Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
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).
Stop the implementation of betting affordability/financial risk checks
We want the Government to abandon the planned implementation of affordability checks for some people who want to place a bet. We believe such checks – which could include assessing whether people are ‘at risk of harm' based on their postcode or job title – are inappropriate and discriminatory.
Repeal the current Dangerous Dogs Act and replace with new framework
Gov Responded - 24 Jan 2023 Debated on - 27 Nov 2023 View Conor McGinn's petition debate contributionsWe want the Government to repeal the Dangerous Dogs Act and replace it with legislation that focuses on early intervention to prevent dog bites and tackle dog-related issues regardless of breed or type, based solely on their behaviour.
Bad owners are to blame not the breed - don't ban the XL bully
Gov Responded - 23 Nov 2023 Debated on - 27 Nov 2023 View Conor McGinn's petition debate contributions
I believe that the XL bully is a kind, beautiful natured breed that loves children and people in general, and are very loyal and loving pets.
Take action to stop illegal immigration and rapidly remove illegal immigrants
Gov Responded - 8 Oct 2020 Debated on - 19 Oct 2020 View Conor McGinn's petition debate contributionsIllegal immigrants are entering the UK in many different ways, including small boats from France which are not stopped by either French or British forces.
These initiatives were driven by Conor McGinn, 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.
Conor McGinn has not been granted any Urgent Questions
The substantive text of this bill was included within the Government’s Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act which received Royal Assent during the 2017-2019 Parliament.
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 make provision for the marriage of same sex couples in Northern Ireland; to make provision in the law of Northern Ireland for the conversion of civil partnerships to marriages and for the review of civil partnership; to make provision for the legal recognition of the marriage of armed forces personnel overseas and of other marriages solemnised outside Northern Ireland; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to establish a presumption against eligibility for parole in cases where a person, convicted of unlawfully killing another person, has not provided relevant knowledge in their possession for the purposes of facilitating the location and recovery of the remains of the victim; to create a separate offence of withholding such information; to make provision about the available sentences for such an offence; and for connected purposes.
Public Advocate (No. 2) Bill 2019-21
Sponsor - Maria Eagle (Lab)
Public Advocate Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Maria Eagle (Lab)
Private Landlords (Registration) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Phil Wilson (Lab)
Representation of the People (Young People's Enfranchisement) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Peter Kyle (Lab)
National Living Wage (Extension to Young People) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Holly Lynch (Lab)
Planning (Agent of Change) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - John Spellar (Lab)
Food Advertising (Protection of Children from Targeting) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Kirstene Hair (Con)
Crime (Assaults on Emergency Services Staff) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - Holly Lynch (Lab)
As of 19 July 2023, the number of people employed by (a) the House of Commons is 3,284 and (b), the number of people employed by Members of Parliament through IPSA is 3,746.
The Glasgow Climate Pact acknowledges the vital role that local communities play in driving climate action, and emphasises the importance of collaboration across all parts of society to deliver effective climate action. The Mayors and Regions Advisory Council has played a key role in this endeavour, offering local insights and experiences to help meet our climate goals.
We remain committed to engaging with local and combined authorities, and we will use our Presidency year to ensure that the commitments from COP26 are delivered and that we build on our progress in Glasgow.
The Inquiry’s first interim report contained the recommendation that an interim payment of no less than £100,000 be paid to all those infected and bereaved partners registered with existing support schemes. The Government made these payments in October 2022, and these payments continue to be made to eligible beneficiaries upon being accepted onto the schemes.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentlemen Parliamentary Question of 25th April is attached.
Following the Cabinet reshuffle on 15 September 2021 and subsequent updates to the Cabinet Committee structure, the government’s cyber priorities are now overseen by the relevant Cabinet Committees. The Prime Minister has asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to be lead minister for cyber. In line with previous answers, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed. To do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
Following the Cabinet reshuffle on 15 September 2021 and subsequent updates to the Cabinet Committee structure, the government’s cyber priorities are now overseen by the relevant Cabinet Committees. The Prime Minister has asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to be lead minister for cyber. In line with previous answers, information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed. To do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.
The National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021, supported by a £1.9 billion investment, is delivering transformational change, building new capabilities and intervening to protect the UK from cyber attacks.
For national security reasons we are unable to provide details of the National Cyber Security Programme budget, but we have made significant progress, as the Strategy explains, some of the ambitions go beyond its five year timescale. This is why the Spending Review provided further funding for the NCSP in 2021-22 and why we will be setting out a new long-term strategy for cyber security this year. The National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 - 2021 Progress Report 2020 sets out further detail on the progress we have made since 2016 and the impact our interventions are having.
Further to the answer given on 28 April 2020 to PQ 37764 and to PQ 96068 on 28 September, the charitable and voluntary sector plays an important role in the support available to veterans and the wider Armed Forces Community. The Government provides a range of financial support to the sector including through regular grants to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which this year received £20m to distribute. A further £6m was provided to nearly 100 charities through the COVID-19 Impact Fund. This includes both funding for local projects and for organisations who operate nationally, including in the North West. The Government does not hold centrally a complete breakdown of the funding charities and organisations which support veterans in St Helens and Merseyside have received.
We encourage everyone to download and use the NHS COVID-19 app.
The National Security Adviser is the principal adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet on national security strategy, policy, capability and civil contingencies.
Details of the National Security Council's membership is publicly available on GOV.UK. It is a long established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) supports UK Freeports to attract new investment, boost trade and create thousands of jobs in their surrounding areas.
DBT provides tailored support to Liverpool City Region Freeport to develop and implement an ambitious trade and investment strategy, including to promote the advanced manufacturing and logistics opportunity at Parkside St Helens, as one of the Freeport’s strategic tax sites.
Support provided by DBT includes the creation of bespoke marketing collateral and engaging potential investors at international events through DBT’s global network. In November, DBT supported the Freeport’s presence at the Arab British Economic Summit to target investment from the Middle Eastern market.
Individuals on zero-hours contracts represent a very small proportion of the workforce – around 3.6% for the period April – June 2023, according to the ONS. The share of the workforce in the North West on a zero-hours contract is 3.5%. For this small group, a zero-hours contract may be the type of contract which works best for them. Zero hours contracts are an important part of the UK’s flexible labour market, for both employers where there is not a constant demand for staff and for individuals who may need to balance work around other commitments such as childcare and study.
We remain absolutely determined to secure a competitive future for our energy intensive industries (EIIs) including the glass industry and we have provided EIIs more than £2 billion to help with the costs of energy.
On 23rd February 2023, we announced further support for key UK energy intensive industries. Over 300 businesses across the UK will benefit from the British Industry Supercharger: targeted measures to ensure the energy costs for key UK industries are in line with other major economies around the world.
The Government is taking steps to encourage businesses to discuss and agree suitable flexible working arrangements with all workers and jobseekers, including those with SEND.
In December 2022, we published our response to the “making flexible working the default” consultation. This committed to a range of measures, including making the right to request flexible working a ‘day one’ entitlement, by removing the existing 26-week qualifying period.
We are also supporting the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which will make further changes to improve access to flexible working.
Certain jobseekers with SEND may have the right to reasonable adjustments when applying for jobs, which businesses have a duty to consider.
I refer the hon. Member for St Helens North to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn on 17 April 2023 to Question UIN 176783.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero do not hold the data for the number and proportion of care recipients that are in fuel poverty in St Helens North Constituency. The latest sub regional fuel poverty statistics show that we consider 13.6% (6,097) of households to be in fuel poverty in the constituency of St Helens North.
In the 12 months leading to the start of January 2024, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) awarded:
These figures include a range of investments made via UKRI’s Research Councils and Innovate UK, but the figure excludes formula-based block grants deployed through universities which will also have gone to research projects in this region.
BEIS produced a one-off publication in March 2019 of annual prepayment meter electricity statistics for Great Britain by country, English regions and local authority. These statistics cover electricity prepayment meters which have a domestic meter profile in 2017.
Data on regional variation of payment method (prepayment, direct debit or credit) for domestic standard electricity customers, domestic economy 7 electricity customers and domestic gas customers is published in Quarterly Energy Prices table 2.4.2, table 2.4.3 and table 2.5.2.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible small businesses that receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The EBRS discount is applied directly to the energy bills of eligible businesses by their energy providers. Therefore the Government does not currently have a breakdown of support received by location.
The estimated projections for fuel poverty in England in 2022 can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-fuel-poverty-statistics-report-2022.
The latest subregional statistics are for 2020, and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-regional-fuel-poverty-2022.
The Government recognises this is a worrying time for businesses facing pressures due to the significant increases in global gas prices and its impact on electricity and carbon prices.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met representatives of the UK’s high energy-using sectors including the glass industry in the past months in order to understand the impact on their business, and extensive engagement with industry continues across government at both a ministerial and official level. The Government’s priorities are to ensure costs can be managed and supplies of energy are maintained.
Many high energy-using businesses will have hedging strategies in place which help to shield them from exposure to the gas and electricity price rises, while some may be more reliant on current market prices.
To help ensure our economy remains strong and competitive, between 2013 and 2020, total relief to energy intensive industries for electricity policy costs of over £2billion was provided. This helped over 250 businesses across the UK, including 12 glass companies. In 2020 alone, the Government provided relief to Employment Investment Initiatives for electricity policy costs worth over £470million.
In 2018, the Government announced £315 million of funding for the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, which will support businesses with high energy use to cut their bills until 2024.
The Government keeps all costs on bills under review; We consulted on extending ECO from 2022-26 and expanding it to £1bn per year, supporting low income and vulnerable households across Great Britain. We will issue a response to the ECO4 consultation in due course.
The Government understands the considerable difficulties faced by UK businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Animal boarding facilities have not been required to close at any point during the pandemic, as there remains a requirement to care for the pets of people hospitalised from Coronavirus and for key workers, and vulnerable people who may not be able to care for their pets. Wee have advised pet owners[1] that they may leave their home to access animal boarding services. This should be by appointment only, and only if the boarding service does not offer a collection or drop-off service.
The Government has put in place a range of business support measures since March 2020. These include loans, small business grants through local authorities, mortgage holidays and VAT deferral. These measures have been updated in line with local and national restrictions. In November, at the beginning of the second national lockdown, Government made available £1.1bn in discretionary funding allocated to each local authority to support businesses via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). This was topped up with a further £500m in January 2021.
Local authorities have significant discretion in the businesses they support and the amount of grant funding per business based on local priorities.
Given the new national restrictions, other amendments now include:
We would always encourage businesses that have been unable to access support, or who are unsure about what support is available, to contact their nearest Business Growth Hub for advice. The Government has established a network of 38 of these hubs, one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area in England. Businesses of all sizes are able to access free, tailored guidance from expert advisers who make up the Hub teams. All contact details are online www.lepnetwork.net/local-growth-hub-contacts/.
The free Business Support Helpline offers advice to businesses across England (FREEPHONE 0800 998 1098) provides with free, impartial business support.
Firms based in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can access business support through their devolved Governments.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-animals
Officials are working closely with local authorities to deliver the one-off grant for businesses, announced by the Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 5th January.
Through the Closed Businesses Lockdown Payment Grant, all rate-paying businesses mandated to close may eligible for a grants of up to £9,000. This is alongside the Local Covid Restrictions Grant (Closed) Addendum for 5 January onwards scheme, which provides grants of up to £4,500 per six-week period of closure.
For those businesses not mandated to close but who have had their trade adversely affected by the national and localised Covid-19 Restrictions, the Chancellor announced a further top up of £500 million to the exiting £1.1bn in Additional Restrictions Grant Fund. Local authorities have discretion to use this funding to support businesses in the way they see fit in their local area.
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister published his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution on 18th November, in which he affirmed the Government’s objective to advance nuclear as a clean energy source. This includes large scale nuclear and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors. The Ten Point Plan highlights the key role of nuclear in delivering deep decarbonisation of our electricity system alongside renewables and other technologies. One of the key targets is the publication of the Energy White Paper, in which further information will be provided.
The Government recognises the impact that the coronavirus is having on retailers and businesses as a whole, which is why we have delivered one of the most generous and comprehensive packages of support globally.. Retailers are benefitting from the removal of business rates for 12 months and have been able to access grants through the Small Business Grant Fund or the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Grant Fund.
Retailers have been able to benefit from The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, and an extension on the moratorium on commercial landlords’ right to forfeiture for the non-payment of rent to 31 December 2020.
Additionally the Job Retention Bonus will encourage businesses, including retailers, to keep on furloughed workers, helping to protect jobs and our economic recovery.
We have announced a new Plan for Jobs – making available up to £30 billion with a clear goal to create, protect, and support jobs. This includes a new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme creating hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country and £1.6 billion investment in scaling up employment support schemes, training, and apprenticeships to help people looking for a job.
We are ramping up and bringing forward investment, creating jobs in every part of the UK. At the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £88 billion of capital funding for this year. In the New Deal package, we announced our plans to accelerate a further £5 billion of additional investment projects.
There are approximately 4 million prepayment meters in Great Britain, of which 36% are smart meters. Statistics are not kept on regional or local level.
The majority of support for grassroots sport is delivered through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England. Since 2019 Sport England has provided over £17,000 of funding to support Gaelic football.
The redevelopment of Páirc na hÉireann was funded by Highways England, recognising that nearby roadworks impacted one of the site’s pitches.
Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Government and National Lottery to fund grassroots sports projects so that everyone, regardless of background, is able to access and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.
Since 2001, Sport England has invested:
£95,760 in gaelic football with a further £1,550,240 through multi-sport funding investment;
£10,748 in hurling through multi-sport funding investment;
£46,407 in camogie through multi-sport investment.
The Government recognises the importance of football and rugby league clubs, both professional and at grassroots level, which provide valuable opportunities for communities to come together and to take part in sport.
We understand that the rise in utility costs is having an impact on organisations of all sizes. In September we announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users are offered support. This includes support to football and rugby league clubs.
After an initial six months of the scheme, the Government will provide ongoing focused support for vulnerable industries. A review is currently underway to determine where this should be targeted.
The Government is committed to supporting local newspapers as vital pillars of our communities. We are in regular contact with local news publishers to understand the financial pressures they face, and we are mindful of particular concerns about rising printing costs, brought about primarily by higher energy prices, as well as by the increasing cost of raw materials including newsprint.
Last month, the government introduced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which provides a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers, including newspaper printing sites, are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. We are engaging with the sector to monitor the impact of this support, mindful of the review of the Scheme which will consider how best to offer further support to customers who are the most vulnerable to energy price increases.
We are also taking other action to support the sector, including in the digital sphere, where many newspaper publishers face significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models. Our plans for a pro-competition regime for digital markets will, among many other things, help to rebalance the relationship between news publishers and online platforms. We have also provided tax reliefs and innovation funding to the sector. And the BBC Charter Mid Term Review will evaluate how the BBC and Ofcom assess the market impact and public value of the BBC in an evolving marketplace and how that relates to the wider UK media ecology, including with regard to the local news sector. We will continue to consider all possible options in the interest of promoting and sustaining the sector.
The Government supports the arts predominantly through Arts Council England (ACE) funding. ACE plays a hugely important role in developing England’s arts and culture, as the national development agency for creativity and culture.
ACE is working with Brass Bands England, the sector support organisation for brass bands, to make a significant difference in the development of the sector. In particular they are providing support to brass bands across the country to develop and diversify their membership and audiences. Brass Bands England was recently awarded a National Lottery Project Grant to support the European Brass Band Festival held in Birmingham in April earlier this year.
Between 2015 and October 2022, ACE has provided £12,372,233 to organisations and projects that were classified as brass bands. Over the same period, ACE has provided over £1.7 billion to organisations and projects whose main discipline is music. Since April 2016, brass bands have also benefited from the Orchestra tax relief, including the higher rate of 50% from October 2021 until April 2023.
Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion this year.
The government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people and is investing £560 million over the next 3 years in a new National Youth Guarantee, so that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.
Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is providing funding for local youth organisations in 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in levelling up priority areas in parts of England, including eligible areas in the North West. Funding for Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund has now been allocated to successful applicants by BBC Children in Need, the Intermediary Grant Maker. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport plans to announce and publish a list of successful recipients of the grant on gov.uk in due course.
Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is providing funding for local youth organisations in 45 local authorities and around 600 district wards in levelling up priority areas in parts of England, to expand the reach and range of services they offer. Funding for phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund is currently being allocated to successful applicants by BBC Children in Need, the Intermediary Grant Maker, with the requirement to demonstrate funding has been spent by the end of March 2022. An applicant's ability to spend funding in this timeframe was a key criterion in the assessment process.
The Government has published an End of Transition Period guidance page for the tourism sector to help them navigate the new systems. The Business Secretary also wrote to all tourism businesses in November 2020.
My Department continues to engage with stakeholders in the tourism sector to hear their priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. Officials are currently engaging with the tourism trade bodies, including the British Association of International Mountain Leaders (BAIML) to gather feedback on priority regulators and qualifications for the tourism sector.
The UK and EU have unilaterally decided not to impose visas on short-stay visitors. For short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period, UK nationals will not need a visa when travelling to and within the Schengen Area to undertake a limited range of activities, such as tourism, or attending business meetings, or cultural and sports events. However, Member States can require a visa for what they regard as “paid activity”.
Therefore, UK cultural professionals, including musicians, seeking to tour within the EU will be required to check domestic immigration and visitor rules for each Member State in which they intend to tour. Although some Member States may allow touring without a visa or work permit, others will require musicians and other creative professionals to obtain a visa or work permit, in the same way that they are required for other international artists.
We recognise that this means there will be some additional processes for those in cultural and creative industries working across the EU. However this does not mean our sectors will not be able to work in the EU nor that our position has changed on being as welcoming as ever to talented EU artists and musicians wishing to perform in the UK.
We are delivering an extensive programme of engagement with the industry to assess impacts and support these sectors in understanding new requirements. The Secretary of State had a very productive discussion with representatives from across the creative and cultural sectors on the issue on Wednesday 20th January. We have also published guidance online, signposting to official information provided by EU countries about their business travel routes, which is regularly updated.
We will also look at whether we can work with our partners in EU Member States to find ways to make life easier for those working in the creative industries in our respective countries.
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it continues to be vitally important that the public has accurate information about the virus, and DCMS is leading work across Government to tackle disinformation.
That is why we stood up the Counter Disinformation Unit up on 5 March to bring together cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities. The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken.
Whilst disinformation can come from a range of sources, we know that certain states routinely use disinformation as a foreign policy tool. The UK, along with our G7 and Nato partners, is working hard to protect our democracies against disinformation as we work together to tackle the shared threat of Covid-19
We continue to monitor for any disinformation campaigns and any related conspiracy theories so that we can respond to them quickly and effectively. We are focused on addressing disinformation by any actor, whether state or non-state.
Officials from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are in regular contact with the Betting and Gaming Council and individual casino operators to discuss the impact of coronavirus restrictions on their businesses. Discussions are ongoing and have included consideration of potential measures to reduce risk, such as the withdrawal of alcohol sales, that may help local leaders and government in their assessment of venues that can safely remain open.
The Chancellor announced on 9 October that the government’s Job Support Scheme (JSS) would be expanded to protect jobs and support businesses required to close their doors as a result of coronavirus restrictions. Under the scheme, the Government will pay two thirds of employees’ salaries. Grants under the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme, also increased to up to £3,000 per month for businesses required to close in local lockdowns.
Horse Racing behind closed doors continues to operate throughout the UK in line with government guidance and British Horseracing Authority (BHA) protocols.
The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has indicated that 1,565 Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) are closed as part of the Tier 3 restrictions affecting the Liverpool City Region, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and Warrington. The BGC have estimated a loss of nearly £2.7million per month to the horse racing industry in media rights (payable to broadcast races) and levy income, based on the current amounts generated in levy and media payments.
The government will continue to work with the sector to understand the issues faced by organisations facing the most challenging circumstances.
Sports and physical activity are incredibly important for our physical and mental health, and are a vital weapon against coronavirus. That’s why we made sure that people could exercise at least once a day even during the height of lockdown - and why we opened up grassroots sport and leisure facilities as soon as it was safe to do so. However, we have always made clear that we will adopt a phased approach to reopening based on scientific and medical advice, with the primary goal of protecting public health. Public Health England agreed our approach to the phased return of recreational sport.
Organised outdoor team sport, outdoor and indoor exercise classes and outdoor licensed physical activity are still exempt from the rule of 6, and can happen in any number. Social interaction before and after playing any sport should be limited and only be in groups up to six.
In terms of spectators, we recognise the news that stadia won’t be reopening from 1 October will be disappointing to many fans and sports, particularly after all the work on test events and preparations. However we have to take difficult decisions that give us the best chance of containing the virus this winter.
My department regularly engages with BT about a range of topics, including their UK workforce, at both official and ministerial level.
The Government is committed to boosting job creation in the UK. On 8 July, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the Government’s Plan for Jobs which makes up to £30 billion available, with a clear goal to create, protect, and support jobs.
As of 14 September non-professional performing arts activity, including choirs, orchestras or drama groups can continue to rehearse or perform together where this is planned activity in line with the performing arts guidance and if they can do so in a way that ensures that there is no interaction between groups of more than six at any time. If an amateur group is not able to ensure that no mingling takes place between these sub-groups of no more than six (including when arriving at or leaving activity or in any breaks or socialising) then such non-professional activity should not take place.
We will continue to work with the Performing Arts sector to understand how the new regulations affect those engaging in activity. We have always been clear that the easing of restrictions depends on the prevalence of COVID-19.
On 9 July we published guidance for people who work in performing arts, including arts organisations, venue operators and participants which will help people understand how they can work and take part in the performing arts safely, and keep their audiences safe.
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 9 September, our guidance was updated to require that people must not meet socially in groups of more than 6. This will apply indoors and outdoors.
Venues such as theatres, concert halls and other entertainment venues that are already able to host larger numbers, and are Covid secure in line with the relevant guidance, will continue to be able to do so. As part of these changes venues and organisers will need to ensure that the gatherings limit of 6 is not exceeded and that groups are kept separate from one another to ensure they do not mix and do not exceed the new legal limits. Venues and organisers will also have a clear duty to ensure their premises are COVID-19 Secure.
Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders on a variety of issues.
We have worked closely with stakeholders through both the Visitor Economy and Events & Entertainment Working Groups to develop Covid-19 Secure reopening guidance for providers of live entertainment. We continue to meet with sector representatives to discuss the specific issues impacting the full return of live entertainment.