Deirdre Costigan

In an unstable world, the only way to guarantee our energy security and protect billpayers from future energy shocks is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards home‑grown clean energy. Through supporting the transition to clean energy, Great British Energy will save families money by ensuring electricity bills are no longer exposed to the kinds of gas price shocks which helped drive increases in the electricity price cap of over £1,300 for a typical household during winter 22/23.

The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and giving every child the best start in life. Breakfast clubs will remove barriers to opportunity by ensuring every child, no matter their circumstances, is well prepared for school and can achieve their full potential by providing a supportive start to the day.

The government has taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing Bill, every primary school in England will offer a free breakfast club. The department will be working closely with the sector on the details of the programme.

As set out in our manifesto, the Government is committed to supporting the transition to electric vehicles by accelerating the rollout of chargepoints across the country. We will set out further plans in due course.

From September 2023, the routine shingles vaccination programme changed from the Zostavax vaccine to the more effective two dose Shingrix vaccine, to better protect individuals from the effects of shingles, provide better clinical outcomes, and reduce pressures on the health system. As a result, almost 1 million more people became eligible for the shingles vaccination.

When a vaccination programme is expanded, decisions must be made regarding who to offer the vaccine to first. These decisions are based on advice given by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and include evidence on the impact of the vaccine in different age groups as well as the capacity of the National Health Service to deliver the vaccination programme alongside other important healthcare priorities.

The expansion of the shingles programme currently includes those turning 65 years old on or after 1 September 2023, as well as those aged 50 years old and over who are at increased risk of serious complications. Phasing the roll-out of the shingles vaccination over time to everyone 60 years old and over is in line with the JCVI’s recommendation and maximises cost effectiveness and population benefit, ensures consistent messaging over time to maximise coverage, and takes account of NHS capacity, all while being consistent with the approach taken by all four nations in the United Kingdom. This is a newly expanded programme and anyone unsure if they are eligible for the shingles vaccination should check online, on the NHS.UK website, or should speak to their general practice.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.

​We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.

We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.The Home Office is providing £66.3m funding this financial year (2024/25) to police forces in England and Wales for hotspot policing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence. The Metropolitan Police have been allocated £8,139,508 of this funding.

We know that drugs drive crime and cause harm to individuals and society. We will take action as part of our Safer Streets Mission to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour across the country, drawing on evidence for what works in identifying drug users and intervening effectively to change patterns of behaviour including, where appropriate, treatment and recovery services for those dependent on drugs. For instance, we will consider learning from Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement, Recovery), a programme that is testing a whole-system response to combatting drug-related harms in 13 areas across England and Wales, including through increased police activity to tackle visible street-level dealing and trialling new approaches to address persistent offending.

Tackling anti-social behaviour is a top priority for this Government, and a key part of our Safer Streets Mission to take back our streets.

​We will put thousands of neighbourhood police and community support officers into local communities so that residents have a named officer they can turn to when things go wrong.

We will crack down on those causing havoc on our high streets by introducing tougher powers via a Crime and Policing Bill, including a new Respect Order to tackle repeat offending.The Home Office is providing £66.3m funding this financial year (2024/25) to police forces in England and Wales for hotspot policing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence. The Metropolitan Police have been allocated £8,139,508 of this funding.

We know that drugs drive crime and cause harm to individuals and society. We will take action as part of our Safer Streets Mission to drive down crime and anti-social behaviour across the country, drawing on evidence for what works in identifying drug users and intervening effectively to change patterns of behaviour including, where appropriate, treatment and recovery services for those dependent on drugs. For instance, we will consider learning from Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement, Recovery), a programme that is testing a whole-system response to combatting drug-related harms in 13 areas across England and Wales, including through increased police activity to tackle visible street-level dealing and trialling new approaches to address persistent offending.

The Government is committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing as part of its Safer Streets Mission, which is a vital part of restoring confidence in policing. That is why we are introducing a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, providing a more visible police presence in town centres, recruiting thousands of extra additional police officers, PCSOs and Special Constables, and giving every community a named local officer. We will set out our plans for the Guarantee as soon as is practicable.

The Government is also providing £66.3m funding this financial year (2024/25) to police forces in England and Wales for hotspot policing to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence, which is already helping to ensure the public feel safe in town centres.

Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement. The department will work with local government leaders to ensure they are better able to fulfil their statutory duties.