Damien Egan

The Government is currently undertaking a review of UK national resilience which is expected to conclude in Spring 2025. It is being informed by the voices of local leaders, the devolved governments, businesses, voluntary and community sector representatives and academics. It is also considering the recommendations from public inquiries into Covid-19 and the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

We are also working closely with MHCLG who are developing Stronger Local Resilience Forum Trailblazers and taking forward the Devolution Bill which will help to strengthen local leadership, increase democratic accountability, and integrate resilience into place based policy decisions.

Working with international partners is a core strand of the UK’s efforts to strengthen our national resilience. My officials regularly discuss national resilience with their international counterparts - multilaterally within the auspices of NATO and our longstanding FiveEyes partnerships, and bilaterally with other key partners. In November, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster addressed the NATO Cyber Defence Conference - hosted in London - where he underlined the importance of continuing to work together as NATO Allies against the growing cyber threat to our collective resilience.

In August, we laid regulations that give the Infected Blood Compensation Authority the powers necessary to pay compensation through the core route to the infected, both living and deceased. On 17 October, the Infected Blood Compensation Authority began to reach out to the first claimants under these Regulations and the Government expects the Authority to begin making payments by the end of the year. On 24 October, the Government opened the process under which estates can apply for interim compensation payments of £100,000 for deaths not yet recognised. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Government is aiming for the second set of Regulations to be in place by 31 March 2025. This will support our aim of payments to people who are affected to begin in 2025.

The UK Government and the Department of Business and Trade engages regularly with devolved governments on all aspects of economic development, including at the Business and Industry Inter-Ministerial Group.

The inaugural meeting of the Council of Nations and Regions took place in Edinburgh in October 2024. The Council brings together the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister with the leaders of the devolved governments and the mayors of combined authorities to facilitate collaboration on cross-cutting challenges including the core mission of securing economic growth.

This government is committed to an agenda of national growth and the UK’s new Industrial Strategy, a 10-year plan for growth due to be published in Spring, will be designed and implemented in lockstep with local and regional leaders.

In addition, HMG has announced the Council of Nations and Regions, supporting cross-border collaboration bringing together the PM and the DPM with the heads of the devolved governments and the mayors of combined authorities, to consider shared opportunities across the UK.

The ‘CLEAR’ debris removal mission, led by ClearSpace UK, passed its Preliminary Design Review in April 2024. Since then, through phase two of the UK Space Agency’s active debris removal (ADR) programme, CLEAR has undergone £2,350,000 of derisking activities to enhance the technology readiness levels of critical mission systems and refine mission costs.

CLEAR’s progress is in line with UK Space Agency (UKSA) mission planning. Subject to the Spending Review outcome, UKSA is developing the business case for phase three of the ADR programme which, if successful, will be published for tender in mid-2025 and awarded to one supplier for mission launch in 2028.

Government is committed to making the UK a European leader in small satellite launches and delivering a launch capability that brings benefits to communities and organisations across the UK.

We have made significant progress towards this goal. The UK is the only European country with multiple spaceports licensed for orbital launches, and Spaceport Cornwall conducted the first orbital launch from European soil in 2023. Although the satellites carried onboard were not successfully placed into orbit due to an anomaly, the launch showed that the UK is capable of launching satellites into space.

The next UK launches are planned from SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland, which received its launch licence last year. Several domestic and foreign launch operators are targeting orbital launches from SaxaVord from this year.

The Government outlined progress toward the Ten Point Plan in the National Space Strategy in Action - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-space-strategy-in-action/national-space-strategy-in-action.

In addition, a regular Monitoring and Insights workstream is underway, chaired by DSIT, with attendance from the UK Space Agency, the Department of Business and Trade, and the Ministry of Defence, to track progress of the delivery of the National Space Strategy.

The South West of England is an important part of the UK's spaceflight ecosystem, being home to the UK's first licensed and operational spaceport, Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay. The establishment of the spaceport has been instrumental in catalysing the growth of the Cornwall Space Cluster, which has created high-skilled jobs and facilitated collaboration and innovation in the UK’s space ecosystem.

The government is committed to mitigating the risk from space debris through arange of actions, including regulatory reform, international collaboration on standards and best practice, and developing capabilities to prevent, track or remove space debris. The government recently awarded £4.7 million to Astroscale and ClearSpace to understand the risks and costs of an active debris removal mission. The UK also launched the National Space Operations Centre in May 2024, combining civil and military space domain awareness and protection capabilities. This includes uncontrolled re-entry early warning, fragmentation monitoring, in-space collision avoidance protection services and support to HMG and international partners.

Children in care and care leavers are significantly more likely to have poor mental health. The latest data shows that two thirds of children become looked after due to abuse or neglect and the department knows that care experienced adults are at four to five times greater risk of attempting suicide than their peers. With consideration for the significant trauma that many of these children and young people have experienced and its lasting impact, providing effective support is crucial.

Since July 2023, the department and NHS England have jointly led a Task and Finish Group to consider how to improve the way system partners work together to support and improve outcomes for children and young people who are deprived of their liberty and who are in the most complex situations.

The department has recently commissioned independent research on how the system works, its current impacts, and how we could do things differently to achieve better outcomes for children and young people. We plan to publish this research in summer 2025 and will draw on these reports to support the development and testing of evidence-based models of safe, therapeutic care that delivers integrated, consistent and collaborative practices for these children and young people.

Drawing on the best evidence, including the voices of children, input from professionals and commissioned research, the department will, in collaboration with NHS England, test a new, community-based approach to pathways and provision, providing treatment and care and bringing in professionals from children’s social care, health, justice and education. This will enable the system to deliver specialist care and accommodation for children who have complex needs.

Given our significant concerns for the health and wellbeing of children in care and care leavers, the department and the Department of Health and Social Care are reviewing and updating current statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children. This guidance sets expectations on local authorities, Directors of Public Health, commissioners of health services for children, the NHS in England, and others, for the promotion of physical, emotional and mental health.

Regulations require an assessment of physical, emotional and mental health needs for every child when they enter care, and a plan to be developed to address their needs.

As part of our statutory guidance review, the department will consider what changes are needed to further ensure that children in care and care leavers receive the support they need for their physical and mental health and wellbeing, including access to any needed treatment or therapy.

Additionally, looked after children attract Pupil Premium Plus funding of £2,570 per year. This is managed by the local authority’s virtual school head and can be used to facilitate a wide range of educational support, including additional mentoring, tuition and therapeutic services.

As a member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution and a signatory to the Bridge to Busan Declaration, the UK is pushing for an ambitious treaty that addresses the full lifecycle of plastics, including reducing production and consumption of primary plastic polymers to sustainable levels. The UK has played an active role in negotiations including at high-level Ministerial consultations on this matter during the UN General Assembly in New York.

Requirements set out in ‘Local transport note 1/20: cycle infrastructure design’ and Inclusive Mobility guidance seek to ensure cycling schemes are accessible for all. This includes advice on designing for different types of cycle, including adapted cycles. Active Travel England provides funding and support to local authorities and active travel organisations to deliver programmes that include targeted interventions to overcome barriers for disabled people.

The information requested on decisions is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

However, we have provided the monthly figures on health professional (HP) recommendations, Fit for Work, Limited Capability for Work (LCW) and Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA), following a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) separated by assessment type, since January 2021, in the attachment.

Please Note

• The information in the attachment shows recommendations made by assessment suppliers for claimants undergoing Employment Support Allowance or Universal Credit WCAs. These are not decisions. Recommendations made by a health professional are considered, along with other evidence, by DWP decision makers who will make a final decision on benefit entitlement.
• All of the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment suppliers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• We have not provided HP recommendations management information for periods prior to January 2021 because the information for this period is not robust enough for publication.
• Volumes have been rounded to the nearest 100 and therefore the totals may not add up.
• The percentages are based on the actual amounts and not the rounded figures.
• The Other columns include other outcomes recorded as 'not terminally ill', 'other' and 'home visits' where recommendations are not available.
• All data is showing recommendations made by assessment suppliers and therefore is not the finalised customer outcome (cannot be classed as the decision).

The number and proportion of Work Capability Assessments carried out face-to-face, remotely (by telephone and video) and by paper each month since March 2020 can be found in the tables below.

March 2020 to December 2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Please Note

• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 100.
• Due to rounding some percentages may exceed 100%.
• Remote assessments include telephone and video assessments.
• Due to the period covered in this question, the data source has been amended so figures may not exactly match with previous publications.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment suppliers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.

We are delivering £8.6bn of new savings over the next five years to tackle fraud. This includes recruiting an additional 3,000 counter-fraud staff, committing to deliver the Targeted Case Review in Universal Credit and bringing forward savings of £1.5bn through measures within the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery Bill) which we introduced to Parliament on 22^nd January.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to National Health Service dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

There are no perfect payment systems and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system, so that we deliver a system better for patients and professionals.

Soft power is fundamental to the UK's impact and reputation around the world. It fosters friendships, builds relationships, promotes our values, and drives our own growth and prosperity. But we have not taken a sufficiently strategic approach to our huge soft power assets as a country. This is why we have set up a Soft Power Council to channel British expertise in these areas. Members of the Soft Power Council are establishing working groups to devise ways of deploying our soft power and broadening the reach of key moments in the global calendar. They will also help shape and drive a new Soft Power Strategy for the UK that will deliver on our foreign policy priorities.

Soft power is crucial to our standing in the world: it fosters friendships, builds relationships, supports efforts to strengthen the rule of law internationally, and drives our own growth and prosperity. But we need to use it more effectively. This is why the Foreign Secretary and Culture Secretary have launched the UK Soft Power Council. The Council will help shape and drive a new Soft Power Strategy that will deliver on our foreign policy priorities, bring momentum to campaigns, and broaden the reach of the major soft power and foreign policy moments in the global calendar. Detailed metrics to measure the impact of soft power on UK priorities will be developed as part of the new UK Soft Power Strategy.

Ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) is in line with this Government's determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature, and we are fully committed to doing so. Legislation to implement the BBNJ Agreement to allow ratification will be introduced as soon as the legislative timetable allows.

Ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) is in line with this Government's determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature and our mission to 'create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.' Legislation to implement the BBNJ Agreement will be introduced as soon as the legislative timetable allows. There is no deadline for ratification.

The Cycle to Work scheme is a benefit-in-kind provided by employers to their employees. A benefit-in-kind is a form of non-cash remuneration provided by employers to their employees. Income tax and National Insurance contribution relief is provided on the scheme to both employers and their employees via salary sacrifice arrangements. As a result, the scheme is not open to the self-employed, who are not eligible for salary sacrifice.

The government considers all tax changes in the round at fiscal events. The government stands by the commitment made not to increase tax on working people, including income tax, national insurance and VAT

The government is not going to speculate on tax changes ahead of the Budget on 30th October.

Measures to tackle online fraud will be set out in the upcoming fraud strategy. The Chancellor, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for DSIT have already written to the tech sector to request that companies go further and faster to fight fraud.

Cyber crime causes immense damage to people and businesses in the UK and is a top priority for the Government. Our approach to tackling cyber crime is set out in the UK Government’s National Cyber Strategy. We work closely with our international partners and law enforcement agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), to reduce the harm caused by cyber attacks and bolster our resilience. This is mostly recently underscored by the Home Office’s current public consultation on legislative proposals to reduce ransomware payments to cyber criminals and increase incident reporting.

The Home Office’s cyber crime programme has boosted investment and expanded training to improve the law enforcement response to deliver improvements to the UK’s cyber resilience. We provide law enforcement with the necessary cyber skills and training at the national, regional, and local levels to ensure they have the capacity and expertise to deal with the perpetrators and provide support to the victims of cyber crime.

The Government is developing the UK’s emerging space launch industry, aiming to become a European leader in commercial small satellite launches. This effort involves approximately £111 million being invested in the UK’s launch capabilities, including a recent £20 million investment to enable UK rocket manufacturer Orbex to complete construction of their launch vehicle Prime. Defence supports the UK’s launch ambitions, working with the UK Space Agency to help develop a thriving UK spaceflight sector and with our international partners to assist their launch requirements. This includes involvement in the early development of NATO's STARLIFT programme to enhance space launch capabilities within the alliance, ensuring readiness for future launch needs.

The Ministry of Defence has achieved major progress on the 'Protect and Defend' mission in space. This has been achieved through the development of our own capabilities, collaboration with our international partners and across government. The creation of a UK Space Command has brought a renewed focus to the importance of space, delivering new cross-government capabilities such as a National Space Operations Centre. We have committed to the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability alongside the US and Australia as a highly advanced tool to enhance our understanding of this vital domain. This has been underpinned by a £6.5 billion commitment over ten years to develop space capabilities, and through the Strategic Defence Review we are assessing the strategic landscape and threat picture to inform long-term decisions on investment in future capabilities.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 17 December 2024 to Question 19640 to the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois).

The new Government inherited a crisis in retention and recruitment. We have made it a priority to address this with a series of work streams designed to increase recruitment and renew the contract between the nation and those who serve to improve retention. Recruiting and retention remain one of our highest priorities - the Army/Capita Recruiting Partnering Project is completely focusedon delivering a significant increase in recruitment in 2024-25.

Working in a collaborative partnership, the Army and Capita have robust contract management measures, including Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and penalty deductions where KPIs are not met, to monitor performance against contractual requirements. However, as I am sure the right hon. Member will understand, detailed contractual arrangements, including performance measures, are not routinely disclosed by the Department in order to protect the commercial interests of all parties.

There are various mechanisms through which both Serving military personnel, and applicants, can provide feedback on the Army’s recruitment process.

This includes an annual Recruit Training Survey and Officer Cadet Survey, which include a list of recruitment questions that are asked when Army recruits leave Basic Training. Army applicants are also asked for feedback at multiple points during the recruitment process via the ‘Voice of the Candidate’ surveys run by Capita Recruiting Group.

The feedback provided is regularly reviewed to improve processes, experiences, and ultimately conversion rates throughout the recruitment journey.

On 6 February 2025 we announced the award of the contract for the new tri-service Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS). It will provide a streamlined, single-entry point for prospective recruits, with the aim of attracting the best talent from across the country into the Armed Forces. The service will launch in 2027, replacing the individual schemes run by the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force.

The new Government is focused upon improving Armed Forces recruitment, modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract the best possible talent.

Recent policies have included a 35% pay increase for new recruits; one of the largest pay increases in the last 20 years for existing personnel; scrapping over 100 outdated medical policies; a commitment to create a new military direct-entry cyber pathway; and setting an ambition to make a conditional offer of employment to candidates within 10 days, and a provisional training start date within 30 days.

These activities and their impacts will inform the development of the Armed Forces Recruitment Service which is being implemented to further improve the speed with which highly motivated and capable people can join our Armed Forces.

Nationally set permitted development rights enable the installation of electric vehicle charge points without the need to submit a planning application, subject to certain conditions.

In its response to the Climate Change Committee’s 2024 progress report published on 17 December last year, the government made clear that it intended to amend these rights to further support the roll out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that transport issues should be considered from the earliest stages of plan-making and development proposals, so that opportunities from changing transport technology and usage are realised. The NPPF also sets out that applications for development should be designed to enable charging of plug-in vehicles in safe, accessible and convenient locations.

Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) are subject to mandatory licensing in properties where five or more persons in two or more households share facilities. Local authorities also have the power to introduce additional licensing for smaller HMOs which are home to three or four people from two or more households who share facilities. All HMOs, even those that do not require a licence, must also comply with HMO management regulations.

The Renters’ Rights Bill will improve standards in the private rented sector. In particular, it will introduce a Decent Homes Standard to the PRS for the first time, which will set a minimum standard for all housing in the sector, including HMOs.

Growth is the number one mission of the government, and our new industrial strategy is central to that mission. The Industrial Strategy will drive growth, create a pro-business environment and support high-potential clusters across the UK, including cross border clusters.

I regularly meet the First Minister to discuss a variety of issues, including economic growth and the Industrial Strategy.

In addition, officials from the Wales Office, the Department for Business and Trade, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Welsh Government and HM Treasury are working closely on the Industrial Strategy. This work includes active consideration of opportunities that straddle the border between England and Wales.