Gillian Keegan

We acknowledge the role of offshore wind in achieving the net zero target. We have provided more support for offshore wind than any other country in the world, helping us to reach record levels of renewable electricity generation in 2019. The UK accounts for around one third of world’s offshore wind capacity and has the world’s largest offshore wind market with 9.8GW of installed capacity which is expected to rise to 14GW by 2023 and 19.5GW by 2026.

We know that our European neighbours will also be deploying more offshore wind in shared sea spaces such as the North Sea. This continued pace of deployment drives the need to better understand the cumulative impacts. We are collaboratively working with the sector and wider stakeholders to address strategic deployment issues including cumulative environmental impacts on marine species and habitats.

The level of remuneration under Smart Export Guarantee tariffs will be determined by suppliers, in line with the aim of moving away from direct subsidy to cost reflective pricing and competitive market-based solutions.

The Government have asked Ofgem to report annually on the provisions made by suppliers for smaller scale exporters, including the range, nature and uptake of Smart Export Guarantee tariffs.

The Government will actively monitor the development of this market and will consider reviewing these tariff setting arrangements, if it becomes clear that small generators are not able to access a competitive range of export tariff options.

There is significant potential for UK businesses of all types and sizes to reduce environmental impacts, including carbon emissions, and to save money by moving to more sustainable practices. Change is needed to achieve the Government’s commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and delivery of the targets of the 25-Year Environment Plan. The Government has rolled out numerous incentives to support businesses in increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon, while ensuring the availability of affordable energy. Some of these include:

• the Climate Change Agreement Scheme, which offers discounts to the Climate Change Levy tax in exchange for signing up to and meeting energy efficiency or carbon reduction targets.
• the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme, a mandatory energy assessment scheme for large businesses.
• the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, a £315m fund to support industrial energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects.
• the Clean Steel Fund, £250m to support decarbonisation of the UK steel sector.

As of 2018 there was around four gigawatts of storage on the system in Great Britain, and three gigawatts of this was from pumped hydro (National Grid Future Energy Scenarios, 2019).

Government is investing to support further development of large-scale electricity storage solutions. In January this year Government launched the ‘Storage-at-Scale’ competition which commits up to £20 million to support the development of innovative, replicable solutions that could provide an alternative to conventional commercial large-scale energy storage technologies.

We are taking a wide range of initiatives that will improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.

We have reformed the Electronic Communications Code to make it easier and cheaper to install digital infrastructure. Our ambition is to extend mobile coverage to 95% of the UK’s landmass by 2022 and this will benefit rural areas as well. Ofcom has identified the 700 MHz band as suitable for coverage obligations and we will work with Ofcom to determine the best options.

95% of UK premises will have access to superfast speeds by the end of 2017 and we expect coverage will be extended beyond that to reach at least a further 2% of premises.

All homes and businesses which are unable to receive a speed of at least 2Mbps can benefit from support from the Better Broadband Scheme. Further information on the Scheme can be found on our website (https://basicbroadbandchecker.culture.gov.uk/guide-to-better-broadband-subsidy-scheme.pdf).

As confirmed in our announcement yesterday, we are pushing ahead with our plans for a Universal Service Obligation so that by 2020 everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to high speed broadband.

As part of the Local Full Fibre Network programme, a £4.66 million pilot project has begun to deliver fibre connections to public buildings across West Sussex, including Chichester.

We continue to engage with employers on the working of the apprenticeship levy. We are committed to improving the apprenticeship programme to ensure it continues to deliver the skilled workforce that employers need. We will set out further detail on this in due course.

The national curriculum for PE is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives. The requirements do not differentiate in relation to gender.

Schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum that suits the needs of all of their pupils. In doing so, they must have regard to their duties under the Equality Act (2010). The government guidance on the Equality Act makes it clear that, while an exception in the act allows for the provision of single-sex sporting activities, the school would still have to allow girls equal opportunities to participate in comparable sporting activities.

Football is a popular sport in schools. Data from the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2017/18 reported that 31% of pupils – boys and girls - took part in football at least once a week at school.

Our cross-government school sport and activity action plan will consider ways to ensure that all children have access to quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day. It will be published in spring 2019.

The department has established a new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), and has given it the legislative powers and a clear remit to create the conditions in which the interests of students are consistently prioritised, and in which a diversity of high quality institutions can thrive. The OfS holds providers to account for delivering well-designed courses that offer successful outcomes for all of their students.

The department is taking a number of steps to enhance the information, advice and guidance available to anyone considering higher education. In particular:

• We have introduced the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework to provide students with reliable information about the quality of teaching and outcomes they can expect from different institutions.
• Through the Higher Education Open Data Competition, we are supporting the development of new, innovative digital tools to help provide information to prospective students on graduate outcomes.
• We are working with the OfS to redesign the higher education course comparison website, Unistats, by autumn 2019.

The department’s latest apprenticeship marketing campaign features digital advertising, radio, and social media to encourage employers across England to offer high quality apprenticeships, and individuals to take advantage of these opportunities.

Our recent National Apprenticeship Week, with hundreds of events throughout the country, celebrated apprenticeships working for employers and individuals of all ages and backgrounds.

Projects funded under the L’Instrument Financier pour l’Environnement (LIFE) programme have played an important role in helping to implement environment policy in the UK. The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan makes clear that public funding will continue to play an important role in protecting and enhancing our natural environment. Securing a negotiated exit from the EU would ensure that UK organisations could continue to access LIFE funding until the end of 2020. The UK Government has guaranteed to underwrite the funding for agreed LIFE projects led by UK organisations in the event of the funding from the EU stopping in a ‘no deal’ exit. Once the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU are clear, we will decide as part of the next multi-year Spending Review, whether the UK will seek to associate with the LIFE programme as a third country or whether domestic arrangements should be established.

My department is aiming to open a new round of national-level Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Growth Programme calls for business development, food processing and tourism infrastructure projects in early November. This will enable all stages of the project application and assessment process to be completed in time for funding to be awarded, in line with the Government’s guarantee to honour all funding commitments signed by the end December 2020.

The Government intends to commence an in-depth review of pesticides policy later this year and will work closely with all interested parties as we develop our policy thinking.

Defra keeps water security for farmers and growers under review. However, as the Countryside Productivity Water Resource Management offer was a relatively small scheme offering localised support for individual farmers and growers, we have no plans to undertake a detailed assessment of its impact on national water security.

The Government’s abstraction plan sets out how the Environment Agency will develop strong local partnerships with abstractors, including farmers, and catchment groups. The partnerships will work to agree local solutions that improve water security and protect the environment.

The features that have been identified for protection at Selsey Bill and the Hounds are:

• Bracklesham Bay geological feature

• Short-snouted seahorse

• Subtidal mixed sediments

• Subtidal sand

• Peat and clay exposures

• High energy infralittoral rock

• Moderate energy infralittoral rock

• Moderate energy circalittoral rock

• Low energy infralittoral rock

  Full details regarding the proposed designation of Selsey Bill and the Hounds can be found in the Third Tranche of Marine Conservation Zones consultation. Please see link here:

  https://consult.defra.gov.uk/marine/consultation-on-the-third-tranche-of-marine-conser/.

Good development takes account of climate change and environmental sustainability, and DFID is increasingly putting climate and environment at the heart of the UK aid agenda in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The department’s rules for designing and implementing programmes charge staff with considering sustainability and resilience, including climate change and environmental shocks. As well as informing the appraisal of new projects, staff are expected to manage environmental risks throughout implementation, in line with DFID’s environmental and social safeguards. DFID has a cadre of specialist climate and environment advisers who support teams to meet these requirements.

In July this year, the Government committed in the Green Finance Strategy to align our Official Development Assistance with the Paris Agreement, that is to support low-carbon and climate resilient development. The Prime Minister also recently announced that the UK would be doubling the quantity of International Climate Finance we provide to support developing countries from 2021.

Since 2011, UK aid has provided 26 million people with improved access to clean energy, and helped 57 million people to cope with the effects of climate change. It has also reduced greenhouse gas emissions internationally by 16 million tonnes – the equivalent to taking three million cars off the road for a year.

The latest Tech Nation report showed the UK attracts more VC tech investment than any other European nation, with £6.3 billion raised in 2018. The UK is both a leading global financial hub and an Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub, home to more AI start-ups than any other European country with over 1000 companies and 600 investors.

Last month during London Tech Week, my department announced a further £1.2 billion of new foreign direct investment in the UK tech sector which will create more than 850 jobs.

Through the first Road Investment Strategy, the Government has invested £17.6 billion in England’s Strategic Road Network since 2015. We intend to make £28.8 billion from the National Roads Fund available for our most strategically important roads over the next five years from 1 April 2020.

In addition, we are providing funding to local highway authorities to support maintenance of their roads, and have pledged £2 billion for the country’s largest ever pothole fixing programme.

Highways England undertook a public consultation on the viable options for improving the Chichester section of the A27 in 2016. There are no current plans for another consultation on this subject.

The department sets out its requirements for passenger satisfaction in each franchise agreement. The passengers’ traveling environment contributes to passengers’ satisfaction scores.

As part of the franchise competition process bidders are asked to submit proposals for initiatives to enhance rolling stock to deliver consistently high standards for passengers. This may be through refurbishment of existing rolling stock or the procurement of new trains.

Almost 500 consultation responses were received about how EU Regulation 1071/2009 applies to Transport Act 1985 permits, and over 550 community transport operators, local authorities and passengers attended the consultation events across Great Britain.

The Department is still working to address all the legal and other issues raised by the Regulation and we intend to announce the Government’s response shortly.

The Government has no current plans to introduce permanent hydrogen refuelling stations (HRSs) in that area. The £23m Hydrogen for Transport Programme will continue to support the development of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure via a competitive bidding process. Siting of stations is one of a number of criteria, and it is for the market to lead on developing strong bids for specific locations. In March this year the Government announced the winners of £8.8 million of funding, which will see the construction of additional hydrogen refuelling stations as well as upgrades to existing refuelling infrastructure.

Universal Credit seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of Universal Credit paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by their employer or employers during the assessment period, regardless of when they were paid, or which month they relate to.

Assessment periods allow for Universal Credit awards to be adjusted on a monthly basis, ensuring that if a claimant’s income changes, they do not have to wait several months for a corresponding change in their Universal Credit award. Claimants can always discuss the implications of any changes in earnings with their case managers and work coach and can be referred to personal budgeting support to help them manage their budgeting.

From the 29 September 2017 those placed in Employment and Support Allowance’s (ESA) Support Group and the Universal Credit (UC) equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities will no longer be routinely reassessed.

For those claiming ESA prior to 29 September 2017, the Severe Conditions criteria will be taken into consideration at their next Work Capability Assessment. People will be asked to complete a health questionnaire, and where appropriate we will ask their General Practitioner or Specialist healthcare professional for further supporting evidence. In the vast majority of cases where the Severe Conditions criteria would apply, we would expect to be able to make a decision without the need for a face-to-face assessment.

From the 29 September 2017 those placed in Employment and Support Allowance’s (ESA) Support Group and the Universal Credit (UC) equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities will no longer be routinely reassessed.

For those claiming ESA prior to 29 September 2017, the Severe Conditions criteria will be taken into consideration at their next Work Capability Assessment. People will be asked to complete a health questionnaire, and where appropriate we will ask their General Practitioner or Specialist healthcare professional for further supporting evidence. In the vast majority of cases where the Severe Conditions criteria would apply, we would expect to be able to make a decision without the need for a face-to-face assessment.

We do not routinely collect this information and we have not made an estimate.

Whilst the vast majority of patients receive safe and effective care, any incident of misdiagnosis can have a significant impact on patients and their families, which is why have we are committed to a systematic approach of understanding and learning from avoidable causes of patient harm. Since 2016, the National Health Service has been creating 29 national pathology networks that bring together clinical expertise in regional hubs. This will deliver the highest-quality service for patients and allow the use of cutting-edge technology to increase the speed and accuracy of diagnostics.

The Eating Disorder pathway (published 2015) provides guidance on supporting transitions between services. Best practice is also outlined in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline for recognition and treatment of eating disorders (2017) and NICE Quality Standards for Eating Disorders (2018).

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out ambitions and additional investment to provide a comprehensive offer for 0 to 25 year olds and improve the community offer for adults with mental health problems, which includes dedicated services for eating disorders. The ambitions aim to improve integration between children and young people’s and adult mental health services to meet the needs of young adults, including those with an eating disorder, and ensure people experience a seamless and continuous treatment pathway.

I last met Beat on 7 November 2017.

The Department met Beat early last year to discuss the work they are doing and their ongoing campaigns. The Department recognises the importance of the work they do in terms of raising awareness of eating disorders.

Recommended treatments for eating disorders are set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline, ‘Eating disorders: recognition and treatment’. The guideline makes it clear where there are particular treatments or considerations for children and young people. It is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG69

To find out more about the treatment available for children and young people, Health Education England has commissioned NHS Benchmarking to collect data on the provision, workforce capacity and skills, and activity of services delivering mental health care. This collection will provide information on the treatments delivered, including by community eating disorder services.

Data on waiting times from referral to starting treatment for children and young people with an eating disorder are published every quarter at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cyped-waiting-times/

Data from the last quarter (October-December 2018) shows that 80.7% of urgent cases start treatment within one week and 86.8% of non-urgent cases starts treatment within four weeks.

​Tackling climate change in collaboration with international partners is a high priority of this government, as evidenced most recently by the Prime Minister's recent commitment to double the UK's International Climate Finance funding to at least £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26. Strong diplomatic engagement lies at the heart of the whole-of-government efforts required to tackle climate change, and Climate Change and Energy (CCE) work is a network-wide priority. Every Head of Mission in our global network has climate change diplomacy as a personal priority, and a priority for their Post.

As the first G7 country to legislate for net zero by 2050, the UK is leading the world's response to tackling climate change. Our position at the forefront of international efforts to tackle climate change will be consolidated through hosting COP26 in Glasgow next year in partnership with Italy.

In line with international conventions to which the UK is party, the government does not tax commercial aviation fuel.

The government taxes airlines through Air Passenger Duty to ensure the aviation industry contributes to the cost of public services.

This is a matter for the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) which is operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FOS. The FOS will reply directly to the member for Chichester by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

On 21 January we published a landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill, containing a ground-breaking series of measures to promote awareness, support victims, tackle perpetrators and improve services.

We have also published a package of non-legislative actions that will see further support for children, the elderly, disabled, male and migrant victims and those in the LGBTQ community.

We have already committed over £100million to tackle violence against women and girls, including £20m for victims of domestic abuse and £40 million for safe accommodation services.

Further to the recent major refurbishment and investment totalling around £27 million, a site review of Baker Barracks is due to begin shortly. This will look at potential future areas for development, any refurbishment plans and provide a road map for the next 25 years.

All Service Family Accommodation is maintained through a programme of pre-planned improvement works, and response maintenance to repair defects. This approach means that all properties meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard at the point of occupation, with ongoing restorative action as required.

The Army is initiating an estate wide Single Living Accommodation (SLA) programme to improve the condition of Army SLA. The SLA at Baker Barracks will be considered and prioritised for funding within this programme.

UK Government officials continue to work closely with regional authorities to protect the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, share information and support each other's interests where possible to protect these sites and to ensure the last resting places of our people are adequately protected. Where we have evidence of desecration of the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, we will take appropriate action.

The Department is committed to increasing the energy efficiency of new homes.

The main way the Department seeks to do this is through Building Regulations. These set minimum requirements for the energy efficiency of new buildings and for work on existing buildings.

In the government’s Clean Growth Strategy we committed to reviewing these standards, including consulting on improving energy efficiency requirements in new and existing homes where the evidence suggests it is cost effective, affordable, practical and safe to do so.

To that end, the government has announced that this consultation is now open. This includes the proposed introduction of a Future Homes Standard by 2025 for new build homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency. We propose that new homes built to this standard should have 75-80 per cent fewer CO2 emissions than ones built to current building regulations standards.

The National Planning Policy Framework also expects local planning authorities to take account of how new development will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as through its location, orientation and design. Planning practice guidance provides advice for local authorities and applicants on implementing these policies.

The Department does recognise and support innovation and excellence in design. For example, the Minister of State for Housing recently visited the Goldsmith Street development in Norwich, which is built to the PassivHaus standard. At the Housing Design Awards, Goldsmith Street was the chosen Supreme Winner and winner of the Good Neighbour Award, a new category sponsored by MHCLG and agreed by the previous Housing Minister

The government also launched a consultation on stronger building regulations that will pave the way for the Future Homes Standard. These 2020 changes aim to improve the environment by cutting carbon emissions in new homes by almost a third, while keeping household bills low. The Future Homes Standard consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-homes-standard-changes-to-part-l-and-part-f-of-the-building-regulations-for-new-dwellings.

House building allocations are not set by Government, it is for local authorities to do so through their own plan making process.

The draft revised National Planning Policy Framework proposes to introduce a number of measures that will make plan making easier, cheaper and more transparent. We intend to publish the final version of the revised Framework this summer.

It is for the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, which is independent of government, to develop sentencing guidelines and monitor their use.

The Theft guideline and evaluation are available here: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications?s&topic=theft-offences

A range of options are being considered by HMCTS Officials. These include the provision of hearings in Chichester in both local authority and HMCTS owned buildings, and the use of the nearby Havant Justice Centre. It is anticipated that the decision regarding alternative provision for Chichester will be made by the HMCTS Property Board in December.

Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Officials are assessing options for the provision of suitable alternative court provision for Chichester and a decision on the options will be made in due course. Chichester Combined Court remains open and will not close until this provision is in place.