Gareth Snell

The Prime Minister announced at party conference that the duty of candour Bill will be introduced to Parliament before the next anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in April 2025. The details of this Bill will be announced first to this House. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) serves to protect workers from suffering any detriment as a result of making a protected disclosure.

The Government is firmly committed to upholding our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food safety standards, areas in which the UK is a world leader. We assess environmental and food production impacts in our published FTA scoping assessments.

DBT offers a wide range of export support for F&D businesses looking to expand overseas. We work with partners and industry across the UK to deliver a comprehensive programme to showcase British food and drink and deliver export opportunities to industry. With the support of our extensive overseas network we run a significant programme of trade shows, missions and events, with trade advisors promoting UK food in over 100 countries. For example, in October, we held a high-profile showcase at the British Residence in Paris, promoting the quality, heritage and innovation of UK F&D to a wide audience of global buyers.

The whistleblowing framework provides routes for workers to make disclosures about wrongdoing or someone covering up wrongdoing. Workers who blow the whistle are entitled to protection from detriment or dismissal, and have a route to redress where this happens.

In the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Government committed to strengthen protections for whistleblowers, including by updating protection for women who report sexual harassment at work.

Through the Employment Rights Bill [introduced on 10 October], we will make it clear that disclosures about sexual harassment can qualify for whistleblowing protections.

The department recognises the need to improve the data available about children’s social care, including making it more relevant to the experience of children, young people and families. A core part of this work includes understanding the data needs of the children’s social care sector as a whole and scoping ways in which data gaps may be addressed over time.

Existing statutory data is captured about the child and does not capture the complex nature of families such as those where siblings do not live in the same family home. Addressing data gaps in children’s social care will be a long-term endeavour due to the need to agree data definitions and standards, as well as to redesign local authority and departmental systems before rolling out nationally.

The department is unable to answer the question. We only collect data on individual children and do not collect data on families.

The Children’s Wellbeing Bill will ensure our education and children’s social care systems transform life chances for millions of children and young people in England. The department will deliver our manifesto commitments on children’s social care to ensure that all children can thrive in safe, loving homes. More information will be shared about the Bill in due course.

This government is committed to whole-system reform of children’s social care to give hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve. We recognise that there is a strong evidence base for early intervention and whole family working to support families with multiple issues before they reach crisis point, to stay together and thrive. This is at the heart of our reform agenda to rebalance the children’s social care system toward earlier intervention, which is aimed at improving families’ lives today, their outcomes in the future, and reducing costs to public services.

Central to this ambition is testing a new model of Family Help which builds on best practice from well-evidenced programmes such as Supporting Families and Pause, which feature whole-family working and lead practitioners providing dedicated support to prevent re-referrals.

The independent evaluation of the Supporting Families programme showed improved outcomes and positive returns on investment where every £1 spent on the programme delivered £2.28 of benefits. It also found a reduction of one third in the likelihood of children going into care two years after joining the programme, as well as reduced youth and adult crime, reduced domestic abuse, reduced benefits claims, reduced substance misuse, improved mental health, improved school attendance and reduced exclusions (evaluated between 2015 and 2020).

Through the Families First for Children Pathfinder and Family network pilot the government is testing the implementation of intensive whole-family support in 10 pathfinder local authorities, where multi-disciplinary teams are providing targeted support to help families overcome challenges at the earliest opportunity.

These local authorities are also making greater use of family networks, involving them in decision-making at an earlier stage, and providing practical and financial support via family network support packages to help keep children safe at home. The pathfinder is being independently evaluated. Early evaluation findings are expected in spring 2025.

This government is committed to whole-system reform of children’s social care to give hundreds of thousands of children and young people the start in life they deserve. We recognise that there is a strong evidence base for early intervention and whole family working to support families with multiple issues before they reach crisis point, to stay together and thrive. This is at the heart of our reform agenda to rebalance the children’s social care system toward earlier intervention, which is aimed at improving families’ lives today, their outcomes in the future, and reducing costs to public services.

Central to this ambition is testing a new model of Family Help which builds on best practice from well-evidenced programmes such as Supporting Families and Pause, which feature whole-family working and lead practitioners providing dedicated support to prevent re-referrals.

The independent evaluation of the Supporting Families programme showed improved outcomes and positive returns on investment where every £1 spent on the programme delivered £2.28 of benefits. It also found a reduction of one third in the likelihood of children going into care two years after joining the programme, as well as reduced youth and adult crime, reduced domestic abuse, reduced benefits claims, reduced substance misuse, improved mental health, improved school attendance and reduced exclusions (evaluated between 2015 and 2020).

Through the Families First for Children Pathfinder and Family network pilot the government is testing the implementation of intensive whole-family support in 10 pathfinder local authorities, where multi-disciplinary teams are providing targeted support to help families overcome challenges at the earliest opportunity.

These local authorities are also making greater use of family networks, involving them in decision-making at an earlier stage, and providing practical and financial support via family network support packages to help keep children safe at home. The pathfinder is being independently evaluated. Early evaluation findings are expected in spring 2025.

The UK and EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards. The Government has committed to seek to negotiate a veterinary/sanitary and phytosanitary agreement to help boost trade, reduce trade friction and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. The Government has been clear that there will be no return to the customs union or single market. The Government is ambitious and wants to move forward at pace, but delivering new agreements will take time.

Additionally, Defra has recently posted two new agri-food attachés to the British Embassies in Paris and Madrid, who will help reduce regulatory requirements for food exporters to Europe. Their primary role will be to improve market access for UK producers to Europe. They will work directly with Member States across the EU to reduce trade frictions by identifying and resolving barriers faced by UK exporters.

The packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme will be run by the Scheme Administrator. Revenues will only fund efficient and effective local authority services. The Scheme Administrator will regularly publish information relating to its assessment of efficiency and effectiveness across the four nations once the scheme is up and running and offer support to local authorities to ensure their waste management services are efficient and effective.

The Department’s impact assessment published online here has considered the impacts on grocery and non-grocery retail inflation from the introduction of extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR).

The Department’s impact assessment, published here, has considered the impacts on the UK materials reprocessing industry and the associated carbon savings from increased recycling following the introduction of extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR).

No formal assessment has been made of pEPR’s impact on the availability of recycled materials on the market.

We recognise the need to take action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation and we will set out our approach to addressing this in due course.

The Department engages with the food and drink industry through policies that are aimed at encouraging them to make their products, or overall product portfolios, healthier, by reducing levels of sugar, calories, saturated fat, and salt, reducing portion size, and shifting sales to healthier products. This includes legislation to restrict junk food advertising on television and online, and the locations in supermarkets in which foods and drinks that are high in saturated fat, sugar, or salt can be promoted. In addition, engagement occurs through the voluntary reformulation programme that requires businesses to reduce levels of sugar, calories, and salt in everyday food and drink. The Department will also engage with relevant stakeholders, such as the food industry, in taking forward the ban on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under the age of 16-years old.

The Department is currently considering what further engagement may be required with the food and drink industry.

From data collected through the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, the Government knows that, compared to dietary recommendations, people are generally consuming too much sugar, saturated fat, salt, too many calories, and not enough fruit, vegetables, or fibre. This contributes to many people having poor diets and the high levels of obesity seen in both children and adults.

The prevention of ill health is a priority for the Government, as is creating the healthiest generation of children. As the providers of the food and drink we eat, it is clear that the food industry has a key role in helping to improve the nation’s diet. For this reason, the Government has already published its response to the consultation on restricting junk food advertising on television and online, putting the legislation on track, and is committed to banning the sale of high caffeine energy drinks to under 16-year-olds.

Other existing policies such as the legislated restrictions on the locations in supermarkets in which foods and drinks that are high in saturated fat, sugar, or salt can be promoted, and the voluntary reformulation programme, aim to encourage the food industry to make everyday food and drink healthier. Voluntary industry guidelines to reduce levels of salt and sugar in, and improve the marketing and labelling of, commercially available food and drink aimed at babies and young children aged up to 36 months, that form an additional workstream for the reformulation programme, are also expected to be published in the next month. The Department continues to review the balance between mandatory and voluntary incentivises to help tackle poor diets and reduce obesity.

The Government recognises the important contribution of co-operatives and mutuals to the economy, serving local communities around the UK and ensuring the UK has a diverse business sector with their model of shared ownership. According to the Co-operative and Mutual Economy Report 2024, there are currently 9,342 mutual and co-operative businesses in the UK, with an annual income of £165.7 billion.

The Government is committed to unlocking the full potential of the mutual and co-operative sector to support inclusive growth and will work with the sector to ensure it is fully supported to grow.

To help ensure co-operatives legislation is meeting the needs of co-operative and community benefit societies, the Government is funding the Law Commission’s independent review of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. This will consider ways to update and modernise the Act.

National permitted development rights allow a C3 dwellinghouse to change use to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with up to 6 occupants (C4) without the need for a planning application.

Local authorities have planning powers to limit any proliferation of HMOs by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction. There is no need for a local authority to seek permission from the Secretary of State before doing so.

As set out in the response to Question 6378 on 14 October, we will keep permitted development rights under review.

National permitted development rights allow a C3 dwellinghouse to change use to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with up to 6 occupants (C4) without the need for a planning application.

Local authorities have planning powers to limit any proliferation of HMOs by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction. There is no need for a local authority to seek permission from the Secretary of State before doing so.

As set out in the response to Question 6378 on 14 October, we will keep permitted development rights under review.

National permitted development rights allow a C3 dwellinghouse to change use to a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) with up to 6 occupants (C4) without the need for a planning application.

Local authorities have planning powers to limit any proliferation of HMOs by introducing an ‘Article 4’ direction. There is no need for a local authority to seek permission from the Secretary of State before doing so.

As set out in the response to Question 6378 on 14 October, we will keep permitted development rights under review.

Local authorities have robust powers to ensure landlords of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) comply with all relevant regulations. This includes powers to issue civil penalties, prosecute landlords and obtain banning orders.

The Renters’ Rights Bill introduces reforms to improve the regulation of private rented sector properties, including HMOs, and drive-up standards within the sector. This includes a Decent Homes Standard and new enforcement powers for local authorities.

We will keep the regulation of HMOs under review.

Local authorities have robust powers to ensure landlords of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) comply with all relevant regulations. This includes powers to issue civil penalties, prosecute landlords and obtain banning orders.

The Renters’ Rights Bill introduces reforms to improve the regulation of private rented sector properties, including HMOs, and drive-up standards within the sector. This includes a Decent Homes Standard and new enforcement powers for local authorities.

We will keep the regulation of HMOs under review.