the 2025 fishing year it is 1151t. This is an 8.9% increase.

In terms of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) which was set for 2024, although ICES advised a 24% cut, the UK and EU agreed a smaller (15%) reduction, in order to mitigate the short-term economic risks potentially consequent of a such a cut.

Consultations with the EU to agree fishing opportunities for 2025 began in November and are expected to conclude in December 2024. A final assessment of quota changes, as a result of these consultations, will be published in spring next year.

As per requirements of the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS), the UK uses the best available scientific advice in fisheries management and negotiations, this includes the annual advice from the International Council of the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) on fishing opportunities. Accepting the ICES advised headline advice in full, would lead to a reduction in UK quota in the South-West of England and English Channel compared to 2024.

However, in seeking to appropriately balance all the fisheries objectives set out in the Fisheries Act 2020 and the JFS, the UK will in some cases seek to agree an allocation with the EU, above that advised by ICES, for example for a 0 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) stock where a bycatch-only TAC may be required to prevent adverse impacts on the fishing industry, within sustainable limits.

The Government is currently assessing how best to implement its ambitions on sustainable drainage, while also being mindful of the cumulative impact of new regulatory burdens on the development sector.

As an independent coastal State the UK engages in annual fisheries consultations with the EU to set fishing opportunities for shared stock. In doing so the UK seeks to balance the fisheries objectives as laid out in the Fisheries Act 2020 in accordance with the policies of the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS). In particular, in line with the JFS, the UK seeks to provide certainty and profitable outcomes for the industry.

In the case of the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down (Stonehenge Tunnel), although the contracts were awarded, the construction had not commenced. Following the announcement to cancel the project National Highways is working with its contractors to bring ontracts to a close in a controlled manner.

In the case of the A27 Arundel bypass, although a design and build contract had been awarded, construction had not commenced and following the deferral announcement in March 2023 the contract was brought to a controlled close with limited liabilities or additional costs.

The department has no plans to negotiate reciprocal agreements with Commonwealth countries on uprating UK pensions.

To be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payment statistics, the Pension Credit data that has been used is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024.

Due to Westminster Constituencies boundary changes, data isn’t explicitly available/ published for South Devon constituency. Therefore, to obtain the above figure, the statistics for Totnes constituency (now abolished and replaced by South Devon constituency) has been used. The estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of Pension Credit recipients for Totnes Constituency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients for Totnes constituency.

The estimated number of pensioners in South Devon constituency (2010 boundary) who will lose Winter Fuel Payments is 22,279. This is based on Feb-24 Pension Credit statistics and 22/23 Winter Fuel Payment statistics, (sources below).

Please note that Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all. There are other pensioners who are eligible for Winter Fuel Payments (as they claim other means tested benefits) but they are not considered in these figures as it is not possible to do so.

Furthermore, the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy change (means testing Winter fuel payments to those on Pension Credit and other means tested benefits). We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or local authorities.

Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households rather than individuals, so the number of individuals claiming Pension Credit, will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

Sources used:

winter-fuel-payments-caseload-2022-to-2023.ods (live.com)

Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk) (Feb-24 data)

In 2022/23, 11.4 million people in 8.4 million households in Great Britain received a Winter Fuel Payment, at a total cost of £2 billion.

The Government estimates that linking entitlement to receipt of Pension Credit and other relevant DWP income-related benefits will reduce expenditure by around £1.4 billion in 2024/25 and £1.5bn in 2025/26.

This Government is committed to pensioners – everyone in our society, no matter their working history or savings deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.

Given the substantial pressures faced by the public finances this year and next, the Government has had to make hard choices to bring the public finances back under control

Support is retained for those on the lowest incomes. Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged over 80.

We have linked Winter Fuel Payments eligibility to Pension Credit and other qualifying benefits – but not Housing Benefit – because we can pay the majority of eligible recipients automatically based on information held in the Department.

Housing Benefit is not included as a qualifying benefit since the amount that someone receives is based not only on personal circumstances but also on the amount of their rent.

Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) helps people through the immediate period following a bereavement by way of an initial lump sum followed by up to 18 monthly instalments. Where longer-term financial support is needed, benefits such as Universal Credit have been specifically designed to provide assistance with ongoing living costs. We have no current plans to change the duration of Bereavement Support Payment.

The rate of Bereavement Support Payment is reviewed on a discretionary basis as part of the annual uprating process, but there is no legal requirement to uprate it. BSP is not a cost-of-living benefit like Universal Credit, which has been increased in line with inflation. We will review the rate of Bereavement Support Payment later this year as part of the annual uprating process.

The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of long COVID and ME/CFS, and are actively exploring next steps for research in these areas.

Over the last five years, the Government, through the NIHR and the MRC, has invested over £50 million into long COVID research through two specific research calls. The projects funded aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease, and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate clinical care.

The MRC has provided £4.15 million of ME/CFS research funding since 2013, including £3.19 million jointly awarded with the NIHR for the DecodeME project, which aims to find genetic risk factors of ME/CFS to better understand the disease and ultimately to find treatments. The NIHR has committed approximately £3.9 million of programme funding over the same period.

As findings emerge from current research, we encourage researchers to apply for funding to build on and develop the newly established infrastructure, partnerships, and research capabilities. Government research funders remain available to support long COVID and ME/CFS researchers in their applications for funding.

The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education, which is why we have made the tough decision to end tax breaks for private schools. This will raise revenue for essential public services, including investing in the state education system

This VAT change will not impact pupils with most acute additional needs where these can only be met in private schools, as determined by an Education and Health Care Plan in England, and equivalent processes in other nations.

Where pupils are placed in a private school because their needs cannot be met in the state sector, and they have their places funded by their Local Authority, the Local Authority will be able to reclaim the VAT they incur on these pupils’ fees. In Northern Ireland, it will be the Education Authority who fund placements in private schools and will be able to reclaim the VAT in this way.

The government will publish a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the impacts of the changes, including the equalities impacts, alongside the Finance Bill.

Child sexual abuse is a despicable crime and this new government will be taking robust action to safeguard children, provide support and care to victims and survivors and ensure perpetrators face the full force of the law.

I have not had any specific engagement with the Church of England on this matter to date. However, I am clear that safeguarding of children from abuse is everyone’s responsibility, including the Church.

I have met with Professor Alexis Jay recently and recognise her significant contribution to these important issues, having chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse as well as the more recent independent review into safeguarding in the Church of England.

I will be working with the Home Secretary and ministerial colleagues across government to strengthen the cross-institutional response to identifying and responding to this horrific crime as a matter of urgency.

No licences have yet been issued for trail hunting on the Ministry of Defence Estate for the 2024–2025 season.

Criminal Courts

The Crown Court outstanding caseload remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Criminal Justice System. We have already shown we are committed to bearing down on the caseload and bringing waiting times down.

This Government has increased the number of Crown Court sitting days to 106,500, more than in six out of the last seven years. We are also in the process of extending magistrates’ court sentencing powers from 6 to 12 months, freeing up 2,000 days in the Crown Court to handle the most serious cases.

Judges have been prioritising rape cases that have been waiting for over two years to go to trial. Despite this, there are some cases in the outstanding caseload which are taking far too long to progress through the system. We want to make sure every victim has the swift access to justice they deserve. This is why we have committed to fast-tracking rape cases through the courts, to deliver swift and effective justice to some of the most vulnerable victims in the criminal justice system and will say more on this in due course.

We consistently invest in the recruitment of c.1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions annually alongside continuing to use 18 Nightingale courtrooms across eight venues to hear more cases.

Civil Courts

The civil courts play a crucial role in supporting the economy and growth as well as ensuring citizens have access to justice.

Performance remains a challenge in the civil courts and the Government is committed to resolving cases quickly, as well as ensuring that claims are dealt with appropriately and proportionately according to their complexity and value.

The Ministry of Justice is working closely with the senior judiciary to improve performance across the jurisdiction by reducing demand, increasing capacity and introducing efficiencies. For example, we continue to explore the expansion of integrated mediation in certain disputes, to enable the swift and cost-effective resolution of disputes. The county courts use a ‘national and virtual region pool’ which enables judges to hear cases outside their regional circuit, to ensure that available judicial resource can be deployed to areas of significant demand elsewhere when needed.

Probation Service practitioners have a complete record of all cases that were managed by Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). National Delius and Offender Assessment System (OASys) records were preserved as the primary case record, as was the position before, during and after the structural changes to probation made by the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms.

In addition to this, the Probation Reform Programme carried out extensive work to ensure that any information from local CRC recording systems was appropriately migrated at the point of reunification.

This Government is committed to reducing reoffending by giving offenders leaving prison the tools to rehabilitate and move away from crime.

Offenders involved in this summer’s violent disorder and given prison sentences will receive an education assessment on reception to prison. Prison staff and probation practitioners will work to create a sentence plan to ensure the right support is on offer during their time in prison and on release.

As well as the opportunity to improve English and mathematics (if needed) and to undertake vocational training, HMPPS offer a range of behavioural programmes and other interventions that may be considered for offenders convicted of violent offences as part of this summer's disorder. These include programmes to improve relationships, thinking skills and healthy identities. Eligibility is determined based on assessed risk and need.

Where individuals involved in this summer’s disorder have substance misuse issues we will work to tackle these To achieve this, 80 prisons have an Incentivised Substance-Free Living unit, where prisoners are regularly tested and receive incentives, and we have dedicated staff to tackle drugs in custody and support continuity of care. In the community we are diverting offenders into treatment at the earliest opportunity. This includes more offenders sentenced to Drug Rehabilitation Requirements, a form of community sentence which includes a requirement to engage in treatment

The Probation Service has a crucial role in protecting the public and providing a path of reintegration into the community to break the cycle of reoffending. The Service delivers these goals by working closely with local partners – such as police forces, local authorities, and third sector organisations, amongst others. The Government is committed to learning from successful examples of local partnerships and support the whole service to improve join-up and deliver better outcomes.

Information on the average annual cost per prisoner, cost per prison place and overall prison unit cost for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales is published by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) after the end of each financial year on the gov.uk website.

The overall average cost for running a prison place for a year (per prison place) in 2022-23 was £51,724. This information can also be found through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-performance-data-2022-to-2023.

The Ministry of Justice expects the 2023-24 Prison Unit Cost data to be published in December 2024, once the 2023-24 HMPPS Annual Report & Accounts have been published.

The average cost to the Probation Service in 2023-24 of an additional person on the probation licence caseload (including probation pre-release costs) was estimated at c.£4,500 compared with c.£3,150 for an additional person on the probation court order caseload (community orders and suspended sentence orders). This can be found through the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65537c7d50475b000dc5b590/Sentencing_Bill_-_IA_-_HDC.pdf.

Note that the costs presented exclude some costs to the Ministry of Justice, such as the costs of building prisons, costs not directly tied to changes in probation caseload and MoJ HQ costs.