30 APPG memberships (as of 4 May 2022)
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What plans he has to implement the Union Connectivity Review's recommendations on rail transport.
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voted Aye - in line with the party majority
One of 172 Labour Aye votes vs 0 Labour No votes
Tally: Ayes - 248 Noes - 310
Speaking in last year’s Queen’s Speech debate, I welcomed the Government’s commitment to bringing forward a ban on conversion therapy. …
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contribution-based ESA claimants have been fined as …
That this House expresses its disappointment that the 43 students from Ayotzinapa in Guerrero, Mexico, who disappeared on 26 September …
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will …
19:32
Name of donor: UK Music
Address of donor: Savoy Hill House, 7-10 Savoy Hill, London WC2R 0BU
Amount of donation …
That this House congratulates Jake Daniels on his courageous decision to be open about his sexuality; welcomes the support he …
A Bill to impose certain duties upon Her Majesty’s Government to ensure the accuracy, completeness and utility of electoral registers; …
Division Voting information
Debates during the 2019 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
(23 debate interactions)
(22 debate interactions)
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
(17 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(97 debate contributions)
(73 debate contributions)
(72 debate contributions)
(23 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(2,238 words contributed)
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(1,470 words contributed)
(1,266 words contributed)
City of Chester Petitions
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
of 118,995 signatures (1.41%)
of 24,749 signatures (0.73%)
of 109,383 signatures (0.28%)
of 74,779 signatures (0.19%)
of 120,577 signatures (0.16%)
of 118,995 signatures (1.41%)
of 326,989 signatures (0.11%)
of 109,383 signatures (0.28%)
of 187,994 signatures (0.16%)
of 144,720 signatures (0.16%)
Petition Closed
Renationalise the NHS, scrap integrated care systems, and end PFI contracts
Gov Responded - 23 Dec 2021 Debated on - 31 Jan 2022 View Christian Matheson's petition debate contributionsclosed 1 month ago
We demand the Government restore England’s publicly funded, publicly provided NHS by reversing all privatising legislation, ending ongoing PFI contracts, and scrapping plans for Integrated Care Systems and for-profit US-style ‘managed care’.
Latest EDMs signed by Christian Matheson
Jake Daniels
Tabled by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)That this House congratulates Jake Daniels on his courageous decision to be open about his sexuality; welcomes the support he has received from Blackpool FC; and calls on the Football Association, the English Football League, and the Professional Footballers’ Association to provide any support Mr Daniels needs and to act …
(Most recent: 17 May 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 9
Independent: 2
Scottish National Party: 2
Conservative: 1
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Liberal Democrat: 1
GKN Automotive alternative plan
Tabled by: Jack Dromey (Labour - Birmingham, Erdington)That this House is alarmed by GKN Automotive’s decision to close its Birmingham factory next year, with the loss of over 500 highly skilled jobs and work transferred to continental Europe; notes that GKN’s origins trace back to the industrial revolution, with over 260 years of history that include making …
(Most recent: 27 Apr 2022)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 63
Independent: 2
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Scottish National Party: 1
Alba Party: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Christian Matheson, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Christian Matheson has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Christian Matheson has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
1 Bill introduced by Christian Matheson
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to establish an independent regulator of football clubs; and for connected purposes.
Date TBA
2 Bills co-sponsored by Christian Matheson
Automatic Electoral Registration Bill 2019-21 - Private Members' Bill (under the Ten Minute Rule)
Sponsor - Judith Cummins (LAB)
Freedom of Information (Extension) Bill 2017-19 - Private Members' Bill (Ballot Bill)
Sponsor - Andy Slaughter (LAB)
124 Written Questions in the current parliament
(View all written questions)4 Other Department Questions
Unsuccessful applicants received a letter from the department informing them of the outcome of the Levelling Up Fund. Officials will be in touch shortly with unsuccessful applicants to offer feedback to those whose bids passed the gateway stage.
All bids were subject to the assessment process detailed in the published Levelling Up Fund Prospectus and the Technical Note. An Explanatory Note detailing the Levelling Up Fund assessment, shortlisting and decision-making processes was published on the 27 October alongside the announcement.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Unsuccessful applicants received a letter from the department informing them of the outcome of the Levelling Up Fund. Officials will be in touch shortly with unsuccessful applicants to offer feedback to those whose bids passed the gateway stage.
All bids were subject to the assessment process detailed in the published Levelling Up Fund Prospectus and the Technical Note. An Explanatory Note detailing the Levelling Up Fund assessment, shortlisting and decision-making processes was published on the 27 October alongside the announcement.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This government remains committed to considering a framework for compensation, as well as actions to address disparities in financial and non-financial support for people infected and affected across the UK.
Cabinet Office officials are working with their colleagues in HM Treasury, the Department of Health and Social Care, and health departments in the devolved administrations to take this forward. I will update the House and the Inquiry, and those infected and affected as soon as these considerations have been concluded.
Minister of State (Department for International Trade)
This government remains committed to considering a framework for compensation, as well as actions to address disparities in financial and non-financial support for people infected and affected across the UK.
Cabinet Office officials are working with their colleagues in HM Treasury, the Department of Health and Social Care, and health departments in the devolved administrations to take this forward. I will update the House and the Inquiry, and those infected and affected as soon as these considerations have been concluded.
Minister of State (Department for International Trade)
I refer the Hon Member to the answers given by my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions on 8 December and those given by me in the House on 9 December. Copies of the terms of reference for the Cabinet Secretary’s investigations have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are also available on the GOV.UK website.
Paymaster General
I refer the Hon Member to the answers given by my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions on 8 December and those given by me in the House on 9 December. Copies of the terms of reference for the Cabinet Secretary’s investigations have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are also available on the GOV.UK website.
Paymaster General
I refer the Hon Member to the answers given by my Rt Hon Friend the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions on 8 December and those given by me in the House on 9 December. Copies of the terms of reference for the Cabinet Secretary’s investigations have been placed in the Libraries of the House and are also available on the GOV.UK website.
Paymaster General
The Government is committed to keeping our elections secure and fit for the modern age. We keep electoral law, and the role and powers of the Electoral Commission, under review to ensure the effective operation of, and public confidence in, an electoral system that is secure, fair, modern and transparent.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the hon. Member to my answer to PQ116528 on 23 November.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
As with all competitions for Permanent Secretary roles, details, including the number and names of applicants, are not disclosed.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the hon. member to the answer given to PQ111564, I have nothing further to add.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
As stated in my answer of 3 November 2020, in line with previous such appointments, the process was overseen by the First Civil Service Commissioner.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Minister for the Civil Service appointed Simon Case as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, following an expressions of interest process. This is in line with the process used for previous such appointments, and was overseen by the First Civil Service Commissioner. Details of candidates for internal positions are not normally disclosed.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Minister for the Civil Service appointed Simon Case as Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, following an expressions of interest process. This is in line with the process used for previous such appointments, and was overseen by the First Civil Service Commissioner. Details of candidates for internal positions are not normally disclosed.
Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has developed a national campaign to provide information, guidance and reassurance to the public. As part of this, we have partnered with the newspaper industry to help amplify public information on critical coronavirus messaging and ensure it reaches all communities.
To date, the partnership includes over 600 national, regional and local press and online titles including 47 BAME publications. Importantly, all these titles have been selected by our media buying agency (OMNIGOV) on their ability to engage with audiences at a national, regional and local level and are verified by our media auditors.
A list of publications involved in the partnership will be placed in the Commons Library.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has developed a national campaign to provide information, guidance and reassurance to the public. As part of this, we have partnered with the newspaper industry to help amplify public information on critical coronavirus messaging and ensure it reaches all communities.
To date, the partnership includes over 600 national, regional and local press and online titles including 47 BAME publications. These titles have been selected by our media buying agency (OMNIGOV) on their ability to engage with audiences at a national, regional and local level.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Further to the answers given to PQs 37724 and 37725 on 27 April 2020, in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has developed a national campaign to provide information, guidance and reassurance to the public.
The campaign spans owned, earned and paid-for channels, including local radio and TV, to maximise reach and engagement. We are constantly reviewing our use of each of these channels and amending campaign activity accordingly to ensure our messaging reaches as many people as possible.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has developed a strong national campaign to provide information and reassurance to the public about COVID-19. As part of this, we have utilised advertising in over 600 national, regional and local titles across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, reaching 49 million people a month.
As with any media planning approach, titles are selected on their ability to engage with audiences at a national, regional and local level.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has developed a strong national campaign to provide information and reassurance to the public about COVID-19. As part of this, we have utilised advertising in over 600 national, regional and local titles across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, reaching 49 million people a month.
As with any media planning approach, titles are selected on their ability to engage with audiences at a national, regional and local level.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government believes that we should wait until the Inquiry reports before considering compensation. The Inquiry cannot make a finding of legal liability, but it could make a recommendation that the Government fundamentally increases what it pays to the infected and affected, and that it does so on a different basis. Government will act on the Inquiry's recommendations with the utmost urgency, when it reports.
In the meantime, we are working with our partners in the devolved nations, including Northern Ireland, and other relevant Government departments to improve the parity of financial support for those infected by the infected blood scandal, across the United Kingdom.
The Department of Health NI was allocated £1.03 million in January 2020 monitoring, ringfenced for the specific purpose of providing financial support to the infected and affected.
Of this £610,780 was committed in the interim payments announced on 27 January and has been paid out. Therefore £419,220 remains, which the NI Health Minister committed to allocating before the end of this financial year.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
Information about Cabinet Office staff is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/cabinet-office/about/equality-and-diversity
Information on the school background of staff is not held centrally.
The proportion of Cabinet Office staff actively completing an apprenticeship programme is 1.45%
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to PQ 431 on the 9th January 2020.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In January 2020, the then Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health met campaigners representing people infected and affected. A number of issues were raised, including support that would assist people outside of the inquiry process. Ministers have committed to looking at these issues carefully and to report back on where progress can be made.
Minister of State (Department for International Trade)
I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement laid on Thursday 30 January 2020, HCWS82, available on the Parliament website.
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement laid on Thursday 30 January 2020, HCWS82, available on the Parliament website.
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Data on convictions for fraud offences is not collected or held by the Cabinet Office. The Electoral Commission reports on electoral fraud and holds more detailed information.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
3 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Christian Matheson's BEIS questions)The competition for the Vaccines Manufacture and Innovation Centre (VMIC) took place in 2018 as part of Wave 1 of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Medicines Manufacturing portfolio. This was an open competition call, with no limit on the number of bids. Two sites were shortlisted, the site in Oxfordshire and a site in the North East of England.
The Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre will sit within the Harwell HealthTec Cluster, comprising 1,000 people across 40 organisations, it will form part of a well-established and proven life sciences community where it will grow to become a vital component of the UK’s national scientific infrastructure.
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) does not provide research funding. The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement mean that the UK will continue to participate in EU Programmes financed by the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework until their closure.
The UK is the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050. The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy sets out how we want to make sure that the UK continues to reap the benefits from the transition to a low carbon economy.
The Government has been investing over £3 billion to support low carbon innovation in the UK over the period 2015 and 2021, to ensure that the UK continues to grasp the economic opportunities of the global shift to a low carbon future, and have committed to raise total research and development investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
This is already benefiting clean growth innovation – for example the £505 million BEIS Energy Innovation Programme, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes.
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) does not provide research funding. The terms of the Withdrawal Agreement mean that the UK will continue to participate in EU Programmes financed by the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework until their closure.
The UK is the first major economy to legislate for net zero emissions by 2050. The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy sets out how we want to make sure that the UK continues to reap the benefits from the transition to a low carbon economy.
The Government is investing over £3 billion to support low carbon innovation in the UK between 2015 and 2021, to ensure that the UK continues to grasp the economic opportunities of the global shift to a low carbon future, and have committed to raise total research and development investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.
This is already benefiting clean growth innovation – for example the £505 million BEIS Energy Innovation Programme, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes.
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
18 Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Questions
(View all Christian Matheson's DCMS questions)The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government, and the government has no role in internal or executive recruitment at the BBC.
Meetings with external organisations and individuals undertaken in a ministerial capacity are published on GOV.UK on a quarterly basis.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from the government, and the government has no role in internal or executive recruitment at the BBC.
Meetings with external organisations and individuals undertaken in a ministerial capacity are published on GOV.UK on a quarterly basis.
The first process to appoint the permanent Chair of Ofcom was run in line with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code for Public Appointments, and regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. In line with the requirements of the Governance Code, the members of the interview panel were published in March 2021 on the Cabinet Office’s Public Appointments Website. The panel consisted of Susannah Storey (Director General, DCMS), Paul Potts (Senior Independent Panel Member), Melanie Richards and Lord Livingston of Parkhead.
A second process to appoint a permanent Chair of Ofcom has not yet been launched but announcements will be made in due course. The process will be a fair and open competition, and run in line with the Governance Code for Public appointments and regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Our Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) is worth £2 billion in total and is the largest investment in culture, art & heritage in UK history.
Our delivery bodies are working hard to ensure payments from the first two rounds reach organisations quickly, and so far over 83% of all awarded CRF funding has been paid. Payments through the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) are typically made in multiple tranches. Final payment is typically made at the very end of the grant period, once activities and costs have been reported.
As part of the design process for the third round of the CRF, the Department has conducted various lessons learnt exercises to help us determine where to make design and delivery changes. Details on the third round of funding were published on 25 June, including a specific ‘emergency resource support’ strand that will provide funding quickly to those who are at imminent risk of failure. As with all large and complex funding packages, we will ensure that key lessons learned from the whole process are captured, and used to help improve grant delivery in the future.
The attached table provides figures addressing the questions asked.
Payments through the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) are typically made in multiple tranches. Final payment is typically made at the very end of the grant period, once activities and costs have been reported.
In both rounds of the CRF revenue grants programme, DCMS has been able to give recipients the flexibility to extend the grant period. For CRF1 awardees, they have been able to extend until 30 June 2021, and for CRF2 awardees until 31 December 2021.
As such, a significant number of CRF 1 awardees have only very recently concluded the grant period, and many CRF 2 awardees have not concluded the grant period yet.
Accordingly, final payment requests are still outstanding from both CRF1 and CRF 2 recipients. Only when final payment requests have been made will DCMS Arms Length Bodies make final payments.
In addition, payment schedules can be impacted by a number of factors, such as the provision of bank details and activity reports from applicants, as well as assurance processes undertaken by distributing arms-length bodies, in order to ensure best use of tax-payers’ money.
As the numbers show, over 83% of all awarded CRF funding has been paid.
Figures include revenue grants, capital grants, and loans from within the Culture Recovery Fund.
The attached table provides figures addressing the questions asked.
Payments through the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) are typically made in multiple tranches. Final payment is typically made at the very end of the grant period, once activities and costs have been reported.
In both rounds of the CRF revenue grants programme, DCMS has been able to give recipients the flexibility to extend the grant period. For CRF1 awardees, they have been able to extend until 30 June 2021, and for CRF2 awardees until 31 December 2021.
As such, a significant number of CRF 1 awardees have only very recently concluded the grant period, and many CRF 2 awardees have not concluded the grant period yet.
Accordingly, final payment requests are still outstanding from both CRF1 and CRF 2 recipients. Only when final payment requests have been made will DCMS Arms Length Bodies make final payments.
In addition, payment schedules can be impacted by a number of factors, such as the provision of bank details and activity reports from applicants, as well as assurance processes undertaken by distributing arms-length bodies, in order to ensure best use of tax-payers’ money.
As the numbers show, over 83% of all awarded CRF funding has been paid.
Figures include revenue grants, capital grants, and loans from within the Culture Recovery Fund.
A total of eleven candidates applied and subsequently four were interviewed. This process was conducted in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments and has been regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
The recent process to appoint the permanent Chair of Ofcom was conducted in line with the Governance Code for Public Appointments and has been regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. In line with the governance code, the Minister is advised during this process by an advisory assessment panel who are required to make an independent and objective assessment as to whether candidates meet the published criteria. The panel included a Senior Independent Panel Member, two further members who are independent of the department and Ofcom and a senior department official.
As stated in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation, content and articles produced and published by news publishers on their own sites do not constitute user-generated content and are therefore out of scope of the upcoming online harms legislation. Legislation will also exempt below-the-line comments on news publishers’ sites.
In order to protect media freedom, legislation will include robust protections for journalistic content shared on in-scope services. The government will continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders to develop proposals that protect the invaluable role of a free media and ensure that the UK is the safest place in the world to be online.
In line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, due diligence checks were conducted on all candidates shortlisted for the BBC Chair role.
As part of these checks, we considered anything in the public domain related to the applicant’s conduct or professional capacity. This included us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information, as well as checks on relevant registers including the Disqualified Director and Insolvency Registers.
In line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, due diligence checks were conducted on all candidates shortlisted for the BBC Chair role.
As part of these checks, we considered anything in the public domain related to the applicant’s conduct or professional capacity. This included us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information, as well as checks on relevant registers including the Disqualified Director and Insolvency Registers.
In line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments, due diligence checks were conducted on all candidates shortlisted for the BBC Chair role.
As part of these checks, we considered anything in the public domain related to the applicant’s conduct or professional capacity. This included us undertaking searches of previous public statements and social media, blogs or any other publicly available information, as well as checks on relevant registers including the Disqualified Director and Insolvency Registers.
The Commissioner for Public Appointments is the independent regulator of public appointments. The Commissioner’s statutory functions are set out in the Public Appointments Order in Council 2016. The Commissioner’s primary role is to provide independent assurance that public appointments are made in accordance with the Principles of Public Appointments and the Governance Code on Public Appointments.
The process to appoint a new Chairman of the BBC will be a fair and open competition, run in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. We expect to launch the process shortly.
Once the process opens to applications, the full role specification will be publicly available on the Cabinet Office’s Public Appointments website, where all roles are advertised.
We recognise the significant contribution of British music to the UK, both culturally and economically and I recognise the case for a music strategy. In 2018, music contributed £5.2bn to our economy, reached £2.5bn in exports and sustained over 190,000 jobs.
We have taken a number of steps to support the industry, including reforming licensing and planning guidance and providing £1.5m ACE funding to support grassroots venues.
We are looking to develop a music strategy in the forthcoming months and will be working closely with the UK music sector.
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister without Portfolio)
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) does not publish data on the number of applicants to each course.
However, UCAS does publish data on applications to full-time undergraduate courses at UK higher education (HE) providers in their End of Cycle Data Resources pages. Each applicant can make up to 5 applications.
The table below shows the numbers of main scheme applications to undergraduate English studies courses at English HE providers for application cycles 2016 to 2020.
Applications1 to undergraduate English studies courses at English HE providers - application cycles 2016 to 2020
Cycle year2 | Number of applications to English studies course (JACS)3 |
2016 | 41,805 |
2017 | 39,930 |
2018 | 36,245 |
2019 | 33,440 |
2020 | 29,830 |
Source: UCAS End of Cycle data resources https://www.ucas.com/data-and-analysis/undergraduate-statistics-and-reports/ucas-undergraduate-sector-level-end-cycle-data-resources-2020.
[1] Does not refer to individual applicants. Each unique applicant can make up to 5 main scheme applications. This does not cover applicants who applied Direct to Clearing or applicants who applied directly to the provider. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
[2] Refers to application cycle year. The 2020 cycle covers applicants typically entering higher education in the 2020/2021 academic year.
[3] English studies defined as principal category Q3 of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). This code excludes those studying Imaginative Writing (I8). More information on JACS codes can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on qualifications obtained at UK HE providers. The latest data refers to academic year 2019/20.
The table below shows the numbers of first-degree qualifiers in English studies at English HE providers between academic years 2015/16 and 2019/20.
Information for the academic year 2019/20 is provided in a separate column due to the introduction of a new subject classification system, the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH).
Figures for the academic year 2019/20 are not directly comparable with previous years, because “Studies of specific authors” and “Creative writing” are now included in the ‘English Studies’ category. Excluding those categories gives a count of 8,110 qualifiers in the academic year 2019/20, although this is still not directly comparable with earlier years due to the new coding methodology.
First-degree qualifiers4 in English studies courses at English HE providers5 - academic years 2015/16 to 2019/20
Academic year | Number of qualifiers in English studies courses (JACS)6 | Number of qualifiers in English studies courses (CAH)7 |
2015/16 | 10,475 | - |
2016/17 | 10,355 | - |
2017/18 | 9,665 | - |
2018/19 | 9,165 | - |
2019/20 | - | 9,405 |
Source: HESA Student open data pages, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-19 and https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-51.
[4] Counts are based on full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, in line with HESA rounding conventions: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/students#rounding-and-suppression-strategy.
[5] Data between the academic years 2015/16 and 2018/19 excludes a small minority of qualifiers from alternative providers.
[6] English studies is defined as principal category Q3 of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS). More information on JACS codes can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.
[7] English studies is defined as Common Aggregate Hierarchy level 2 (CAH2), which is the sum of codes “19-01-01 English studies (non-specific)”, “19-01-02 English language”, ”19-01-03 Literature in English”, “19-01-04 Studies of specific authors”, “19-01-05 Creative writing” and “19-01-06 Others in English studies”. More information on CAH codes can be found here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos/cah-about.
Minister of State (Department for Education) (Higher and Further Education)
We are delivering on my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s commitment to a 10-year school rebuilding programme, which will give long-term stability and certainty both to schools and the construction sector and support more efficient delivery.
The programme is launching with a commitment to 50 new school rebuilding projects a year, replacing many poor condition and ageing school buildings with modern, energy efficient designs, transforming education for thousands of pupils. Investment will continue to be targeted at school buildings in the worst condition across England – including substantial investment in the Midlands and the North. We will set out further details of the programme shortly.
Since 2015, we have allocated £9.5 billion to maintain and improve the condition of the school estate, including an additional £560 million in financial year 2020-21 for essential maintenance. A further £1.8 billion has been committed for 2021-22. On top of that the existing Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition at over 500 schools across England.
The registration process for access to the Learning Records Service (LRS) has been tightened up significantly:
Extra checks have been put in place by the UK register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) before an organisation can apply to become a registered training provider (a pre-requisite to registering to use the LRS). They must:
- provide their Companies House number and be a listed as a registered & active company on the CH website, their ICO registration number and an active UKPRN number.
- provide details of the Awarding Organisation (AO) that they are accredited with (which will be confirmed independently by ESFA), the approximate volumes of learners that they expect to register per annum and a detailed description of why they need access. If the the purpose for any reason but to enrol their own students this will only be granted by exception after a follow up discussion.
- submit an LRS agreement that is signed by one of the company directors listed on the Companies House website.
The LRS registration form has been updated to include all of the above information, and any organisations who have had their access revoked as part of the recent incident will need to resign the updated agreement/registration form. The registration form also includes a section cleared by commercial lawyers that:
- states DFE's right of recourse against licensees to LRS and that we will restrict the rights of licensees with regard to the sublicensing of access to LRS.
- includes text acknowledging/outlining other sanctions.
Any organisation that requests a change of details (for example when a school becomes an Academy, or when an ITP changes its registered name), must meet the same criteria as the initial registration process.
The housekeeping tasks to de-register organisations from LRS are being automated.
Nightly checks are being run routinely now to identify any cases of excessive usage of the LRS, with automatic suspension for those identified. The housekeeping tasks to de-register organisations from LRS will be enhanced going forwards using a weekly data feed from UKRLP.
We have put in place the following additional checks when new entrants to the market apply to join the UK Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP):
- Each applicant must register with the ICO and include their ICO number in their UKRLP application.
- UKRLP will check each applicant’s website(s) and review their line of business (including the description of their business on Companies House).
- Each new applicant must give a reason for registering with the UKRLP.
IDP-Connect will continuously review the current acceptance / rejection process and monitor frequent requests. Those currently registered with the UKRLP will be reviewed against these new criteria.
IDP-Connect and ESFA are now meeting every 2 weeks to review the changes proposed to the UKRLP process and to evaluate progress with respect to the agreed changes.
All bulk shares of personal data from the department must be independently assessed and reviewed by the department’s Data Sharing Approvals Panel (DSAP). Most requests for data that are granted will be through the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service and will use National Pupil Database (NPD) de-identified individual level ‘standard extracts’ for each academic year.The ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) allows researchers they have accredited under the Digital Economy Act or approved through the ONS Approved Researcher scheme to access secure de-identified data in line with the industry standard “5 Safes. The Five Safes are Safe People, Safe Projects, Safe Settings, Safe Outputs and Safe Data.
Access to the service is through 1 of the 5 research labs run by the ONS or if the researcher’s location meets ONS security standards and have access to the ONS they may access the data remotely through their own machines.
DSAP review each request and only approve the request is within the department’s risk appetite and supports the aims of the department.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
6 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Christian Matheson's Defra questions)The Zoo Animals Fund has been extended to continue to provide support until 30 June, with application open until 28 May. To date, just over £5.5 million has been paid to 45 applicants from the Zoo Animals Fund. The Zoo Support Fund awarded 56 grants to successful applicants.
Under both zoo support schemes we have so far awarded over £7.5 million to the zoo sector. This money has provided for animal care costs and essential maintenance costs for those zoos experiencing severe financial difficulties due to COVID-19.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has already made the Zoo Animals Fund more accessible than the previous fund, the Zoo Support Fund. We have expanded the eligibility criteria so that grant payments to zoos begin when zoos reach their final 12 weeks of financial reserves, rather than 6 weeks. We also lifted the payment cap from £100k to £700k and then removed this cap at the end of the implementation period when we were no longer subject to EU state aid rules.
Defra has also expanded the range of costs that are eligible under the Zoo Animals Fund so zoos can now claim costs relating to pre-planned essential maintenance and repair works as well as animal care costs. The fund has also been extended in response to the current lockdown, with applications open until 28 May and support provided until 30 June.
We will continue to monitor the fund to ensure that it achieves its aims. We will continue to engage with the sector to fully understand the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on the sector and provide updates as situations change.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Organisations are eligible to apply for support under the Zoo Animals fund if they hold a zoo licence (full or section 14(2) dispensation) under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 or have been granted an exemption under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 and hold a licence under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018.
The Zoo Animals Fund was set up in recognition of the fact that zoos need to continue caring for the animals during the pandemic. The fund supports zoos and aquariums with their animal welfare costs, as well as essential maintenance.
As announced in the recent Budget, the fund has been extended in response to the current lockdown, with applications open until 28 May and support provided until 30 June.
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The exemption for gathering beyond your household for outdoor sport and licensed physical activity will no longer apply, including on private land. All activities in public outdoor space must therefore abide by broader gathering limits: to be on your own, with one other person, or your own household.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As forestry is devolved, Defra is responsible for policies to increase tree planting in England. We will work with the devolved administrations to increase planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025.
In the spring, we will consult on an English Tree Strategy with measures to increase planting in England supported by the Nature for Climate Fund. Woodland creation is monitored by the Forestry Commission and its counterparts in the devolved administrations.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
CDC is an investor in Skanray Technologies Private Limited through the investment fund Ascent India Fund III managed by Ascent Capital Advisors Private Limited. The investment was made by the fund manager in 2013 with the purpose of expanding access to medical equipment in India and across South Asia. CDC continues to work closely with the company which is exploring options to scale-up its production capacity of ventilators in support of the public health response to Covid-19 in India.
The UK is at the forefront of efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. At the G20 last month, the Prime Minister called on all governments to work together to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it globally available.
MedAccess, initially called the Credit Facility for Access to Medicines, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution, which in turn is owned and funded by DFID. MedAccess provides ‘volume guarantees’ to manufacturers to stimulate production and increase the availability and affordability of medical supplies in developing country markets across Africa and Asia. It has a track record of success with viral testing kits to combat HIV and insecticide treated bednets to combat malaria. MedAccess is in discussions with UN agencies and manufacturers to establish whether it can provide financial guarantees to increase production and enable more rapid procurement of much needed medical supplies at affordable prices to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The UK has pledged £744 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have delivered additional vital support in the OPTs by providing £840,000 to World Health Organisation and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity.
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an expected increase in COVID-19 cases is poor. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment. We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the UN and the international community to ensure a co-ordinated response.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
There are currently two known cases of COVID-19 in Gaza. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has delivered essential equipment such as lab testing kits and personal protective equipment and has used DFID-funded Trauma Stabilisation Tents to quarantine suspected COVID-19 patients at the Rafah border crossing. UN agencies are supporting further measures such as the establishment of a field hospital and the creation of a medical checkpoint at the Erez border crossing.
A widespread outbreak of the virus could overwhelm Gaza’s already overburdened health system - especially given the lack of reliable access to clean water and energy in the strip. We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the UN and the international community to ensure agencies are ready to respond to an outbreak.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises strong and resilient national health systems are vital to global health security and helping to protect the world from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
Through our multilateral partnerships, and our regional and national programmes, we support low-income countries to make their health systems, including primary healthcare, stronger and more resilient, and able to prevent, detect and respond to health threats, such as COVID-19.
UK aid has a longstanding record of global support to countries to prepare for large disease outbreaks. DFID provides continued and additional support to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies, using their leadership role, through providing technical assistance, setting norms and standards and tracking progress to help countries address key Health System Strengthening bottlenecks.
The Department of Health and Social Care’s £21 million International Health Regulations (IHR) Strengthening Project builds capacity in six countries across Africa and Asia to enable them to observe the IHRs and better enable them to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats.
In addition to the UK’s significant annual funding to the WHO of around £120 million, the UK has committed an additional £10 million to the WHO’s Emergency Flash Appeal through to April and additional funding for other international partners who are helping developing countries develop and deliver their own response to the virus. We are pressing WHO and the UN to develop a follow-up consolidated appeal to address the COVID-19 health and priority secondary impacts developing countries.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
While our approach to negotiations will vary between partners, it will always allow HM Government to have open discussions on a range of important issues, including human rights. We have a strong history of safeguarding rights globally and will not compromise our high standards in trade agreements.
Minister of State (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)
The UK routinely updates our guidance to British businesses on the Overseas Business Risk website. This is voluntary guidance to British businesses. Ultimately it will be the decision of an individual or company whether to operate in occupied territories.
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The settlements are not covered by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which currently governs our trade with Israel, nor by the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, which will enter into force at the end of the Transition Period. We are committed to maintaining this position.
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
The UK Government is concerned about the impact of recent Israeli trade restrictions. UK businesses should be free to import Palestinian products without barriers. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Israel raised this issue with the Government of Israel, most recently on 12 February. We welcome the agreement reached by the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on 20 February, to lift their respective trade restrictions. We urge both sides to ensure the swift implementation of this agreement.
Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Ministers and Officials meet with operators and their Managing Directors on a regular basis.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Department indicated in its feedback last year on Cheshire West and Chester Council’s initial Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for potential rail enhancements at Chester Station the further work that was required on the business case before a scheme could be considered for inclusion and progression within the Government’s Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP), in accordance with the published guidance. The Council is continuing to work in collaboration with Transport for Wales, Network Rail, the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, other regional partners and my officials to assemble the additional evidence needed to finalise the SOBC.
There is no confirmed timescale for regional partners’ completion of that work, and therefore for any submission or decision on inclusion of a scheme in the RNEP, or for forecast delivery of any works proposed subject to subsequent funding decisions. As with any business case, I would expect any submission to set out proposals for consideration on the role of regional and local partners in the funding and management of the proposed scheme.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
The Department indicated in its feedback last year on Cheshire West and Chester Council’s initial Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for potential rail enhancements at Chester Station the further work that was required on the business case before a scheme could be considered for inclusion and progression within the Government’s Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP), in accordance with the published guidance. The Council is continuing to work in collaboration with Transport for Wales, Network Rail, the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, other regional partners and my officials to assemble the additional evidence needed to finalise the SOBC.
There is no confirmed timescale for regional partners’ completion of that work, and therefore for any submission or decision on inclusion of a scheme in the RNEP, or for forecast delivery of any works proposed subject to subsequent funding decisions. As with any business case, I would expect any submission to set out proposals for consideration on the role of regional and local partners in the funding and management of the proposed scheme.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
The Department indicated in its feedback last year on Cheshire West and Chester Council’s initial Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for potential rail enhancements at Chester Station the further work that was required on the business case before a scheme could be considered for inclusion and progression within the Government’s Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP), in accordance with the published guidance. The Council is continuing to work in collaboration with Transport for Wales, Network Rail, the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, other regional partners and my officials to assemble the additional evidence needed to finalise the SOBC.
There is no confirmed timescale for regional partners’ completion of that work, and therefore for any submission or decision on inclusion of a scheme in the RNEP, or for forecast delivery of any works proposed subject to subsequent funding decisions. As with any business case, I would expect any submission to set out proposals for consideration on the role of regional and local partners in the funding and management of the proposed scheme.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
The Department indicated in its feedback last year on Cheshire West and Chester Council’s initial Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for potential rail enhancements at Chester Station the further work that was required on the business case before a scheme could be considered for inclusion and progression within the Government’s Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline (RNEP), in accordance with the published guidance. The Council is continuing to work in collaboration with Transport for Wales, Network Rail, the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, other regional partners and my officials to assemble the additional evidence needed to finalise the SOBC.
There is no confirmed timescale for regional partners’ completion of that work, and therefore for any submission or decision on inclusion of a scheme in the RNEP, or for forecast delivery of any works proposed subject to subsequent funding decisions. As with any business case, I would expect any submission to set out proposals for consideration on the role of regional and local partners in the funding and management of the proposed scheme.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
Currently Avanti West Coast (AWC) operate two direct trains per day in each direction between London Euston and Holyhead via Chester. The Department is working with Train Operating Companies to develop attractive timetables that are reliable, deliver excellent performance for passengers, and offer good value for money for the taxpayer.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
Currently Avanti West Coast (AWC) operate two direct trains per day in each direction between London Euston and Holyhead via Chester. The Department is working with Train Operating Companies to develop attractive timetables that are reliable, deliver excellent performance for passengers, and offer good value for money for the taxpayer.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
Throughout the pandemic, the Department has been working with the rail industry to keep the country moving while protecting the public purse. Recovery timetables were designed to be flexible, so they could be amended to reflect fluctuating demand. Given the fast-changing nature of the situation, train operators were unable to follow regular railways procedures, including stakeholder consultations. As new passenger demand patterns are established, we expect train operators to consider local stakeholders when developing their plans.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip
The Government takes a range of factors into account when deciding which countries to add or remove from the Travel Corridor list. This includes:
- an estimate of the proportion of the population that is currently infectious in each country
- virus incidence rates and rates of change
- trends in incidence and deaths
- transmission status and international epidemic intelligence
- information on a country’s testing capacity, testing regime and test positivity rate
- an assessment of the quality of the data available
- effectiveness of measures being deployed by a country
- volume of travel between the UK and that country
?
We recognise how important travel and tourism is for the Maldives. However, inbound travel from the Maldives presents a high risk to the UK given continued elevated incidence of COVID-19 indicating community transmission of the virus. The Government keeps the list of travel corridors under constant review. We will make further exemptions when we are sure that we can do so safely and responsibly.
The information requested is not available because claimants who naturally migrate to Universal Credit will do so because they will have had a significant change in their circumstances which previously would have led to a new claim to another existing benefit. In these situations, it has always been the case that the assessment of their new benefit will be based on their new circumstances and under the rules of their new benefit. We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a new claim to Universal Credit as a result of such a change in circumstances.
For people considering claiming Universal Credit, we have updated our information on gov.uk and on understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk where links to independent benefit calculators can also be found.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In 2019/2020, the NHS Business Services Authority issued 12,411 Penalty Charge Notices to patients who had provided receipt of Employment and Support Allowance as an exemption for their dental treatment. Prior to the issuance of a fine, patients are permitted to demonstrate their eligibility for free National Health Service dental treatment.
Exemption checking for NHS dentistry was paused during the pandemic to limit the spread of COVID-19 through the handling and signing of papers between patients and dental staff. Patient signatures were reintroduced on 1 September 2021.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is shown in the following table.
Location | Number of facilities |
Durham | 3 |
Essex | 2 |
Leicestershire | 4 |
Greater Manchester | 1 |
Staffordshire | 1 |
Stirlingshire | 1 |
South Yorkshire | 2 |
Suffolk | 5 |
Warwickshire | 1 |
West Yorkshire | 2 |
Shanghai | 1 |
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held in the format requested. However, by the end of November 2021, £300.7 million had been spent on the storage of personal protective equipment. This includes the rental of shipping containers and storage space in the United Kingdom and overseas.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are unable to provide the location of storage facilities as this information is commercially sensitive.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement are asking stakeholders and voluntary and third sector partners to encourage people who have a severe and profound learning disability to come forward to their local general practitioner (GP). GPs should then assess the individual and if appropriate, add them to the list to be offered a vaccine.
Secretary of State for Education
In England, Public Health England publish daily data on the total first and second doses given to date by region of residence. NHS England and NHS Improvement release a weekly publication of vaccination data across additional cohorts, which from 25 February 2021 includes data by parliamentary constituency and by Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships / Integrated Care Systems area.
This data is available via the following links:
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations
www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
Secretary of State for Education
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are an independent expert advisory committee which advise the Government on vaccination. The JCVI advised that the priority for the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality from COVID-19. The JCVI have advised that adults with severe and profound learning difficulties should be prioritised for vaccine in the first phase of the programme.
Secretary of State for Education
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation of a COVID-19 vaccine at a population level. For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors which includes people who are clinically extremely vulnerable and/or have underlying health conditions. Adults with severe or profound learning difficulties are considered to be ‘at risk’ and adults with Down’s syndrome are included as priorities the first phase.
Secretary of State for Education
Information on the number of people who have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19 is routinely published on the GOV.UK website at the following link:
https://coronavirus-staging.data.gov.uk/healthcare
In terms of the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19, the figures are difficult to quantify as people recover to different levels and in different settings. Not all recovery cases are picked up through data collections.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan recognises the importance of fast and effective action to help save the lives of people suffering a cardiac arrest.
The British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK), the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives and the National Health Service, have set up the Circuit: the national defibrillator network. This is now live in five ambulance services: the West Midlands, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the East Midlands. The Circuit supports the ambulance services to identify the nearest defibrillator at the time of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. It will also lead to a national dataset which when combined with other relevant national datasets will inform national policy and support research.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Having a family history of cervical cancer does not affect your chances of developing the disease; most cervical cancers are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Regular cervical screening is one of the best ways to identify abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix at an early stage.
Evidence shows that using HPV primary screening within the NHS Cervical Screening Programme offers a more sensitive and effective way to let women know whether they have any risk of developing cervical cancer. If the individual tested does not have high risk HPV (high risk HPV is found in 99.7% of cervical cancers), her chances of developing a cancer within five years are very small.
The UK National Screening Committee recommends that anyone experiencing any unusual symptoms, such as abnormal bleeding, should contact their general practitioner who will then decide on the most appropriate next steps and diagnostic tests.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A cervical smear may not be the most appropriate test for patients presenting with symptoms. The UK National Screening Committee encourages all women who have concerns about their health or who present with symptoms to contact their general practitioner, who will then decide on the most appropriate next steps and diagnostic tests.
Women who have a history of cancer are invited to attend regular appointments for testing, which will usually consist of a physical examination. These examinations will look for signs of cancer returning and are recommended for every three to six months for the first two years, and then every six to 12 months for a further three years.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
10 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Questions
(View all Christian Matheson's FCDO questions)The UK Government has announced an unprecedented package of sanctions to cut off the funding for Putin's war machine. We have now sanctioned over 1000 individuals, entities and subsidiaries since Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The FCDO regularly receives correspondence regarding designation proposals or specific designations under all sanctions regimes. Law firms that have made representations to the Government on behalf of Russian or Russian-linked clients in relation to the UK-Russian sanctions regime in processed correspondence include BCL Solicitors LLP, W Legal Limited and Peters & Peters.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues, as well as specific cases of concern, with the Colombian Government. The UK's Minister for the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, raised our concerns around violence and threats toward environmental defenders on a visit to Colombia from 5-8 October.
Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country' and we consistently raise our concerns regarding violence against human rights defenders and social leaders at the UN Security Council, as we did at meetings in July and on 14 October. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.
Through our Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) programme, which has provided £63 million in support of peace agreement implementation, security, and stability in Colombia since 2015, we will continue to prioritise funding interventions to protect human rights defenders, including environmental activists, and social leaders.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues, as well as specific cases of concern, with the Colombian Government. The UK's Minister for the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, raised our concerns around violence and threats toward environmental defenders on a visit to Colombia from 5-8 October.
Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country' and we consistently raise our concerns regarding violence against human rights defenders and social leaders at the UN Security Council, as we did at meetings in July and on 14 October. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.
Through our Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) programme, which has provided £63 million in support of peace agreement implementation, security, and stability in Colombia since 2015, we will continue to prioritise funding interventions to protect human rights defenders, including environmental activists, and social leaders.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
As set out in the FCDO Annual Human Rights Report, we expect British businesses to respect local and international law wherever they operate.
The UK was the first country to create a National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This plan sets out what is expected of the conduct of UK businesses, including compliance with relevant laws and respect for human rights; treating the risk of causing human rights abuses as a legal compliance issue; adopting appropriate due diligence policies; and consulting those who could potentially be affected.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We are working closely with our partners on the impacts and priorities of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend, including through roundtables with Civil Society Organisations such as one recently chaired by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon. Country Plans will also be informed by consultation with partner governments and other partners on key priorities.
As with any major fiscal event, it is right the outcome of the process is formally communicated to Parliament first. We will work closely with our partners and suppliers to explain how this will impact our joint work.
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister without Portfolio)
Colombia has made significant progress since the 2016 peace agreement was signed with the FARC. For Colombians in most parts of the country where security was an issue, conditions are much improved. Significant challenges remain in some areas, due to illegal armed groups competing for territory and control of the drugs trade and other illicit activities. This has led to violence, and the death and displacement of ordinary Colombians. We regularly raise this violence with Colombian counterparts and in multilateral bodies. I discussed the UK’s concerns in a phone call with Claudia Blum, Colombian Foreign Minister, on 2 June. We also use our position as UNSC penholder on Colombia’s peace process to emphasise the issue and to urge the Colombian government to ensure the rule of law applies to the entire country, most recently at the UNSC session on 14 July. The UK is the biggest donor to the UN Trust Fund for Colombia. Since 2015 we have contributed over £53m to support implementation of the peace agreement. Programmes run by our Embassy in Bogotá aim to tackle the root causes of this violence, by helping communities develop sustainable livelihoods. This issue is a priority for the Colombian government. We will continue to support their efforts to bring long-term security to all communities.
Minister of State (Department for Transport)
We have repeatedly made clear to Israel our longstanding concerns about the manner in which the Israel Defense Forces police non-violent protests and the border areas, including the use of live ammunition. We encourage Israel to carry out transparent investigations into whether the use of live fire had been appropriate. While Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence, it is vital that all its actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law, and are calibrated to avoid civilian casualties.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The UK is concerned about the impact of recent Israeli trade restrictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The British Government strongly supports the principle of free trade. British businesses should be free to import Palestinian products without barriers. Our Ambassador to Israel raised this issue with the Government of Israel, most recently on 12 February. We welcome the agreement reached by the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on 20 February, to lift their respective trade restrictions. We urge both sides to ensure the swift implementation of this agreement.
Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As I (Minister Wheeler) set out in my Oral Statement of 9 January, we deployed a team of UK experts to Australia, including a senior member of UK Fire and Rescue Service, a medical specialist in trauma and mental health, and a military liaison officer specialising in crisis response. The team returned to the UK on 16 January having engaged closely with Australian counterparts.
Drawing on the team's findings we are working to establish what further UK support would be of most use to the Australian authorities, and ensure that any such contributions are appropriate to Australia's needs. At this stage the Australian government has made no specific requests for assistance.
Assistant Whip
The Chancellor of the Exchequer regularly meets with parliamentary colleagues and has answered questions on this issue in the House.
The Government has recently announced further measures as part of the comprehensive economic response, taking unprecedented steps to support families, businesses and the most vulnerable. The fiscal response so far totals £160bn.
As well as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), this package includes a comprehensive set of Government-backed loans and grants to businesses, tax deferrals, rental support and mortgage and consumer credit holidays.
This package also includes extra funding for the welfare safety net, in order to help those unable to access other forms of support to get through the coronavirus outbreak. The temporary welfare measures include increases to Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance, a relaxation of the Universal Credit minimum income floor and making Statutory Sick Pay easier to access.
The Government’s Plan for Jobs will support, protect and create jobs. This plan will make available up to £30bn to help kickstart the nation’s economic recovery ahead of a fuller package of medium-term recovery measures in the forthcoming Autumn Budget and Spending Review.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, which are published on a monthly basis as the Overseas Trade Statistics.
The value (GB pounds sterling) of goods imported into the UK from the occupied Palestinian Territories in calendar years 2017, 2018 and 2019 is as follows:
UK Goods Imports From: | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Occupied Palestinian Territories | £1,246,795 | £1,713,290 | £1,794,947 |
Source: HMRC – UK Overseas Trade Statistics (extracted from uktradeinfo.com).
The information requested is not available.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, including (separately) those to and from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. However, HMRC do not produce estimates or hold data on goods imported into the UK from Israel that were produced in Israeli settlements of the occupied Palestinian Territories.
As sponsoring Minister for an inquiry, it is not uncommon to receive queries and correspondence regarding the progress of an inquiry. Representations with regards to the content of the report would be a matter for the Independent Panel.
The Home Secretary is kept up to date on the work of the Panel and her responsibilities by her officials, and meets with them when required.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
As sponsoring Minister for an inquiry, it is not uncommon to receive queries and correspondence regarding the progress of an inquiry. Representations with regards to the content of the report would be a matter for the Independent Panel.
The Home Secretary is kept up to date on the work of the Panel and her responsibilities by her officials, and meets with them when required.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The UK keeps its visa system under regular review. Decisions on changes are always taken in the round, and reflect key facets of the bilateral relationship with the country concerned. These will vary globally, but often include security, compliance, returns, and prosperity.
There are no current plans to change the visa requirements for citizens of Columbia.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
A range of criteria informed the development of the introduction of new health measures at the border, including the urgent requirement to protect our progress in countering the spread of the virus and reducing the risk of a second wave whilst doing all we can to protect vital supply chains and infrastructure work.
It is unfortunately unavoidable there will be an economic impact in the UK if we are to take necessary steps like this to protect public health and save lives.
The Government has committed to keeping the border health measures under regular review to ensure they remain effective and proportionate.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold information on how many individuals were reported to the Police due to suspected involvement with a climate activist group. This level of data is held by the Police who are operationally independent from the Home Office.
Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters have categorically stated they do not classify involvement with a climate activist group as extremism and stated that the inclusion of them in Counter Terrorism Police guidance was an ‘error of judgment’.
Membership or support of climate activist groups does not mean that a person is considered a threat by the Home Office or by the police; it does not meet the government threshold for extremism as defined in the Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy published in 2015.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
The Ministry of Defence spent £19.2 billion with UK industry and commerce in financial year 2018-19, directly supporting 119,000 jobs across the country and indirectly supporting many thousands more.
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In accordance with the Crichel Down Rules, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) offered the land at Chorlton Cum Backford, to the former owner. These rules require all Government Departments to offer back surplus land (that meets the conditions set out in the rules) to the former owner at current market value.
Consultation with the former owner began in September 2019. The former owner has had the opportunity to consider the formal valuation of current market value since June 2020. The former owner has provided his response. The DIO are reviewing the former owner’s proposal.
If the sale to the former owner does not proceed, then the site will be offered to the open market, in line with Treasury Guidance. This enables consultation with all interested parties, including local residents.
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
In January 2019, it was declared that land at Backford Depot at Chorlton by Backford in Chester was surplus to Ministry of Defence requirements and was to be sold by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
In accordance with Treasury Guidelines, any disposal action commences with an investigation of whether the Crichel Down Rules (CDR) apply, this was undertaken for the Backford site and the CDR were found to apply. Potential Former Owners were asked to identify themselves following an advertisement in January 2019. The Department is currently in negotiations with a Former Owner and the CDR process is ongoing.
Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
6 Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Questions
(View all Christian Matheson's DLUHC questions)The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.
We have published the following on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-additional-documents. The methodology used to calculate the index of places set out in the prospectus, a technical note setting out further guidance on eligibility, MP support and the application and assessment process for the first round of the Levelling Up Fund.
Housing associations are independent organisations and Government does not control the way in which they run their businesses. It is for the Board of individual housing associations to carefully consider the merits of such a merger, in consultation with tenants.
Registered providers of social housing are required to comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. These include a requirement that private registered providers deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for their tenants in an effective and transparent manner.
The Department has received no representations on the proposed merger.
Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Housing associations are independent organisations and Government does not control the way in which they run their businesses. It is for the Board of individual housing associations to carefully consider the merits of such a merger, in consultation with tenants.
Registered providers of social housing are required to comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. These include a requirement that private registered providers deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for their tenants in an effective and transparent manner.
The Department has received no representations on the proposed merger.
Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The Government is determined to ensure everyone gets the support they need to look after themselves and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak and are enabled to take the necessary measures to reduce the spread of the virus. We are holding regular discussions with representatives from Gypsy and Traveller communities to understand the issues they are facing, and to understand what guidance and support, including for local authorities, who have a responsibility to look after vulnerable groups. On 11 April, the Communities Minister wrote to local authority Chief Executives to highlight the need to mitigate potential impacts amongst Gypsy and Traveller communities, highlighting that some Gypsies and Travellers may need assistance in accessing basic facilities such as water, sanitation and waste disposal, to enable them to adhere to public health guidelines around self-isolation and social distancing.
On 18 April, the Local Government Secretary announced that councils across England will receive a further £1.6 billion to help them to deal with the immediate impacts of coronavirus. This takes the total funding to support councils to respond to the pandemic to over £3.2 billion.
The Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing also wrote to Caravan Site owners and managers on 27 March to confirm that people who live permanently in caravan parks, or are staying in caravan parks while their primary residence is unavailable, may continue to do so.
Levels of self-employment are high amongst Gypsy and Traveller communities. The Government recently announced a scheme for those who are self-employed to claim a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed.
Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
Every premature death of someone homeless is one too many and we take this matter extremely seriously.?It should not happen that people die prematurely?and on the street?because they are homeless.???
We are absolutely committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this parliament. To achieve this, we are providing £492 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in 2020/2021.This marks a £124 million increase in funding from the previous year.?
In December 2018, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began to produce data on deaths of homeless people in England and Wales. The first release showed homelessness deaths in England and Wales from 2013-2017. Deaths of homeless people were identified from the death registration records held by the ONS, and a statistical method called capture-recapture modelling was applied to estimate the most likely number of additional registrations not identified as homeless people.
The ONS now publishes official estimates of the number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales annually. However, the statistics are still classed as experimental. The latest release was October 2019.
This is clearly an uncertain time for many businesses, including those in the aerospace industry, a sector valued at over £1.8bn in Northern Ireland.
As well as the Furlough Scheme, the Government is supporting the UK’s aerospace and aviation industries with over £8.5bn in grants, loans and export guarantees. UK Export Finance is supporting £3.5bn of sales in the next 18 months, and £2.1bn has been made available through the COVID Corporate Financing Facility.
Having met recently with both management and Unite union representatives, I am pleased that Spirit and Bombardier have completed a deal that will end uncertainty for some 3,000 employees. This is a major vote of confidence in Northern Ireland’s highly skilled aerospace workforce.
Minister of State (Education)
The Secretary of State for Scotland regularly discusses issues such as protecting workers' rights with his Cabinet colleagues.
For example, the UK Government has acted decisively to provide an unprecedented package of support to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods right across the United Kingdom in response to the Covid pandemic.