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).
Include abortion rights in the Bill of Rights
Gov Responded - 20 Sep 2022 Debated on - 28 Nov 2022 View Desmond Swayne's petition debate contributionsAs Parliament considers the Bill of Rights, the Government must reconsider including abortion rights in this Bill. Rights to abortion must be specifically protected in this legislation, especially as the Government has refused to rule out leaving the European Convention on Human Rights.
Legalise assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults
Gov Responded - 3 Feb 2022 Debated on - 4 Jul 2022 View Desmond Swayne's petition debate contributionsThe Government should bring forward legislation to allow assisted dying for adults who are terminally ill and have mental capacity. It should be permitted subject to strict upfront safeguards, assessed by two doctors independently, and self-administered by the dying person.
These initiatives were driven by Desmond Swayne, 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.
Desmond Swayne has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Desmond Swayne has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Desmond Swayne has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Road traffic and street works Bill 2023-24
Sponsor - Kit Malthouse (Con)
Affordable Home Ownership Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Christopher Chope (Con)
On Monday 1 November the House of Commons Commission agreed that all events on the estate that do not relate to parliamentary business will be cancelled for the next two weeks, including banqueting events (Member-sponsored and third party), tours and other meetings.
It is not possible to calculate the impact that these short-term closures will have on income because while some bookings may be cancelled completely, others will be rescheduled for future dates. In the latter case, this means that income has simply been deferred rather than lost completely. A short parliamentary recess is scheduled for 10–12 November which will also serve to reduce numbers on the estate and therefore footfall in catering outlets. Any estimates made at this point in time would therefore inevitably be speculative.
Income and expenditure in these areas continue to be closely monitored, as with all House of Commons budgets.
UK officials are working with their EU counterparts to ensure the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is implemented in full, including that duties are not applied to goods that meet the rules of origin requirements in the Agreement. We recognise that this can be a particular issue with classic cars. Both the UK and EU have issued extensive guidance on how businesses can evidence origin in line with the terms of the Agreement. The Agreement also establishes a Specialised Committee on customs and rules of origin, which is due to meet before the end of the year, through which we can consider implementation issues.
I apologise for the delay in responding to the important points raised by the Rt Hon Member on behalf of his constituent. Lord Agnew responded to this letter on 6 July 2021.
Further to the statement by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 23 September, the Government has announced a £705 million package of investment for border infrastructure, staff and technology to ensure our border systems are fully operational after the end of the Transition Period.
The Government is not seeking to agree specific mobility arrangements for owners of a second home.
After the end of the transition period, UK nationals will require permission from the relevant Member State to stay longer than 90 days in a rolling 180-day period.
We have been codesigning the consultation on the community energy sector via the Community Energy Contact Group (CECG). We intend to publish the consultation as soon as possible.
When the UK’s major Communication Providers signed the Charter of Commitments in December 2023, they committed to pausing non-voluntary migrations of all customers until they had full confidence that they are taking all possible steps to protect vulnerable people through the migration process. As a result, BT have currently paused all non-voluntary migrations.
BT has not yet indicated when they will resume the practice of non-voluntary migrations. This is a commercial decision for BT to make, and we expect them to notify us when they intend to resume non-voluntary migrations. DSIT Ministers and officials are meeting with BT regularly to discuss the progress of the migration.
Government and Ofcom are engaging with all signatories of the Charter of Commitments to monitor their approach to the PSTN migration. This includes asking them whether they conduct non-voluntary migration programmes and what protections they have in place for vulnerable customers.
The analogue landline network, also known as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is a privately owned network and the decision to replace it with digital landlines has been made by the telecoms industry. Government has no formal role in the switchover process. While BT owns the largest amount of PSTN lines, this upgrade is not just confined to that company. This migration is due to necessity, as the PSTN is old and increasingly prone to failure. Retaining customers on the PSTN would mean a significant long-term risk to individuals.
The switchover process means that certain devices and services which rely on analogue landlines, such as some telecare alarms, will need to be replaced. Upgrading these devices will ensure that they are compatible with a more secure underlying infrastructure.
Since the switchover is not led by Government, there is no designated funding available from DSIT. Where telecare devices are provided by local authorities or the NHS, these organisations will need to ensure that telecare users have compatible devices. Telecare users should contact the organisation providing their devices, to discuss what support is available to them. We also encourage concerned customers to contact their Communication Provider (such as BT or VMO2) to understand their approach to the switchover and what support is available.
There are currently no plans to review the list of Energy and Trade Intensive Industries eligible for support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. The Government has taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries support. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes.
The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort.
Suppliers must provide notice of seven days before installing a prepayment meter or changing a smart meter to prepay mode.
Ofgem further rules require energy suppliers to assess whether installing a prepayment meter, including the remote switching of a smart meter, is safe and reasonably practicable for the customer. This assessment should include identifying any vulnerability.
The Government remains committed to supporting four CCUS clusters to deployment by 2030. Track-2 of the Cluster Sequencing Programme will add further clusters to fulfil this commitment and deliver an additional capture and storage capacity of at least 10Mtpa.
The Government will continue to engage with industry to develop a Track-2 process for future CCUS deployment, building on our experience of sequencing the Track-1 clusters. Details of this process will be brought forward in due course.
The Government is aware that not all households have electricity provided through a domestic electricity supply contract, such as mobile home residents. The Government raised this in its technical consultation on the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Households without a domestic electricity supply contract are not eligible for the scheme and the Government is exploring options for other ways in which they might receive similar support. The responses to this consultation are being analysed and a response will be published later in the summer.
The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme was designed to provide a short-term economic stimulus while tackling our contribution to climate change.
My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £320 million for the scheme in the next financial year, as part of funding to make homes and public buildings more energy efficient.
The Government has announced a package of support for business to help with their ongoing costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This includes £12.33 billion to local authorities in England to support businesses under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. As at 14 June, £10.36 billion has been paid out to over 844,000 business properties across the two schemes.
On 1 May, the Government announced a further £617 million available, in the form of the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, for local authorities to support small businesses that are not eligible for business rates or rates relief and are therefore not in scope of the existing grant schemes. Local authorities are responsible for defining precise eligibility for this scheme, and have discretion to pay grants to businesses based on local economic need – within the national guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-business-support-grant-funding
Local authorities will need to manage their schemes effectively to stay within their Discretionary Grants Fund allocation.
As with other business support measures, Ministers continue to keep the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund under review, monitoring roll-out and level of demand to assess how to ensure businesses and local economies are best supported.
As part of the Spring Budget 2020, the Government committed to consider how to provide appropriate support to self-employed parents, including adopters, so that they can continue to run their businesses, as part of the Government’s wider review of Parental Pay and Leave.
Currently, adopters may be eligible for adoption allowance from their local authority to help them cope with the extra costs adoption brings about.
All consumer products, including single use barbecues must be safe in normal or reasonably foreseeable use in line with the requirements of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.? There are no plans to ban their sale.
The Government has announced a package of support for businesses to help with their ongoing business costs in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. This package of support includes the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF). Businesses with a property that on the 11 March 2020 were eligible for Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) Scheme or those businesses which on 11 March 2020 were eligible for relief under the Rural Rate Relief Scheme, will be eligible for the SBGF.
The SBGF, alongside the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund, have helped supported many thousands of small businesses.
In order to ensure that Local Authorities can help these businesses, on 1 May 2020 the Business Secretary announced that a further up to £617 million is being made available to Local Authorities in England to allow them to provide discretionary grants. This additional Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund is aimed at small businesses with ongoing fixed property-related costs but not liable for business rates or rates reliefs. It is our intention that the following businesses should be considered as a priority for these funds:
Local authorities may choose to make payments to other businesses based on local economic need and subject to those businesses meeting the specific eligibility criteria.
The Government welcomes BP’s new 2050 Net Zero goals for its worldwide business. These should allow the company to make a significant contribution to climate action. It would not, however, be appropriate for the Government to assess the feasibility of BP’s plans given the international and commercial context in which they will be delivered.
More generally, while welcoming the action already being taken to reduce emissions, the Government would encourage the oil and gas sector to build ambitiously on what they are doing. Major and rapid cuts in unabated emissions are essential to meeting global climate goals.
The Government has put the UK at the forefront of global action on climate change and we are determined to build on the leadership we have shown to date, notably through our world-leading net zero target set in UK legislation in June last year. We are determined to use our Presidency of this year’s crucial COP26 climate negotiations to promote ambitious action to deliver the transformational change required by the Paris Agreement.
Government has robust checks in place and carries out due diligence through its Delivery Partners when issuing grants to both start-ups and established businesses. Where recipients have been found to act fraudulently serious action will be taken.
Through Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) competitive funding is provided to businesses, including start-ups. UKRI have a zero-tolerance approach to fraud and there are stringent controls and checks in place to stop fraud from happening throughout the lifetime of a project. These include:
In addition, UKRI have a dedicated investigations team tasked with identifying individuals and companies who submit false information in order to obtain funding. Relevant information and intelligence is shared with Action Fraud and CIFAS, and where appropriate UKRI will apply as many sanctions as possible, including criminal prosecution and civil recovery. UKRI take all reasonable steps to prevent any organisation found to have acted fraudulently from accessing future funding, on behalf of the whole of Government.
As set out in the response to WPQ 203179, the annual sales limits for society lotteries were reviewed 12 months after the reforms were implemented in 2020. The review concluded it was too soon to reach any firm view on the impact of the reforms, and that more data on the growth of the sector was needed before considering any further changes. I therefore have no current plans for a consultation.
My officials and I will continue working with the Gambling Commission, as part of its regulatory role, to keep the sector under review.
The Government recognises the importance of society lotteries as a fundraising tool for charities and other organisations. Society lotteries are a vital source of funds for these organisations, raising over £400 million a year.
In 2020, we legislated to raise the annual sales limit for large society lotteries from £10 million to £50 million. Each organisation with a society lottery licence is therefore able to sell up to £50 million of tickets per year. Most society lottery operators have sales well within this annual limit, meaning there is plenty of scope for them to continue to grow.
The People’s Postcode Lottery (PPL) has indicated that 4 trusts are at the £50m limit and 10 trusts are expected to reach it by 2025. We have shared advice with PPL on mechanisms under the current framework that could help alleviate the pressure on their higher selling trusts.
I have received representations about society lottery limits from a range of stakeholders, including society lottery operators, charities and national lottery stakeholders.
The Government recognises the ongoing importance of telecommunications at this critical time.
Whilst the industry has continued to offer consumers support online and over the phone, we also appreciate the role that mobile phone retail outlets play in ensuring that everyone in society remains connected. Tougher national restrictions are necessary to help get the virus under control and to protect the NHS. The current set of restrictions strike the right balance between containing the virus and protecting society whilst allowing limited parts of essential retail to remain open. We are keeping this under constant review. The Government will continue to work closely with the sector to ensure consumers and businesses continue to receive the support they need.
DCMS is only responsible for organising and delivering the National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph on Whitehall on 8 November.
We have taken advice from Public Health England on the appropriate controls and mitigations to ensure safe social distancing and we will continually review the situation seeking advice from health experts and making necessary changes where and when required.
Those organising local Remembrance Sunday events across the UK should follow the guidance on outdoor events prepared and issued by the Events Industry Forum, with input from DCMS and in consultation with Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. This guidance can be found here. The Local Government Association has also issued guidance for local authorities about outdoor events here.
Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active. The Government has made it clear that it will adopt a phased approach based on scientific and medical advice, and that the primary goal is to protect public health. The Government is in discussions with representatives from the sport and physical activity sector about the steps required to restart grassroots sport and will update the public when it is deemed safe to open up facilities such as water parks as soon as it is safe to do so.
My Department has been working closely with the sector, including UKHospitality, through the Visitor Economy Working Group to produce guidance on the reopening of the tourism sector. This will include guidance on hotels and other forms of accommodation. This guidance will be published shortly.
We will look at opening forms of holiday accommodation in Step 3 of the Government’s recovery strategy, currently planned for 4 July at the earliest. This will be subject to the further scientific advice and the latest risk assessment at the time.
We remain in regular contact with hotel stakeholders through the Visitor Economy Working Group and the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group.
The Government is committed to reopening sports and physical activity facilities as soon as it is safe to do so. We are holding regular discussions with representatives from the leisure sector and national sports organisations to develop guidance that will support them to open their facilities in a timely and safe manner once lockdown measures are eased.
Although physical library locations are closed, library services have continued to provide and deliver services to their users throughout the lockdown period. Digital services have been sustained, as well as other elements of library services, such as no- or low-contact home library services.
The restoration of public libraries in England will be considered through the Recreation and Leisure taskforce, primarily as part of Step 3 of the government roadmap. The current planning assumption is that general reopening of library buildings will be no earlier than 4 July.
The Secretary of State has made no such assessment. This is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of The Royal Parks, who I have asked to write to you directly regarding this matter. We will place a copy in the House Library.
The department has established a National Practice group to begin work on the National Children’s Social Care Framework, a Ministerial Child Protection Group, and a National Implementation Board. The National Implementation Board will meet on November 16 2022, following an interim meeting in July, and is made up of people with lived experience of the care system and those with experience of leading transformational change.
We have also been working closely with other departments across government to rapidly agree on an ambitious and detailed implementation strategy that will respond fully to all three reviews. Ministers from across government are engaged on emerging policies and will agree on the final implementation strategy in due course.
Keeping children and staff safe is the department’s utmost priority. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, we have listened carefully to the latest scientific and medical advice when developing departmental guidance.
On 24 February 2022, the government removed the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test. Public health guidance continues to advise adults and children who test positive to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for at least five full days. They should then continue to follow the guidance until they have received two negative test results on consecutive days. The guidance also advises that people with symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result should not have social visitors at home. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-people-with-covid-19-and-their-contacts/covid-19-people-with-covid-19-and-their-contacts.
This means that the guidance on managing positive cases for childminders has not changed. Childminders should not childmind in their home if someone in their household has tested positive or has symptoms of COVID-19. This is because there is a higher risk of transmission to those attending the provision for childcare as they are close to the case for extended periods of time.
Considering the changes to the legal requirement to self-isolate, the department has reviewed and updated the guidance with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). In the guidance, the department has outlined options for childminders to continue childminding if someone has tested positive or has symptoms of COVID-19 in their home. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/additional-actions-for-childminders-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/additional-actions-for-childminders-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic.
The department continues to work with the UKHSA to keep guidance under review and ensure that the right control measures are in place for childminders.
Whilst all students in sixth form education have seen disruption and changes in the way they have received their education during the COVID-19 outbreak, we expect all institutions providing education for students aged 16 to 19 to support their student cohort to progress to a suitable destination in education, training or the workplace.
As part of the government’s commitment to long-term education recovery we have made available £102 million to extend the 16 to 19 tuition fund in this academic year. This fund allows students in 16 to 19 education to access one-to-one and small group catch up tuition to help them catch up in subjects that will benefit them the most, including maths, English, and vocational courses. We are extending the fund further by £222 million for an additional two academic years from 2022/23.
The department is also investing £828 million across the Spending Review period to fund an average of 40 additional learning hours for students in 16 to 19 education. This funding will start from the 2022/23 academic year and provide students aged 16 to 19 with further opportunities to catch up on the vital teaching and learning they need to progress.
For students who were in the final year of their 16 to 19 study programme in academic year 2020/21 and whose education was impacted significantly more than their peers by COVID-19, we are funding institutions to enable these students to repeat up to a year of their studies within academic year 2021/22. This repeat year offer supports students whose chances of progression had been limited during academic year 2020/21, for example students whose practical skills development, work experience or assessments had been adversely impacted and with the least time left in their education.
We will continue to assess the need to develop existing or further interventions in response to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Schools decide how they record sessions in the attendance register in line with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended.
In time for September 2020, we introduced a new category into the regulations to record sessions where a pupil does not attend school because their travel to or attendance at school would be contrary to public health guidance from the UK Health Security Agency and the Department for Health and Social Care. Schools record these missed sessions using Code X (not attending in circumstances relating to COVID-19).
Where a pupil cannot attend school because they are ill or have any infectious illness, including testing positive for COVID-19, in line with the Regulations, schools will record sessions as Code I (illness).
On 13 April, the government announced that remaining students should return to in-person teaching alongside Step 3 of the roadmap, which is not earlier than 17 May.
Students and providers will be given at least a week’s notice of any further return in accordance with the timing of Step 3 of the roadmap. We have also updated our guidance on the return of students during the spring and summer terms: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.
The Department is continuing to work closely with colleagues across government and local authorities to secure the most effective approach to asymptomatic testing for the whole of the early years sector.
We are rolling out our asymptomatic testing programme to primary schools with deliveries of test kits starting from week commencing 18 January 2021.
The asymptomatic testing programme will offer all primary school, schools based nursery and maintained nursery school staff home Lateral Flow Device test kits for twice weekly testing. This will help to break the chains of transmission of COVID-19 in primary schools and nurseries by identifying asymptomatic positive cases. Those who test positive will then self-isolate, helping to reduce transmission of the virus.
Community Testing programmes are currently being rolled out across the country. Local authorities will be encouraged to target testing to people who cannot work from home during lockdown. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-testing-explainer/community-testing-a-guide-for-local-delivery.
Early years staff, as critical workers, continue to have priority access to DHSC-led symptomatic PCR testing via the online portal: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-getting-tested.
On 5 January we announced that schools and colleges can continue with the vocational and technical exams that are scheduled to take place in January, where they judge it right to do so.
In the event that this is not possible, we will put in place arrangements to ensure they are not disadvantaged. The department will continue to work with Ofqual, awarding organisations and relevant stakeholders to discuss the next steps and provide more detail on the way forward, including ensuring other students have a way to progress with as little disruption as possible.
School exchanges provide pupils with the chance to experience different cultures, improve their language skills and to build their independence. It is for individual schools to choose where and how they might wish to run a school exchange, including whether they use the support of third-party companies and organisations such as the British Council.
The Department funds the British Council-delivered International School Exchange programme, which provides opportunities for young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to take part in an international exchange and visit partner schools around the world, including in EU Member States. It is hoped to restart the programme in the latter part of 2021.
The newly announced Turing scheme, which replaces the UK’s participation in Erasmus+, will allow thousands of students to study and take part in work placements in the EU and beyond. The Turing scheme will be backed by over £100 million, providing funding for around 35,000 students in universities, colleges and schools to go on placements and exchanges overseas, starting in September 2021.
The Department funds a national network of 120 Music Education Hubs who work with the majority of schools to deliver four core roles, one of which is to enable children from all backgrounds and every part of England to have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument. This includes children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Discussions between my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury concerning the current spending review have taken place with regards to all departmental policies which includes Music Education Hubs.
The Spending Review is expected to conclude by 25 November.
All international arrivals and passengers travelling from a country not on the travel corridor list will need to self-isolate on their return for 14 days, and that includes UK nationals studying abroad: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-travel-corridors#countries-territories-and-regions-on-the-travel-corridor-list.
On arrival, students should adhere to Public Health England advice. Students are not exempt from wider restrictions in place when in the UK and are required to complete a passenger locator form as all other international arrivals would. The government will review these measures regularly to ensure that they are in line with the latest scientific evidence and that they remain effective and necessary.
This year, appeals against A and AS Level and GCSE grades can be submitted by schools or colleges where they think the exam board did not apply its procedures properly and fairly or where the data used by the exam board to calculate results contained an error.
Guidance to schools and colleges from the independent qualifications regulator in England, Ofqual, provided advice on objectivity in deciding on their centre assessment grades. All centre assessment grades were signed off by head teachers and or college principals who confirmed that they honestly and fairly represented the grades that these students would have been most likely to achieve if they had sat their exams as planned.
Any students who have evidence of bias or discrimination will be able to go through the normal complaints procedure at their school or college or complain to the exam board, which could investigate potential malpractice.
From 1 June, primary schools have been able to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside children of critical workers and vulnerable children. Each school’s circumstances will be slightly different. Any school that cannot achieve the small group sizes set out in the protective measures guidance for the current phase of wider opening should discuss options with their local authority or academy trust. If necessary, schools have the flexibility to focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups and then, to support children’s early learning, schools should prioritise groups of children as follows:
We know that in some schools, there will be capacity to welcome more children back, in group sizes of no more than 15, before the summer holidays. Primary schools have the flexibility to do this, but should only welcome back additional children where provision for eligible groups has already been made, and where they do not require additional funding, staff or classrooms to do so.
We have published guidance on the additional funding we are providing to schools to cover unavoidable costs incurred due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak that cannot be met from their existing resources. The fund is targeted towards the costs we have identified as the biggest barrier to schools operating as they need to at this challenging time.
The cost categories covered by the fund are clearly set out in the guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-schools/school-funding-exceptional-costs-associated-with-coronavirus-covid-19-for-the-period-march-to-july-2020. These are: the increased premises-related costs of opening over school holidays; support for free school meals for eligible children who are not in school, where schools are not using the national voucher scheme; and additional cleaning costs relating to cases or suspected cases of coronavirus, above the cost of existing cleaning arrangements.
The Department currently advises against any overseas, domestic or residential visits for children under 18 organised by schools. This advice will remain under review and will be updated in line with guidance from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Department for Transport (DfT) and Public Health England (PHE).
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has issued a notice to modify temporarily the duty on local authorities and health commissioning bodies to secure or arrange the provision specified in education, health and care (EHC) plans, so that they can discharge this by using their ‘reasonable endeavours’. The modified duty applies to all local authorities and health commissioning bodies in England.
The maximum period for which a notice can be issued is a month, although the Secretary of State can issue a further notice if necessary. The current notice is in force from 1 to 30 June 2020 (inclusive), following a notice that was issued for the month of May.
We are committed to ceasing this temporary change to the duty on local authorities and health commissioning bodies to secure or arrange the provision specified in EHC plans at the earliest opportunity. We will continue to work with a range of stakeholders, including representative bodies for local authorities and parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and a number of specialist SEND organisations, to keep this measure under close review and to inform decisions as to whether or not further notices should be issued.
As of 1 June 2020, the Government has asked primary schools to welcome back children in Nursery, Reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups.
We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers. The safety of children and staff is our utmost priority.
Guidance for schools and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020/actions-for-education-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020.
We expect all mainstream schools and colleges, including independent schools, to follow the same approach, to ensure national parity for children in this year group.
As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced to the House on 18 March, the Government has taken the difficult decision to cancel all examinations due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer, as part of the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The Department’s priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses or apprenticeships, in the autumn. For GCSE, AS and A-level students, we will make sure they are awarded a grade which reflects their work. Our intention is that a grade will be awarded this summer based on the best available evidence, including any non-examination assessment that students have already completed. Students will also have the option to sit an examination, as soon as is reasonably possible after the beginning of the academic year, if they wish to do so.
The independent regulator of qualifications, Ofqual, is working urgently with examination boards to set out proposals for how this process will work and to look at the options available in relation to external candidates, including home educated students.
Further information will be published as soon as possible.
Native wild deer are an important component of our landscape but if left unchecked, they can cause serious problems to agricultural crops, tree planting schemes, conservation and biodiversity.
In the England Trees Action Plan and Environmental Improvement Plan, we committed to addressing these pressures through developing a National Deer Management Strategy. This strategy will be published in due course.
National Park Authorities do not appoint members to their boards. Parish members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs following an election among the eligible parishes. It is our policy that only democratically elected Parish Councillors are eligible. This is to ensure that those seats on the board provide the vital democratic legitimacy and accountability that Parish and Local Authority members bring to National Park Authority boards.
The UK Government is delivering the largest package of sanctions in our history, cutting off funding to Putin's war machine.
I welcome commitments already made by several seed potato exporters to divest from Russian exports. I am urging firms to think very carefully about further investments in Russia; I am clear that there is no case for new investment in Russia.