Jack Lopresti

Our National Cyber Strategy sets out how we will ensure that the UK remains a leading democratic cyber power, one that is more resilient to and is able to counter cyber threats.

Our Government Cyber Security Strategy (GCSS) will ensure that all government organisations across the whole public sector are resilient to cyber attack.

Both of these strategies are supported by £2.6 billion of taxpayer’s money over the next three years.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 144853 on 1 February 2021.

Apprenticeships in Cabinet Office can be started at levels intermediate, advanced, higher and degree.

Overall apprenticeship starts in the Cabinet Office in England were as follows in each of the last three years.

Please note that we are awaiting finalised data for the period January-March 2018.

Note that apprentice starts outside England were

With the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in May 2017 our trajectory assumes slower growth at the beginning with starts increasing over time. This allows the necessary infrastructure to be put in place to ensure high quality apprenticeships are offered. The Cabinet Office contributes to the Civil Service commitment to deliver 30,000 new apprenticeship starts by 2020 with over 10,000 starts already achieved.

The Cabinet Office recognises that apprenticeships are an effective means of employers developing their own talent and are a vital part of the Government’s plans to build a sustainable, balanced economy designed to extend opportunity to more young people. We are also contributing to the wider Government aims of tackling youth unemployment and inspiring young and ethnically-diverse people to see the Cabinet Office, and Civil Service, as an employer of choice.

Cabinet Office is working to the Civil Service Apprenticeship Strategy and is offering apprenticeship opportunities where possible at all levels. This will be via new recruitment and the conversion of existing staff.

The current Government Estate Strategy sets out the Government's vision to create an efficient, fit-for-purpose and sustainable estate whose performance matches the best of the private sector. As a Government we are delivering this vision, ensuring that the estate is fit for purpose, is frequently reviewed and aligned to the Estate Strategy, and is managed in an efficient and effective way.

The current landholdings of the Cabinet Office are shown in the table below. This does not include land previously identified as surplus that has now been disposed. The information is correct at time of publication.

Of the total land the Cabinet Office holds in England, 24,609 sq m is currently declared as surplus. These figures include agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

Note: We have interpreted this question to refer to freehold property only and “land” refers to building area as the Cabinet Office does not hold any land which is not occupied by an office building; measurements are therefore in square meters rather than hectares.

Published in October 2021, the Net Zero Strategy sets out policies and proposals for decarbonising all sectors of the UK economy, including the aerospace sector, to meet our net zero target by 2050, keep the UK on track for meeting carbon budgets, to deliver our Nationally Determined Contribution by 2030.

In line with the Net Zero Strategy and the Government’s COP26 commitments on the UK’s transition to net zero, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer extended the funding to the Aerospace Technology Institute programme from 2026 to 2031 as part of the most recent Spending Review.

In the Net Zero Strategy, the Government set out its plans for working with industry to develop a skilled workforce and enable workers, industries, and places to transition to a net zero economy. The policies set out in the Net Zero Strategy represent a first step in addressing the challenges and opportunities identified by the Green Jobs Taskforce.

This includes delivering a Lifetime Skills Guarantee and growing key post-16 training programmes (such as apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps and T levels) in line with the needs of employers.

In order to drive this agenda, the Government has announced a cross-cutting delivery group to include representatives from across different government departments, industry, the skills sector and other key stakeholders, maintaining the momentum generated by the Taskforce to drive action across the green skills agenda. The Government will set out further details in due course.

The South West of England is home to a large cluster of the UK’s leading aerospace businesses. Its contribution to environmental sustainability of the aerospace industry is therefore significant. My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently launched a new Airbus wing technology centre (AIRTeC) as part of its Wing of Tomorrow programme. This centre and research undertaken by companies such as GKN and Rolls-Royce will keep the South West at the forefront of the global move towards cleaner aviation.

As part of my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the Government is investing in future green aviation across the whole of the UK. in order to accelerate this work, we have created a Jet Zero Council which brings together stakeholders spanning airlines, airports, aerospace manufacturers, fuel suppliers, academia, and environmental groups.

The Government is monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on the work of medical research charities through regular discussions on charity-funded research with the Association of Medical Research Charities.

We know the pandemic has been a challenging time for fundraising and we will continue to engage with the Association of Medical Research Charities on the challenges they are facing.

The Government has demonstrated its ambitions for research by committing £14.6bn to R&D in 2021/22. This funding will support the life sciences sector within which medical research charities operate alongside other research areas.

The Government remains in dialogue with industry and overseas governments about the potential benefits, practicalities, and implications of an aircraft scrappage scheme.

This is a matter for Ofcom as the UK’s independent competition regulator for telecoms. However, in general, the UK has a competitive Internet Service Provider (ISP) market as a result of the work that Ofcom has done to promote competition at the retail level by providing regulated access to BT Openreach’s national broadband network.

The Government is also working with Ofcom to promote greater competition at a network level, as this is one of the key ways to meet our ambition for nationwide coverage of faster and more resilient gigabit broadband networks as soon as possible.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport offers apprenticeships at all levels for each standard through our external suppliers, Babington Group and Civil Service Learning. The levels and number of apprenticeship starts are broken down by financial year in the tables below:

15/16

16/17

17/18

The Department is committed to a target of 2.3% 1,300 which equates to approximately 30 apprentices for the 2018/2019 financial period. The target will remain the same for 2019/2020. We are taking the following actions to ensure we meet this target:

• We have updated our strategic approach to apprenticeships and will be investing in proactive “marketing” of the offer to shift perceptions.
• We have developed a “convert to apprenticeship” programme for employees as part of our development offer for existing staff.
• We have revised the approach to resourcing so that specific appointments will be targeted to undertake an apprenticeship in their role.
• We have appointed a new provider who will support us to deliver leadership and management apprenticeships

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport currently holds 0.07 hectares of land in England that is designated as surplus, none of which are in the South West of England. This does not include land previously identified as surplus that has now been disposed. This figure also includes agencies and non-departmental public bodies.

These surplus assets are in the process of being disposed of in line with the Government Estates Strategy.

Details of the department's surplus land holdings are published on the register of surplus land: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/epimstransparency

The government is very aware of the challenges we face in our aim for net zero and is committed to supporting green skills across the country.

The department aims to reform the skills system so that training providers, employers and learners are incentivised and equipped to play their part in delivering the transition to net zero. This is demonstrated in our recent publication of the Net Zero Strategy, published in October 2021.

Building on the Skills for Jobs White Paper, the Net Zero Strategy sets out how our skills reforms will strengthen links between employers and providers, support workers in high carbon sectors with the transition, and help to build a pipeline of future talent.

At the recent Spending Review, we set out investment of £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the course of the parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical and skilled education our economy needs. This includes funding for programmes in green sectors crucial to the net zero transition.

Through the National Skills Fund investment, we are delivering skills bootcamps, which are short, flexible courses covering digital, technical, and green skills. Green skills bootcamps are available in areas such as housing retrofit, solar, nuclear energy and vehicle electrification. Several fully funded level 3 qualifications included in the free courses for jobs offer can support learners into green jobs. For example, we have included technical qualifications in engineering and construction.

We have also increased future funding for apprenticeships, where there are a growing number of standards supporting green and low carbon sectors such as the energy supply industry, agriculture and recycling. The department will continue to ensure that the existing skills programmes can be directed to support the net zero agenda and help to identify where the evidence tells us we might need to go further or faster.

While there are no specific eligibility provisions for veterans within the Adult Education Budget, they do have the same rights to access educational and vocational qualifications as other individuals.

Residency eligibility criteria mean that an individual is required to have resided in England and have three-year ordinary residency in the UK and/or European Economic Area, depending on their nationality. Armed forces personnel and their family members posted outside the UK are classed as ordinarily resident in the UK and, where relevant, this may contribute towards the three years ordinary residency requirement, provided they are now residing in England and the learning is taking place in England.

Individuals who meet the residency eligibility criteria can access provision including fully funded courses in English and maths, for adults who need to improve their literacy and numeracy, fully funded first full Level 2 and/or Level 3 for learners aged 19 to 23 and fully funded specified digital skills qualifications for adults with no/low digital skills.

They will also be able to access a range of provision funded through the National Skills Fund:

• We will invest £95 million from the National Skills Fund to support all adults to achieve their first full Level 3 qualification, which is equivalent to an advanced technical certificate or diploma, or two full A-Levels. Currently, adults between the ages of 19 to 23 are eligible for full funding for their first full Level 3. This offer will ensure that adults aged 24 and over are now able to access their first full, fully funded, Level 3 qualification.
• We will target this Level 3 adult offer on sector subject areas that have strong outcomes at Level 3 linked to labour market need. The offer includes a range of qualifications that are valuable across the economy in multiple sectors, for example, digital skills, accountancy and business skills. This forms part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee and provides adults, including veterans, with an opportunity to gain these qualifications at any stage of their lives.
• Complementing the Level 3 adult offer, Skills Bootcamps offer free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with a local employer. Skills Bootcamps will address the needs of adults aged 19 and over, providing them with opportunities to retrain, update or formalise their skills or acquire specialist skills.

During periods of national lockdown, education settings have remained open to vulnerable children and young people, including those with education, health and care plans. The guidance for the full opening of schools is clear that all children and young people, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), should return to education settings full-time from Monday 8 March. Where it is not possible for a child or young person with SEND to attend their education setting during this period, there is a legal duty on schools and colleges to use their best endeavours to meet the educational needs of their pupils or students. Discussions should be collaborative, focusing on the welfare and views of the child or young person and their parents.

To support remote learning, the department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the 2019-20 academic year and the 2020-21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception to year 11. This includes specialist content for pupils with SEND, along with therapy-based lessons and resources.

Whilst inspection activity has been paused, Ofsted is conducting monitoring inspections of inadequate schools and some that require improvement. These include a focus on support for pupils with SEND, whether they are in school or being educated at home.

The government has announced further elements of the recovery support package so that children and young people can catch up on missed learning and development due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This will be supported with a new £700 million package, focusing on an expansion of one-to-one and small group tutoring programmes, as well as supporting the development of disadvantaged children in early years settings, and summer provision for those pupils who need it the most. These measures will build on the existing £1 billion support package, which includes a £650 million catch-up premium directly allocated to schools, with additional weighting for specialist settings, recognising the significantly higher per-pupil costs that they face. Headteachers decide how this premium is spent (for example, on educational psychologists, speech and language therapy or other activities to support children to catch-up).

We have put major funding investments into education, including increasing high needs funding for local authorities by £780 million this year and a further £730 million next year, boosting the total budget to more than £8 billion in 2021-22. Local authorities have been allocated a further £4.6 billion to help their communities through the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major COVID-19 service pressures in their local area, including support to children’s services.

Through the SEND review, we are committed to ensuring the SEND system is consistent, high quality, and integrated across education, health and care. It is also considering measures to make sure that money is being spent fairly, efficiently and effectively, and that the support available to children and young people is sustainable in the future.

The government is aware of the disproportionate impact the crisis will have on some students.

We are making available an additional £50 million of hardship funding this financial year. In total we have made £70 million of funding available for student hardship given the £20 million made available to higher education providers in December 2020.

Providers will have flexibility in how they distribute the funding to students, in a way that will best prioritise those in greatest need. The funding can be distributed to a wide population of students, including postgraduates (whether taught or research) and international students.

This money is in addition to the £256 million of Student Premium funding higher education providers are able draw on this academic year towards student hardship funds.

We know that not all students will face financial hardship. The current measures aim to target support for students in greatest need and the government continues to monitor the situation going forward to look at what impact this funding is having.

On 13 January 2021, I wrote to the Office for Students, the regulator for higher education providers in England and outlined government expectations of the higher education sector. Universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and seek to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have the resources to study remotely.

Given the critical importance of ensuring that all children and young people continue to learn during the national lockdown, the Department updated our remote education expectations for schools and FE colleges to clarify and strengthen what is expected, drawing on our evolving understanding of best practice in remote education.

To support disadvantaged children and young people with access to remote education and online social care, the Government is investing over £400 million. We have secured 1.3 million laptops and tablets and have already delivered over 1.2 million of these to schools, colleges, academy trusts, local authorities, and further education colleges to support disadvantaged children and young people who would not otherwise have access to a digital device.

The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online, as well as delivering over 70,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.

The Department has also made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20, and then for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. Specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities is also available. Four major mobile network operators - Vodafone, O2, Three and EE - have also committed to working together to make access to Oak National Academy free for school children.

The BBC has adapted their education support for the spring term 2021 and is making educational content available on the television. This helps to ensure all children and young people can access curriculum based learning from home, even if they do not have access to the internet. To support this, BT and EE have made access to BBC Bitesize resources for free from the end of January 2021.

In addition, the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) provides additional, targeted support for disadvantaged pupils to catch-up on missed learning. The NTP provides access to high-quality tuition for disadvantaged pupils, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackling the attainment gap between them and their peers.

We understand the challenges faced by zoos and aquariums during these unprecedented times. We also appreciate the significant opportunities zoos can provide for the public to access well managed and controlled outdoor spaces, and the potential to improve general wellbeing.

However, the Government has taken the decision that zoos and aquariums should not yet reopen, and the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 1 June, provide greater clarity and certainty on this. While each individual attraction can be made safer, it’s vital that we do not move too quickly in reopening to ensure public health is protected.

We are continuing to work with the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) to understand how we can reopen zoos in a safe way as soon as possible with social distancing measures in place.

The food industry has responded quickly and impressively to the significant changes in demand that we have seen over the past weeks. This has ensured supply into stores and people’s homes across the country and has demonstrated that the supply chain remains resilient.

To help industry, the Government has introduced several regulatory easements to keep food supply flowing. These include asking local authorities to show flexibility to allow extended delivery hours and flexing rules on drivers’ hours to allow a higher frequency of deliveries to stores.

More generally, this Government was elected on a manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. The UK's growing reputation for quality food and drink, with high standards of food safety, animal welfare and sustainability, serves as an excellent platform to increase demand for our products still further.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the 2006 Act), local authorities, together with the police and officers of the Animal & Plant Health Agency, already have powers to investigate cases of poor welfare or animal cruelty, including cases of inappropriate tethering.

Tethering can be a useful equine temporary management tool when it is used appropriately. To assist horse owners and keepers as well as inspectors there is a the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and Their Hybrids (the Code) which provides information on how to meet the welfare needs of horses, as required under the 2006 Act. The Code contains specific information on how to tether a horse appropriately without being breach of the 2006 Act.

Local authorities are able to make decisions based on local needs and resource priorities and the local arrangements that work best for them. Therefore, I consider that this legislation and guidance provides the right safeguards and powers in respect of horse tethering. However, we will continue to engage with key stakeholders to see if more can be done to spread best practice among horse owners as well as increased partnership working in order to tackle the issue of inappropriate horse tethering.

Defra currently offers apprenticeships ranging from Level 2 (Business Administration) through to a Level 7 qualification in Finance.

Since April 2016 there have been 79 apprenticeship starts in Defra, broken down against scheme level as follows:

2016/17

*3 at Level 4 and 1 at Level 5

2017/18

Data on apprentices was not held centrally in 2015 so we are unable to provide information for that year.

The current Government Estate Strategy sets out the Government's objective to deliver an effective approach to estates management. Defra follows the aims of that strategy.

The current landholdings of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are shown in the table below. This does not include land previously identified as surplus that has now been disposed of. The information is correct at time of publication.

Of the total land the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs holds in England, 280.29 hectares is currently declared as surplus. These figures include three non-departmental public bodies – Environment Agency, Natural England National Nature Reserve estate and Kew Gardens. Land and buildings used by Defra’s Agencies are held by Defra and are reported under the Defra return.

The Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) offers Level 3 and Level 4 Apprenticeships.

In total, DExEU has had 19 Level 4 Apprentices start through the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Programme; and two Level 3 Apprentices. From the time DExEU was formed this equates to four starts in 2016, and 17 in 2017, of which:

• 2016: Four Level 4 Apprentices

• 2017: 15 Level 4 Apprentices and 2 Level 3 Apprentices.

Through apprenticeships, the Civil Service aims to enhance diversity and improve social mobility; strengthen the skills base of our current and prospective workforce; and provide high quality learning opportunities that are embedded into workforce planning and professional career paths.

The UK is supporting Iraq as it responds to the coronavirus outbreak. We have committed £16.9 million of funding to help combat coronavirus in Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This is helping to provide hospitals and primary care clinics with clean water, medication, soap and equipment. We are working closely with UN and INGO partners to help Iraq manage the pandemic whilst continuing to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including displaced people.

Since 2014, the UK has committed over £272 million in humanitarian support, and £110 million towards stabilisation efforts in Iraq, helping those who are most urgently in need following the conflict with Daesh.

During a recent ‘virtual visit’, the Secretary of State was inspired to meet young Iraqi entrepreneurs who are helping develop the Iraqi economy. The UK stands with Iraq as it responds to the coronavirus outbreak. We are working closely with UN and international partners to help Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, manage the pandemic whilst continuing to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, including displaced people living in camps.

The UK government is deeply concerned about the allegations of incitement in the Palestinian Authority’s school textbooks. The International Development Secretary reiterated our concerns in a call to the Palestinian Authority’s Education Minister just last month.

The UK has been at the forefront of international action to get to the bottom of the allegations. We funded work to develop the methodology for an independent textbook Review sponsored by our European partners. We expect an interim report in June, with a full report later in the year. The UK has regular discussions with our European partners on the Review. I have not had specific discussions with my Norwegian counterpart on this issue.

Following the UK’s calls for international action, an EU sponsored independent review of Palestinian textbooks is currently underway. We understand that an interim report will be completed in Spring 2020 with the full report due later this year. The Development Secretary made it clear that incitement in education is unacceptable when she spoke with the PA Education Minister last week and she held him to account on progress to remove hateful content.

The UK recognises the UN Relief and Works Agency’s (UNWRA) unique mandate to support Palestinian refugees until a lasting political settlement is reached which determines their final status. Until that time, the UK will continue to meet humanitarian need and promote regional security by supporting the 5 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East through UNRWA. Our contribution to UNRWA last year helped provide education to more than 530,000 children (half girls), health services for over 3 million people, and social assistance for over 250,000 of the most vulnerable people.

Students in all UNRWA schools are taught the curriculum of their host country. UNRWA reviews host country textbooks and when problematic material is identified, develops alternative content and provides its teachers with support to ensure that the lessons taught in its schools promote tolerance and peace. The International Development Secretary spoke to the Palestinian Minister of Education in February to emphasise this point and encourage the Palestinian Authority to remove all inappropriate material from textbooks.