Helen Grant

Paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May states:

“By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code [updated on 6 November 2024]. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”

This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention and it applies to your question.

Network congestion, hills, buildings, trees, and the distance from the mobile mast can impact on a consumer’s experience of 5G outdoors and the material construction of properties can additionally affect indoor connectivity.

According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 98% of premises in the Maidstone and Malling constituency can already access superfast broadband speeds (>=30 Mbps) and over 88% have access to a gigabit-capable (>1000 Mbps) connection.

The information that broadband suppliers share with Building Digital UK (BDUK) indicates that there is significant further commercial rollout planned in the area. Remaining premises that are unlikely to be reached by suppliers’ commercial plans will be considered for support through Project Gigabit.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 85% of UK premises are now able to access a gigabit-capable broadband connection.

As of February 2024, over 1 million premises had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes. In total, 36 Project Gigabit contracts have now been signed, to bring fast, reliable broadband to over 1 million more homes and businesses, with more contracts to be awarded in the coming months.

Government wants all areas of the UK to benefit from mobile connectivity.

Ofcom’s reporting shows that 92% of the pre-boundary change constituency area has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators, and that basic (non-standalone) 5G is available from at least one mobile operator outside 99% of premises.

I am aware that Ofcom’s data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks. I recently wrote to Ofcom, asking them to set out steps to improve their reporting.

Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition.

The Government is acting to support more people in getting onto the pitch wherever they live via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, which is investing £123 million UK-wide throughout 2024/25. This will ensure that everyone, regardless of background, has access to and benefits from quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

The Programme’s aim is to provide a multi-sport benefit with up to 40% of funded projects supporting at least one other sport on a sustainable and regular basis. Our delivery partner for the programme in England, the Football Foundation, works closely with Sport England and the respective National Governing Bodies of other sports to encourage development of multi-sport projects and promote collaboration between clubs at local level. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, our delivery partners are the Scottish Football Association, Cymru Football Foundation and Irish Football Association, who each work with applicants to ensure that there is a multi-sport offering in various projects.

Between 2021 and 2024, Sport England and delivery partners in other parts of the UK invested £204 million into Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities, providing new and upgraded pitches and facilities.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England. They invest £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year.

The Football Association will receive up to £26.1 million from Sport England between 2022 and 2027.

DCMS is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care as it implements the restrictions on advertisements for less healthy food and drink which are due to come into force in October next year.

The impact of the policy on DCMS sectors was assessed as part of the impact assessment completed by the previous Government. The full impact assessment can be found on GOV.UK.

This autumn.

The Football Governance Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 24 October 2024. I look forward to working across the House in due course to progress the Bill through Parliament and ensure we deliver on much needed regulation for the game.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The department wants to drive a consistent and inclusive approach to supporting children and young people with SEND through early identification, effective support, high quality teaching and effective allocation of resources.

High quality teaching is central to ensuring that pupils with SEND are given the best possible opportunity to achieve in their education. To support all teachers, we are implementing a range of teacher training reforms to ensure teachers have the skills to support all pupils to succeed, including those with SEND.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). The NPQ will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high quality, evidence-based training. This is crucial given the central role SENCOs play in supporting pupils with SEND.

A new Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework is due to be implemented from September 2025, which contains significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND, including, developing an understanding of different pupil needs and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils.

The availability of training and career progression opportunities for teaching assistants helps ensure schools have the skilled staff they need to deliver high quality education. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has recently approved a new Level 5 Specialist Teaching Assistant apprenticeship, allowing teaching assistants to specialise in one of three areas: SEND, social and emotional wellbeing or curriculum provision. The apprenticeship will be available for candidates to undertake in 2025.

In addition, assistive technology (AT) can break down barriers to opportunity for students with SEND. The department is broadening the effective use of AT for teachers through research, training and guidance.

The department recognises the financial pressures on local authorities due to rising costs in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. The Core Schools Budget Grant will provide over £140 million in additional funding for special and alternative provision schools in 2024/25 to cover increased costs from teachers' pay and support staff negotiations. This is in addition to the £10.75 billion allocated this year for high needs funding and teacher-related costs.

The department’ budget for the 2025/26 financial year is still under review, with funding allocations dependent on the upcoming Spending Review in October. The department recognises the delay and will announce allocations as soon as possible. We are acutely aware not only of the financial pressures that local authorities are facing due to the increasing cost of supporting young people with complex needs but also of the pressures on the government as a whole due to the financial situation it has inherited.

Mainstream schools have a statutory duty to use their best endeavours to ensure that provision for pupils with special educational needs (SEN), such as dyslexia, is made for those who need it. Guidance on this duty is set out in the special educational needs and disability (SEND) code of practice. Schools should involve pupils and their parents throughout this cycle.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

The government will be focusing on a community-wide approach, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, and I will work with families and education and care experts to deliver this in the best interests of all children.

We are listening to the sector to ensure their views are heard. We have met with a range of farming stakeholders over the past weeks, including the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), and the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA), and has meetings planned with trade associations in the coming weeks.

The Secretary of State Steve Reed met with NFU President Tom Bradshaw to clarify changes in the Budget. We have also met with NFU, TFA and CLA representatives and recently attended the Eggs and Poultry Industry Conference as part of ongoing engagement with the sector.

The Secretary of State spoke at the CLA’s annual conference on 21 November to hear from farmers directly. His speech can be found here.

Minister Zeichner recently attended and spoke at Northern Farming Conference, the Eggs and Poultry Industry Conference, the Agricultural Industries Confederation Conference, The Tenant Farmers Association Executive Committee and the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution’s parliamentary reception.

We will continue to listen to farmers’ concerns to ensure their views are heard.

Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are currently being prepared across England. They will identify and prioritise actions and areas for nature recovery and nature-based solutions. The first strategies are expected this autumn with the remainder following in the first half of 2025.

In July, the Secretary of State announced a rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan to ensure it is fit for purpose to deliver our legally binding environmental targets. Defra is working with stakeholders to undertake this review, including looking at the role of, and support for, LNRSs in its delivery.

It is evident that the previous Government failed to protect and restore nature. The previous Environment Improvement Plan did not focus enough on delivery of our Environment Act targets and as a result nature is in crisis.

Biodiversity net gain requires most planning applications to deliver a 10% increase in biodiversity compared to what was there before. The biodiversity to be delivered is calculated using the biodiversity metric, developed by Natural England together with stakeholders over a period of many years, drawing on the best science available.

By applying the biodiversity metric to all eligible development sites, we will make sure that the right habitat creation and enhancement takes place to both compensate for what has been lost and deliver a gain.

The metric also rewards biodiversity actions taken in line with Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs), incentivising the right actions to be taken in the right places as LNRSs are brought forward across England.

This Government has set out its intention to deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, and working in partnership with civil society, communities and business to restore and protect our natural world.

Wilding or rewilding is the restoration of ecosystems to the point where they are more regulated by natural processes. This Government is supporting a number of initiatives to create wilder landscapes across England, as part of a broader approach to nature recovery. Rewilding is not appropriate in all situations, and we must balance priorities including food production.

One of the ways this Government is supporting wilder landscapes and wildlife-rich habitat is through Landscape Recovery (LR), one of Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. LR is for landowners and managers who want to take a large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land. It will facilitate and fund ambitious projects through bespoke, 20+ year agreements. LR supports objectives such as restoring ecological or hydrological function across a landscape, peatland restoration, woodland management, or habitat restoration.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to put water companies under tough special measures by strengthening regulation and begin the work of cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.

As an immediate step, this Government will strengthen regulation to reverse the tide on the unacceptable destruction of our waterways, ensuring water companies deliver for customers and the environment and attract private-sector investment to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure.

Change will take time. The Government will outline further legislation to fundamentally transform our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.

The Kent & Medway Resilience Forum (KMRF) is responsible for operational decision making on traffic management measures in response to disruption at Eurotunnel and/or the Port of Dover. The KMRF have well-practised tactical plans in place, including Operation Brock.

While these measures help to mitigate against the worst of any disruption, the Department still recognises the impact disruption has on local residents, businesses, hauliers, and passengers. Therefore, the Department is working with the KMRF and other local stakeholders to continually improve how traffic management plans operate.

Utility companies have a right to access the public road network to repair and maintain the services on which we all rely, as well as to meet the requirements of regulators, for example, to restore services to customers. Utility companies must send a permit to the relevant local highway authority within 2 hours of being on-site and the authority can assess and agree the necessary duration of the works with the company to ensure disruption to road users is minimised. National Highways operate their own arrangements for agreeing access for utility companies to the strategic road network.

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives (including partners) or friends. We are determined to give family carers the help and support they need and deserve.

Research published in 2024 estimated that around 1 in 4 carers receiving Carer’s Allowance are caring for their partner. Unpaid carers may be able to receive financial support from the department depending on their circumstances. Carer’s Allowance provides a measure of financial support and recognition for people who are not able to work full time due to their caring responsibilities. The rate of Carer’s Allowance is £81.90 a week in 2024/25, and from April 2025 this will increase by 1.7%.

In addition to Carer’s Allowance, carers on low incomes can claim income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit and Pension Credit. These benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the carer element and the additional amount for carers respectively. Currently, the Universal Credit carer element is £198.31 per monthly assessment period. The additional amount for a carer in Pension Credit is £45.60 a week.

Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.

The State Pension is the foundation of income in retirement and will remain so protecting 12 million pensioners through the triple lock. Based on current forecasts, the full rate of the new state pension is set to increase by £1,700 over the course of this Parliament.

We are also providing support for pensioners through our Warm Homes Plan which will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.

The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.  An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme.

In making its decision on Winter Fuel Payment eligibility, the Government had regard to an equality analysis in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty requirements. The equality analysis was published on Friday 13th September, and can be found here: GOV.UK.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of most children’s therapy services and equipment services in the National Health Service. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for children and young people are specialised services, and are commissioned by NHS England.

NHS England is working to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes co-producing a wheelchair quality framework with key stakeholders and people with lived experience. It is due to be published by the end of 2024/25 and will set out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets.

NHS England will shortly publish a revised service specification, Amputee Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Services for People of All Ages with Limb Loss and Limb Difference. The revised specification ensures greater emphasis on children and young people being seen with an age-appropriate setting, with greater collaboration between the young person’s acute and rehabilitation teams.

In relation to AAC services, NHS England is reviewing the current service specification, and it is anticipated that the revised service specification will be published in spring 2025.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population. NHS England Specialised Commissioning commissions complex disability equipment services, including communication aids, environmental controls, and prosthetics.

We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, the NICE published the guidance Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng213/chapter/Recommendations-on-service-organisation-integration-and-commissioning

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for ICBs to have an Executive Lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the Chief Executive and the board in ensuring the ICB performs its functions effectively, in the interests of children and young people with SEND.

Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children, which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/669e7501ab418ab055592a7b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2023.pdf

Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different organisations in meeting the needs of children with SEND can be found in the SEND Code of Practice, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Any form of elder abuse or neglect is unacceptable.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to investigate safeguarding concerns under the Care Act 2014. The statutory guidance of the Care Act 2014 makes it clear that local authorities must ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective, and of high quality. Since April 2023, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has had a duty to assess local authorities’ delivery of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014.

The Department has taken a number of steps to help prevent foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines, published in 2016, provide clear advice to women not to drink alcohol if they are planning for a pregnancy or are pregnant, and are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80b7ed40f0b623026951db/UK_CMOs__report.pdf

The National Health Service website offers advice on the use of alcohol during pregnancy and sources of support, which includes speaking to a general practitioner, midwife, or local treatment service, or contacting the Government’s Talk to Frank website. Further information on the NHS website’s advice on the use of alcohol during pregnancy and sources of support, and the Government’s Talk to Frank website is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/drinking-alcohol-while-pregnant/

www.talktofrank.com/contact-frank

The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard in England (QS204) for FASD to help the health and care system improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FASD. The quality standard also covers support during pregnancy to improve awareness and prevent the disorder. It was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204

The Department will soon be publishing the first ever United Kingdom clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice and improve quality of service provision, resulting in better outcomes for people experiencing harmful drinking and alcohol dependence. The guidelines will set out how maternity, alcohol treatment, and other healthcare professionals should support women to reduce or stop their alcohol use as quickly and safely as possible, to reduce the ongoing exposure of the foetus to alcohol and the risk and severity of future disability.

To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance. On the impact on charities in particular, our tax regime for charities, including exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.

The Government is committed to a successful British Council that is financially stable. The Government recognises the value of the British Council as a UK soft power asset through its important work in promoting the English language, UK arts and culture and education. The Government remains committed to recovering the loan as soon as the British Council's finances allow. We are working closely with the British Council and HM Treasury on this issue.  FCDO will provide the British Council with £162.5 million Grant-in-Aid in 2024/25. Funding for 2025/26 will be announced in due course.

Education is critical to our vision for a world free from poverty on a liveable planet. Ensuring access to education in emergencies provides children with normality, protection and hope. Teachers are crucial to this, and supporting teachers underpins FCDO education policies and programmes. The UK is the second largest bilateral donor to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the global fund for education in emergencies. ECW recruited or financially supported 23,449 teachers in 2022-23 (45 percent women). ECW also provided psychosocial support for teachers in Afghanistan, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Syria and Uganda, to help them to continue to teach in the most difficult circumstances. The UK is working in partnership with the World Bank and UN Refugee Agency on a new programme, the Inclusion Support Programme for Refugee Education (INSPIRE), to unlock funding for host countries that are committed to including refugees within their own education systems. The programme works with teachers to address issues such as language of instruction, psychosocial support for children and teachers and negative stereotyping towards refugee children.

The UK Government prioritises reaching the most marginalised children with basic literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills, including through our 18 bilateral education programmes. Our centrally managed Scaling Access and Learning in Education and Data for Foundational Learning programmes will also transform the effectiveness of education spending in low- and lower middle-income countries and improve learning outcomes on literacy and numeracy. Our investment in the International Finance Facility for Education will unlock an additional $1 billion in education finance for lower middle-income country governments to invest in their reform agendas.

The UK is a top bilateral donor to the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait (ECW), both global funds delivering education in crisis settings. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary announced a doubling of UK aid for Sudan and neighbouring countries, including support for ECW to provide safe learning spaces and psychosocial support for 200,000 vulnerable children in refugee and host communities.

The VAT treatment of double cab pick-ups (DCPUs) has not changed. DCPUs are subject to the standard 20 per cent rate of VAT.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, following a Court of Appeal judgment, the Government will treat DCPUs with a payload of one tonne or more as cars for the purposes of Benefit in Kind and Capital Allowances taxation.

However, for VAT purposes, DCPUs with a payload of one tonne or more will continue to be classed as vans, meaning VAT-registered businesses will continue to be able to recover the VAT paid on them in line with normal VAT recovery rules. The definition of a motor car, and what does not constitute a car, for VAT purposes is set out in SI 1992/3122 – Value Added Tax (Cars) Order 1992.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) regularly publishes estimates, from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), on the proportion of women and girls who have been victims of crime. Information from the 2023/24 survey, for 16+ year olds and 10-15 year olds, and for previous years can be accessed in the annual demographic tables here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesannualtrendanddemographictables

Experiences of several crimes which are disproportionately experienced by women and girls are also covered by the CSEW in a separate self-completion section of the survey and presented separately by ONS. The latest prevalence estimates for domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking and harassment, for people aged 16 and over broken down by sex, are presented in the ONS Annual supplementary tables, which can be accessed here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesannualsupplementarytables

The Government’s definition of violence against women and girls (VAWG) covers violence and abuse which disproportionately, but not exclusively, affect women and girls. Crimes and behaviours include sexual offences, domestic abuse, stalking and harassment and can occur online, as well as offline. This is evidenced by prevalence data that shows women and girls are far more likely to experience these crimes.

We recognise the significant impact the theft of tools can have, especially on people who rely on these to earn a living.

We are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which aims to prevent the theft and re-sale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting.

The Act requires secondary legislation before it can come into effect. We will be carefully considering the views of those who may be affected by the legislation and its regulations, to understand the potential implications and determine the scope of the legislation.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets an expectation that the provision of local services is to be taken into account when planning for development.

Local development plans should address needs and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and identify what infrastructure is required and how it can be funded and brought forward. This will remain the case irrespective of whether any proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework or wider national planning policy are taken forward.

When preparing a Local Plan, Planning Practice Guidance recommends that local planning authorities use available evidence of infrastructure requirements to prepare an Infrastructure Funding Statement. Such Statements can be used to demonstrate the delivery of infrastructure throughout the plan-period.

The Government provides financial support for essential infrastructure in areas of greatest housing demand through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

The Government is also committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure that new developments provide appropriate affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.