Ged Killen

In line with the Government’s approach to open data, we will explore how best to make as much of the national LGBT survey data available as possible.

We will not share or publish any data from which individuals can be identified, but we will look to publish more aggregate-level, anonymous data which will be of use to the public at large.

We will be looking to publish more of the data later in the year, and as part of this release, we will look to provide regional breakdowns.

In line with the Government’s approach to open data, we will explore how best to make as much of the national LGBT survey data available as possible.

We will not share or publish any data from which individuals can be identified, but we will look to publish more aggregate-level, anonymous data which will be of use to the public at large.

In 2015, the Government published guidance for employers and service providers on how to specifically support and include transgender people at work. This helps them to meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010.

We also recently issued instructions to offender management services to improve the treatment and management of transgender offenders. The new guidelines state that all transgender prisoners must be allowed to express the gender with which they identify.

Our National lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Survey has recently closed and we will use the data we collected from this to help to identify areas that service provision needs to improve for LGBT people.

The National LGBT Survey will be closing on 15 October. We have received over 100,000 responses. We will analyse and publish the results and use the evidence to inform government policy on LGBT equality.

350 individuals received and accepted an offer of Voluntary Redundancy under the 2016 Civil Service Compensation Scheme terms.

The Government has reviewed all exits under the 2016 Civil Service Compensation Scheme and where appropriate has made additional payments so that the same total amount has been paid as would have been under the 2010 Civil Service Compensation Scheme terms.

The Government has given careful consideration to ensure it meets its obligations to provide fair and appropriate remedy for individuals that left on a payment under the 2016 Civil Service Compensation Scheme terms.

As a routine, departments publish quarterly details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations on GOV.UK, including those with representatives from companies such as Carillion. Cabinet Office returns can be viewed using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministers-transparency-publications

My position on this issue is clear and well known. I voted in support of equal marriage in England and Wales and hope this can be extended to Northern Ireland in the future. However, the fundamental position remains that equal marriage is an entirely devolved issue in Northern Ireland and one that should be resolved by a restored Assembly.

My rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received ninety four cases under the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure, Acknowledgment, Redress etc.) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations). To date, three final decisions and intention notices for two other cases have been issued.

The Department is committed to resolving all these cases fairly and as quickly as possible. However, the complex and legal nature of the redress process prescribed by the Regulations and volume of information we receive from consumers means complaints take some time to resolve. In most cases we need to go back to the consumer to seek further information to determine whether a breach has occurred which has caused (or is likely to cause) the consumer to suffer ‘substantive loss’. We also have to allow for periods during which representations can be made.

The Department has obtained additional support to review cases in order to speed up the process and is aiming to address these appeals over the next few months.

The Department has separately put in place a process for redress at an earlier stage with the Green Deal Finance Company. This process relates to one particular Green Deal Provider, HELMS. Thus far, over 100 customers have received a settlement through that process.

We began a fundamental review of the Green Deal Framework by publishing a Call for Evidence in October 2017. The Department has reviewed responses to the Call for Evidence and we plan to publish a summary of responses shortly. We will then consider the next steps for the review of the Framework, including the timetable for when we would consult on more significant proposals.

To date, there have been 54 complaints received by the Secretary of State under the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure Acknowledgement Redress etc.) Regulations 2012 (‘the Regulations’). These complaints include 34 consumers who have rejected an offer made by a finance party to reduce or cancel a Green Deal loan.

Out of the 54 complaints received, one has completed the Green Deal sanctions process associated with consumer redress. In that case, no sanction was imposed as no redress beyond that provided by the finance party in question (which was cancellation of the loan and refund of loan repayments) was possible under the Regulations. The Secretary of State has issued intention notices for three further cases.

There may be Green Deal complaints with other bodies which have not been passed to the Department, and it is therefore not possible to accurately calculate the proportion of complaints that have been brought to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

The legal nature of the redress process and detailed information involved means complaints can take some time to resolve. The case that has completed the sanction process took six months to resolve from being formally received by the Secretary of State. These are complex cases and the Department remains committed to resolving cases fairly and as quickly as possible.

To date, there have been 54 complaints received by the Secretary of State under the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure Acknowledgement Redress etc.) Regulations 2012 (‘the Regulations’). These complaints include 34 consumers who have rejected an offer made by a finance party to reduce or cancel a Green Deal loan.

Out of the 54 complaints received, one has completed the Green Deal sanctions process associated with consumer redress. In that case, no sanction was imposed as no redress beyond that provided by the finance party in question (which was cancellation of the loan and refund of loan repayments) was possible under the Regulations. The Secretary of State has issued intention notices for three further cases.

There may be Green Deal complaints with other bodies which have not been passed to the Department, and it is therefore not possible to accurately calculate the proportion of complaints that have been brought to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

The legal nature of the redress process and detailed information involved means complaints can take some time to resolve. The case that has completed the sanction process took six months to resolve from being formally received by the Secretary of State. These are complex cases and the Department remains committed to resolving cases fairly and as quickly as possible.

To date, there have been 54 complaints received by the Secretary of State under the Green Deal Framework (Disclosure Acknowledgement Redress etc.) Regulations 2012 (‘the Regulations’). These complaints include 34 consumers who have rejected an offer made by a finance party to reduce or cancel a Green Deal loan.

Out of the 54 complaints received, one has completed the Green Deal sanctions process associated with consumer redress. In that case, no sanction was imposed as no redress beyond that provided by the finance party in question (which was cancellation of the loan and refund of loan repayments) was possible under the Regulations. The Secretary of State has issued intention notices for three further cases.

There may be Green Deal complaints with other bodies which have not been passed to the Department, and it is therefore not possible to accurately calculate the proportion of complaints that have been brought to my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

The legal nature of the redress process and detailed information involved means complaints can take some time to resolve. The case that has completed the sanction process took six months to resolve from being formally received by the Secretary of State. These are complex cases and the Department remains committed to resolving cases fairly and as quickly as possible.

The General Data Protection Regulation will ensure that data processed within the EU, and the data of European citizens processed outside the EU, is done in accordance with the Regulation's principles.

The General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Bill - currently progressing through Parliament - will require organisations to apply the data protection principles. Organisations using personal data to make nuisance calls risks breaching these principles. Organisations may be liable to the new financial penalties and other enforcement action if they are found to be in breach of the rules.

We are determined to crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the online ticketing market, whilst ensuring there are no unintentional consequences for the operations of the events sector.

The Digital Economy Act 2017 provides the power to create a specific offence, where tickets are purchased electronically, of purchasing more tickets than the maximum permitted, to address concerns over large scale automated ticket reselling. We intend to enact this power via secondary legislation later this year, and will be monitoring its effectiveness once enacted. This measure is in addition to existing measures in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 relating to the information about tickets offered for sale on the secondary market, along with the additional requirement also contained in the Digital Economy Act for ticket sellers to provide a unique ticket number when re-selling a ticket, where one has originally been given.

We recognise that Government can’t act alone in addressing this issue, and that the ticketing industry, regulatory bodies, and online platforms need to take actions themselves. We welcome the action taken earlier this month by the Advertising Standards Authority against four of the main operators in the secondary ticketing sector banning the misleading presentation of pricing information on their websites, which we hope will help improve transparency in the market and help consumers find legitimate official ticketing sites.

The measures set out above, together with the ongoing enforcement work of the National Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority, and industry’s own initiatives should go a long way to reducing people’s frustrations at the way the ticketing market works.

We are determined to crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the online ticketing market, whilst ensuring there are no unintentional consequences for the operations of the events sector.

The Digital Economy Act 2017 provides the power to create a specific offence, where tickets are purchased electronically, of purchasing more tickets than the maximum permitted, to address concerns over large scale automated ticket reselling. We intend to enact this power via secondary legislation later this year, and will be monitoring its effectiveness once enacted. This measure is in addition to existing measures in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 relating to the information about tickets offered for sale on the secondary market, along with the additional requirement also contained in the Digital Economy Act for ticket sellers to provide a unique ticket number when re-selling a ticket, where one has originally been given.

We recognise that Government can’t act alone in addressing this issue, and that the ticketing industry, regulatory bodies, and online platforms need to take actions themselves. We welcome the action taken earlier this month by the Advertising Standards Authority against four of the main operators in the secondary ticketing sector banning the misleading presentation of pricing information on their websites, which we hope will help improve transparency in the market and help consumers find legitimate official ticketing sites.

The measures set out above, together with the ongoing enforcement work of the National Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority, and industry’s own initiatives should go a long way to reducing people’s frustrations at the way the ticketing market works.

We are determined to crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the online ticketing market, whilst ensuring there are no unintentional consequences for the operations of the events sector.

The Digital Economy Act 2017 provides the power to create a specific offence, where tickets are purchased electronically, of purchasing more tickets than the maximum permitted, to address concerns over large scale automated ticket reselling. We intend to enact this power via secondary legislation later this year, and will be monitoring its effectiveness once enacted. This measure is in addition to existing measures in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 relating to the information about tickets offered for sale on the secondary market, along with the additional requirement also contained in the Digital Economy Act for ticket sellers to provide a unique ticket number when re-selling a ticket, where one has originally been given.

We recognise that Government can’t act alone in addressing this issue, and that the ticketing industry, regulatory bodies, and online platforms need to take actions themselves. We welcome the action taken earlier this month by the Advertising Standards Authority against four of the main operators in the secondary ticketing sector banning the misleading presentation of pricing information on their websites, which we hope will help improve transparency in the market and help consumers find legitimate official ticketing sites.

The measures set out above, together with the ongoing enforcement work of the National Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority, and industry’s own initiatives should go a long way to reducing people’s frustrations at the way the ticketing market works.

The Department is currently assessing the evidence gathered during an engagement process, including a call for evidence, to support decisions on the content of Relationships Education for primary schools and Relationships and Sex Education for secondary schools, and on the status of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education.

The Department plans to publish the results of the call for evidence shortly alongside a consultation on draft regulations and accompanying statutory guidance, before laying the regulations in the House for debate.

The Department is working towards schools being able to teach the new subjects from September 2019.

The Department has conducted a thorough engagement process on the scope and content of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education, and on the status of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education, involving a wide-range of interested stakeholders, including those representing the interests of LGBT groups such as Stonewall and Terrence Higgins Trust.

The Department has also sought views on these subjects from parents, teachers, young people and other interested parties through a call for evidence, which closed on 12 February. The call for evidence attracted over 23,000 responses.

The Department is currently considering the responses and will publish the outcome of the call for evidence and the engagement process in due course.

The Department has conducted a thorough engagement process on the scope and content of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education, and on the status of Personal, Social, Health and Economic education, involving a wide-range of interested stakeholders, including those representing the interests of LGBT groups such as Stonewall and Terrence Higgins Trust.

The Department has also sought views on these subjects from parents, teachers, young people and other interested parties through a call for evidence, which closed on 12 February. The call for evidence attracted over 23,000 responses.

The Department is currently considering the responses and will publish the outcome of the call for evidence and the engagement process in due course.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law. This will include REACH as well as other related chemicals regulation. This will mean that the standards established by REACH will continue to apply in the UK.

We will continue publishing impact assessments to accompany legislation, where appropriate. An impact assessment was published alongside the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.

The Withdrawal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law wherever practical, giving consumers and businesses as much certainty as possible. This includes the REACH Regulation. The UK is strongly committed to the effective and safe management of chemicals. That will not change when we leave the EU.

As part of the exit negotiations the Government will discuss with the EU and the 27 Member States how best to continue cooperation in the field of chemicals regulation in the best interests of both the UK and the EU.

It would not be appropriate to pre-judge the outcome of the negotiations.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed her commitments at Mansion House, recognising the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland, and our shared commitments to avoiding a hard border, including any physical infrastructure and related checks and controls between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Prime Minister has also been clear that we must ensure the same unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s business to the whole of the UK’s internal market. We want a deal that works for all parts of the community in Northern Ireland.

We have always been clear from the outset that the best way to achieve this is through the overall relationship between the UK and the EU. We agreed in the Joint Report that a backstop option to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and maintain the economic integrity of the UK should be translated into legally binding text. The Prime Minister has been clear that the current drafting of the EU’s backstop proposal is unacceptable and we will bring forward our own proposal.

EU treaty provisions state that only citizens of EU Member States are able to hold EU citizenship. Therefore, when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, British nationals will no longer hold EU citizenship, unless they hold dual nationality with another EU Member State.

However, we know that in the future, many UK nationals will wish to continue to travel, live and work within the European Union, just as EU citizens will still wish to do so in the UK. We look forward to discussing our future relationship with the European Union, one which will work in the interest of both the UK and the EU.

We have provided sectoral information to Parliament as required by the motion passed by the House of Commons on 1 November 2017. As we made clear on the 21 December 2017 in answer to Question 118696, the same information was shared with the devolved administrations and the reports are now the property of the House of Commons Committee on Exiting the European Union. The Committee made these reports partially available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/exiting-the-european-union-committee/publications/

The Department will continue to balance our commitment to transparency with the need to protect information which could undermine the UK’s ability to negotiate the best deal for the UK. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would undermine our negotiating position.

We have provided sectoral information to Parliament as required by the motion passed by the House of Commons on 1 November.

As we made clear in our written ministerial statement on 28 November, the same information was shared with the devolved administrations. You will be aware that under the Osmotherly Rules the reports are now the property of the aforementioned Committee. Therefore, you may wish to contact the Chair of the Commons Exiting the EU Committee directly.

Ministers from the Department for Exiting the European Union have organised and undertaken more than 400 recorded engagements with business and civil society stakeholders from every sector of the British economy since July 2016. Details of ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.

The Government’s sector report on Medical Services and Social Care sets out a description of the sector and the current EU regulatory regime. This report has now been published by the Exiting the EU Committee.