David Morris

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensures eligible businesses, including sport or leisure facilities, which receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs. The Treasury-led review of the EBRS took account of many contributions from the private sector, trade associations, the voluntary sector and other organisations. It recognised that leisure facilities may continue to experience high energy bills, which is why we will continue to provide support to non-domestic customers through the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, which will run from April until March 2024.

The Government intends to initiate a selection process in 2023, with the intention to enter negotiations with the most credible projects to enable a potential Government award of support as soon as possible.

The Government will also develop a new National Policy Statement, which will cover the siting and policy framework for nuclear electricity generating infrastructure, including SMRs, beyond 2025 and will consult on this in due course.

The Government is committed to growing the UK space sector. Yesterday's inaugural meeting of the reformed National Space Council Inter-Ministerial Group was an important moment for taking forward the National Space Strategy and developing a single Government voice on space.

The STEP programme aims to develop and build a prototype fusion power plant in the UK by 2040. The UKAEA has made great progress and are on track to deliver a concept design by 2024, as planned.

The process to select a site for STEP is underway and there have been high levels of engagement from potential sites across the UK, including one in the constituency of my hon Friend.

As set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, HM Government is committed to ensuring that funding for arts and culture is more fairly distributed across the country. Arts Council England’s 2023–26 investment programme (the ‘National Portfolio’), worth over £444 million per year, has seen investment to cultural organisations in rural areas increase to £44.6 million, benefiting 110 organisations across the country.

In local authority areas identified as predominantly rural, there has been a 22% increase in investment in National Portfolio Organisations and Investment Principles Support Organisations. Urban areas with significant rural portions have seen an increase of 37%.

Cultural opportunities are also provided in rural areas by organisations based in neighbouring urban areas – for instance, through touring. Public library services in the Arts Council’s National Portfolio with a base in urban areas are also important to cultural opportunities in rural locations. The National Rural Touring Forum has also had its funding increased to help build capacity in this important part of the sector.

Arts Council England has also supported approximately 30 Cultural Compacts across England – including in rural and Levelling Up priority areas – and has provided these existing Compacts with further funding to build capacity and long-term cross-sector relationships. (Cultural Compacts are partnerships between the cultural and heritage sectors, Local Authorities, and wider local partners such as universities, health agencies, and the private sector, with the aim of enhancing creatives’ contribution to local development.)

Additionally, arts and cultural organisations in rural areas are able to access Arts Council England’s project grants, an open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects. This supports thousands of individual artists and community and cultural organisations, with over £105 million of funding awarded in 2022/23.

Meanwhile, DCMS’s £86 million Museum Estate and Development Fund has supported several museums in rural areas, including The Food Museum in Stowmarket which presents the agricultural history of East Anglia, the industrial museums Papplewick Pumping Station and Coldharbour Mill, Shandy Hall, the rural home of the writer Laurence Sterne, and Ruddington Framework Knitters Museum.

Grant-making charities must ensure that charitable funds are used to further their charitable purposes. The Charity Commission for England and Wales publishes guidance ("Campaigning and political activity guidance for charities (CC9)") on the extent to which charities can legitimately engage in non-party political activity as part of furthering their charitable purposes.

Any concerns that charitable funds are being used inappropriately, for example for party-political activities or purposes, should be raised with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, which can investigate and if appropriate take action. There are currently no plans to bring forward legislative proposals on this subject.

The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education (FE) and skills over this Parliament to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that addresses skills gaps and boosts productivity. We are working with industry to shape our training offers, creating more routes into skilled employment in key science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors, such as engineering, digital, clean energy, and manufacturing.

The department is investing in Institutes of Technology, which are leaders in the provision of high-quality, higher level technical education and training across a range of STEM occupations and industries.

We have worked with employers to develop over 350 apprenticeship standards in STEM. These same employer-led standards have shaped the design of T Levels, new Level 3 qualifications for 16-19 year olds that reflect modern industrial practice and include a 45 day industry placement. Fourteen of the 24 T Levels being rolled out are in STEM subjects, from Science to Digital Business Services, Engineering Design and Development to Onsite Construction.

We are delivering supply and demand side reforms to reverse the decline in uptake of high-quality higher technical education. We’ve announced approximately £70 million to date in funding to prime FE and higher education higher technical provision across the country. Central to our reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). These are current (and new) level 4-5 qualifications, approved and quality marked by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education (IfATE) as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers. HTQ rollout is on track. They began teaching from September 2022, starting with Digital HTQs, and all occupational routes are due to be rolled out by 2025, where relevant occupational standards are available. To date, 106 qualifications have been approved as HTQs across Digital, Construction, and Health & Science routes, for teaching this year or next. Over 70 providers were able to deliver HTQs from September 2022, with the majority being FE colleges. We have introduced an HTQ brand and are improving communication, advice, and guidance. From 2023/24, HTQ student finance will be on a par with degrees.

The department is investing to widen participation in STEM education in schools and increase the number and quality of STEM teachers. Since autumn 2022, early career teachers have been able to claim a levelling up premium (£3,000 tax free per year for up to three years) for teaching mathematics, physics, chemistry or computing in state-funded secondary schools that have been identified as having a high need for teachers. The department is funding tailored maths support for students and teachers through the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme, investing £84 million into National Centre for Computing education to drive increased participation in computer science and funding research programmes on how to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects.

The early years pupil premium currently provides 60 pence per hour additional funding to support better outcomes for disadvantaged three and four-year-olds. This is equivalent to up to £342 per eligible child per year.

On 16 December, the department published the 2023/24 hourly funding rates for local authorities for early years. We also announced in a written ministerial statement that the early years pupil premium for 2023/24 will be increased to 62 pence per hour. This is equivalent to up to £353 per eligible child per year.

The full ministerial statement is available at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2022-12-16/hlws447.

On 2 March 2023, the department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement Plan, which sets out the next steps we will take to deliver a more positive experience for children, young people and families.

The department will establish a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment. For those children and young people with SEND who do require an education, health, and care (EHC) assessment, we have set out our vision for a reformed and consistent EHC plan process which will include early years education. This will ensure that children and young people with SEND get prompt access to the support they need, and that parents don’t face an adversarial system to secure this.

The department recognises the important role of the early years sector in the early identification of needs and in building up effective working relationships with parents about their child’s needs.

Early intervention is crucial, which is why, as part of the £180 million early years recovery programme, we are funding up to 5,000 early years staff to gain an accredited level 3 Special Education Needs Coordinator qualification to support the early years sector, help identify children who need support, and provide expert advice.

High needs funding will also be at £10.1 billion in 2023/24 which is an increase of over 50% from the 2019/20 allocations.

Local authorities will be able to use this funding to support children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools and elsewhere, including those in early years and requiring an EHC plan or assessment.

The government is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over this Parliament to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that addresses skills gaps and boosts productivity. We are working with industry to shape our training offers, creating more routes into skilled employment in key science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sectors, such as engineering, digital, clean energy, and manufacturing.

The department is investing in Institutes of Technology, which are leaders in the provision of high-quality, higher level technical education and training across a range of STEM occupations and industries.

We have worked with employers to develop over 350 apprenticeship standards in STEM. There are apprenticeship opportunities available relating to careers in electric technology, for example the electrical or electronic technical support engineer apprenticeship. These same employer-led standards have shaped the design of T Levels, new Level 3 qualifications for 16-19 year olds that reflect modern industrial practice and include a 45 day industry placement. 14 of the 24 T Levels being rolled out are in STEM subjects, from Science to Digital Business Services, Engineering Design and Development to Onsite Construction.

The department is delivering supply and demand side reforms to reverse the decline in uptake of high-quality higher technical education. We’ve announced approximately £70 million to date in funding to prime further education (FE) and higher education higher technical provision across the country.

Central to our reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). These are current (and new) level 4-5 qualifications, approved and quality marked by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education (IfATE) as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers. HTQ rollout is on track. They began teaching from September 2022, starting with Digital HTQs, and all occupational routes are due to be rolled out by 2025, where relevant occupational standards are available. To date, 106 qualifications have been approved as HTQs across Digital, Construction, and Health & Science routes, for teaching this year or next. Over 70 providers were able to deliver HTQs from September 2022, with the majority being FE colleges. We have introduced an HTQ brand and are improving communication, advice, and guidance. From 2023/24, HTQ student finance will be on a par with degrees.

It is the responsibility of Local Authorities to ensure that all children receive a suitable education, including those who are electively home educated. The Government’s view is that existing powers, if used in the way set out in the Government’s guidance, are enough for a Local Authority to determine whether the provision at home is suitable.

The Defra minister responsible has taken this decision following initial advice from the statutory nature conservation body, Natural England to reduce the risk of impact of avian influenza on rare and protected wild bird populations. We informed stakeholders on 10 May, based on their feedback we sought further advice from Defra’s Chief Scientific Officer prior to issuing final decision on 31 May.

The Government supports gamebird shooting for all the benefits it brings to individuals, the environment and the rural economy and will work with the industry to try to mitigate any potential impact.

The Defra Minister responsible has assumed responsibility for the decision making of individual licence applications for SPAs following the changes to General Licence 43 (GL43). Natural England is responsible for processing the applications and providing recommendations to Defra ministers. As at 19 June, Natural England has recommended issuing 3 individual licences which would authorise the release of a specified number of gamebirds at the specified site in the licence. The Minister has considered these applications and granted the individual licences.

The Government supports gamebird shooting for all the benefits it brings to individuals, the environment and the rural economy. The Government wants to see a vibrant working countryside that is enhanced by a biodiverse environment. We recognise the valuable role gamekeepers play in protecting and enhancing biodiversity through habitat management and predation control and we support the valuable role shooting provides to the rural economy. We monitor the impacts of many different rural businesses have on the rural economy and factor that into decision making whenever possible. We recognise the challenges that avian influenza presents and are considering how we can mitigate the impact on the shooting interests and the wider community.

During 2022 Natural England received 7 individual Licence applications for the release of gamebirds (common pheasants and/or red-legged partridges) on and/or with 500m of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or a Special Protection Area (SPA).

As of 21 June 2023, Natural England has received 84 Individual Licence applications for the release of gamebirds on and/or within 500m of those Sites.

Routine vaccinations, including the shingles vaccine, are not currently available at community pharmacies via the National Health Service. This is with the exception of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine where, in response to the current measles outbreak, some areas have stood up community pharmacy sites on a time-limited basis, to deliver the MMR vaccine to specific cohorts.

The NHS vaccination strategy signals an intent to give local systems the responsibility and flexibility to design and deliver vaccination services to meet their population needs. This includes commissioning the optimal provider network, which may include community pharmacy and hospital hubs, and continuing to use the expertise of primary care, including general practices and practice nurses, to maximise uptake.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a duty to manage local care markets. The Care Act guidance states that local authorities should assure and have evidence that fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed quality of care and enable providers to effectively support care users and invest in staff development, innovation and improvement.

We are committing £1.36 billion to the Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund over the next three years. On 24 March 2022, we published guidance which provides advice to local authorities for completing and returning cost of care exercises to the Department and templates which local authorities must use as part of an acceptable submission. These state a standard list of cost lines to assess care home providers. Where average fee rates are below the fair cost of care, we expect local authorities to use the Fund to begin to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care and to set out in the Market Sustainability Plans how this will be achieved.

The Department has provided both the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust with £3.7 million to develop plans for improving facilities at each Trust. The Trust has not submitted any formal plans for a single site hospital to the Department.

No assessment has been made. We expect the tobacco industry to comply with the requirements of The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, and this includes the recent ban on the sale of menthol flavoured cigarettes. A breach of the regulations could result in enforcement action being taken.

The UK welcomes the 22 January debate in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on observation of Parliamentary elections in Serbia in December 2023. The UK contributed a strong contingent to the combined international monitoring mission, alongside support for local election observation. The UK shares concerns over election irregularities and welcomes President Vucic's pledge to implement the recommendations set out in the final OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) report. The UK stands ready to support Serbia in this important work and urges meaningful progress before elections this spring.

The UK has played an important role in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) response to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, including by making Ukraine a focus of the UK chaired Ministerial Council Meeting in 2023. We have also fully supported the OECD's firm response to Russia's actions in Ukraine, including its decision to suspend Russia and Belarus from OECD bodies and programmes, close the OECD office in Moscow and open an OECD-Ukraine liaison office in Kyiv.

We also strongly support the OECD's broader work to address shared challenges in the current global context, including its work to promote economic resilience and tackle social inequality.

Israel suffered the worst terror attack in its history at the hands of Hamas. Palestinian civilians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We want the fighting to stop now. We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.

Current levels of immigration are unprecedented with net migration at 672,000 in the year to June 2023, up significantly on pre-pandemic volumes. This is partly because the UK is at the forefront of efforts to support those who flee persecution, conflict and instability. We welcomed over half a million people on resettlement schemes and visa routes since 2015. In parallel the government is addressing legal migration, including a plan to curb immigration abuse. We are working with international partners to tackle illegal migration.

The UK has noted the Annual Report of the Council of Europe's independent Commissioner for Human Rights. We particularly welcome the Commissioner's focus on the human rights situation of children forcibly transferred or deported to Russia or Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine. The UK supported the Reykjavik Declaration on the situation of the children of Ukraine and continues to support accountability efforts, including through sanctions, awareness-raising campaigns and our participation in the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.

The increase to Employer National Insurance contributions by 1.25 percentage points is expected to raise £975 million per year from employers carrying out health and social care activities. The Government cannot break this down to show the cost to care home operators.

The Government has made the tough but responsible choice to increase taxes to fund a significant increase in permanent spending on the NHS and social care. There are no plans to exempt the care sector from the National Insurance increase.

On the 7 September the Government announced that we would be investing an additional £5.4 billion over the next three years using the funds raised by the levy to begin a comprehensive programme of reform for adult social care. Additionally, local authorities can make use of over £1 billion of additional resource specifically for social care in 2022-23. This includes £636 million more into the Social Care Grant, including funding for equalisation against the 1 per cent Adult Social Care (ASC) precept, an inflationary uplift to the improved Better Care Fund to support integrated working with the NHS, and a 1 per cent ASC precept and deferred flexibilities from last year's settlement.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to the vast majority of goods and services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.

One such exception is a reduced rate of VAT at 5 per cent, subject to certain conditions, for residential renovations, such as building services and materials. This includes conversions of buildings from one residential use to another, conversions from commercial to residential use, and the renovation of properties that have been empty for two years or more prior to the renovation work.

Another exception is applied to the installation in residential accommodation, including housing association accommodation and care homes, of various energy saving materials (ESMs), such as insulation and draught stripping. At Spring Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that installations of ESMs will now be zero rated from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027 in Great Britain. He also announced the removal of complex qualifying criteria. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-vat-treatment-of-the-installation-of-energy-saving-materials-in-in-great-britain/the-value-added-tax-installation-of-energy-saving-materials-order-2022.

Expanding the reliefs further would come at a significant cost to the public finances. For example, introducing a reduced rate of VAT on all renovations and repairs to residential properties would cost around £3.75 billion per year. Such costs would have to be balanced by increased taxes elsewhere, increased borrowing or reductions in Government spending. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review.

The Department is carefully considering the impact of our reforms on the student housing market. We recognise there is a general annual lettings cycle and are considering solutions, such as a ground for possession that enables landlords to guarantee vacant possession for next year's tenants. Any solution needs to balance the needs of both students and landlords, and we will continue to engage with the sector. I am happy to discuss this matter further with my Hon. Friend.