Jackie Doyle-Price

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Four million homes in Great Britain were estimated to be without mains gas in 2018; fourteen percent of all homes. These are the latest figures available.

Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sub-national-estimates-of-households-not-connected-to-the-gas-network

The Proud Trust received funding through the 2017/18 round of the Tampon Tax Fund. DCMS has grant agreements with all successful Tampon Tax Fund applicants which require organisations to deliver the projects in compliance with the aim of the Fund which is to support disadvantaged women and girls. DCMS maintain close relationships with their grant recipients, including regular scrutiny of their progress against grant agreements. The Proud Trust is required to report on the activities, outcomes and finances of the project funded through the Tampon Tax Fund as part of their grant agreement.

Details of successful applicants to the Tampon Tax Fund since the 2017/18 round of funding are publicly available on gov.uk. The government grants register also provides information regarding grant awards made by government departments.

The Tampon Tax Fund provides funding to organisations and projects that support disadvantaged women and girls. Applications to the Tampon Tax Fund must detail how a project will do this. DCMS has grant agreements with all successful applicants which require the project to deliver in line with this commitment, including when delivering any onward grant funding. DCMS maintain close relationships with their grant recipients, including regular assessment of their progress against grant agreements.

There have been 12 Thames Barrier Flood Defence Closures since January 2017. The table below shows how these have fallen over the following months.

There have been 46 Thames Barrier Closures in total since January 2017. This includes monthly test closures and flood defence closures. A table showing the monthly breakdown is below:

Details on emissions of particulate matter (PM) by fuel type are not available for the latest year’s emissions inventory (first published 14 February 2020). This information will be available later in the spring via the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory website. Levels and trends in annual emissions of particulate matter in the UK are available from the National Statistics on emissions of air pollutants. These can be found at the following URL:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/emissions-of-air-pollutants

Data from the previous year’s inventory (published in 2019) indicate that approximately 3% of all PM_2.5 emissions and 2% of all PM₁₀ emissions in the UK were attributed to the domestic burning of coal in 2017. This equates to 3.3 kilotons and 3.4 kilotons of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ emitted from domestic coal combustion in 2017, respectively. These figures include the burning of anthracite which is coal with a high carbon content.

As stated in the Government Response published on 21 February, we want to see a move from bituminous coal to less polluting fuels in the domestic setting. We will facilitate this transition by only allowing the sale of smokeless coal (or anthracite) and low sulphur manufactured solid fuels for the purpose of domestic combustion.

The UK is extremely concerned that the COVID-19 outbreak in Yemen is further exacerbating what is already the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. We assess Yemen to be particularly vulnerable due to the country’s existing health vulnerabilities and depleted healthcare system, which is starting to collapse under the strain of COVID-19.

The UK is helping to alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 in Yemen through the £160 million funding pledge I announced at the UN’s Yemen Pledging Conference on 2 June. We expect this funding to provide over 700,000 medical consultations, train 12,000 healthcare workers to work safely in a COVID-19 environment and provide a much-needed boost to nearly 4,000 health centres to continue providing existing health services.

We are also closely engaging with the Yemeni authorities to press for unhindered access for COVID-19 related supplies and personnel to ensure an effective national response.

The UK’s £160 million pledge at the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Pledging Conference was the third largest in the world and brings our total commitment to Yemen to £970 million since the conflict started in 2015.

This funding will be delivered through partners including UN agencies, NGOs and the Yemeni Social Fund for Development, a national development institution that will be critical to Yemen’s future recovery.

We have already disbursed 32% of our £160 million pledge and will continue to provide funding to our partners to ensure they are able to deliver assistance through the year.

My Department engages regularly with the devolved administrations on the UK-wide restart of the cruise sector through monthly official-led cruise restart meetings. We seek an aligned UK-wide approach wherever possible on international travel. We continue to work closely with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland Executive to put in place clear rules and guidance to help keep people safe.

My Department engages regularly with the devolved administrations on the UK-wide restart of the cruise sector through monthly official-led cruise restart meetings. We seek an aligned UK-wide approach wherever possible on international travel. We continue to work closely with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and Northern Ireland Executive to put in place clear rules and guidance to help keep people safe.

The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report confirms that international cruises will restart alongside the wider restart of international travel in line with the “traffic light” system. Operators will need to take account of the country traffic light system when planning itineraries. The restart of international cruises will be subject to continued satisfactory evidence from domestic restart and cruising in other countries. This will be considered at each of the GTT checkpoint reviews, with the next taking place on 28 June. International restart is also subject to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the UK government and industry covering the cost and liabilities of repatriation.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice is a separate matter for the Foreign Secretary. My officials and I continue to work closely with the cruise industry, the FCDO, UK Health Security Agency and across Government to ensure a safe restart of international cruises from the UK.

The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report confirms that international cruises will restart alongside the wider restart of international travel in line with the “traffic light” system. Operators will need to take account of the country traffic light system when planning itineraries. The restart of international cruises will be subject to continued satisfactory evidence from domestic restart and cruising in other countries. This will be considered at each of the GTT checkpoint reviews, with the next taking place on 28 June. International restart is also subject to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the UK government and industry covering the cost and liabilities of repatriation.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice is a separate matter for the Foreign Secretary. My officials and I continue to work closely with the cruise industry, the FCDO, UK Health Security Agency and across Government to ensure a safe restart of international cruises from the UK.

The Global Travel Taskforce (GTT) report confirms that international cruises will restart alongside the wider restart of international travel in line with the “traffic light” system. Operators will need to take account of the country traffic light system when planning itineraries. The restart of international cruises will be subject to continued satisfactory evidence from domestic restart and cruising in other countries. This will be considered at each of the GTT checkpoint reviews, with the next taking place on 28 June. International restart is also subject to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the UK government and industry covering the cost and liabilities of repatriation.

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) travel advice is a separate matter for the Foreign Secretary. My officials and I continue to work closely with the cruise industry, the FCDO, UK Health Security Agency and across Government to ensure a safe restart of international cruises from the UK.

The information requested is available in the benefit expenditure and caseload tables produced by the department. The latest tables produced at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here.

Total housing benefit expenditure can be found on rows 4 and 66 of the housing benefits tab.

The number of households in receipt of housing benefit can be found on row 127 of the housing benefits tab.

The information requested is available in the benefit expenditure and caseload tables produced by the department. The latest tables produced at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here.

Total housing benefit expenditure can be found on rows 4 and 66 of the housing benefits tab.

The number of households in receipt of housing benefit can be found on row 127 of the housing benefits tab.

We expect the report to be published by the end of February 2024.

Generally, patients from ethnic minority backgrounds on the transplant waiting list, wait longer than white patients for a transplant. For example, black patients wait six months longer for a kidney transplant than white patients. The best chance of a match is from an ethnically matched donor. Therefore, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is focussed on sharing the benefits of transplantation more equally and increasing consent levels for organ donation amongst ethnic minority communities.

NHSBT raises awareness throughout the year, including during Organ Donation Week every September, with targeted social media, and press engagement. It also works with charities, community partners, celebrities, and influencers to amplify the need for donors from ethnic minority backgrounds. Since April 2023, NHSBT has invested £700,000 into 304 initiatives through the Community Grants Programme, targeting South Asian and black heritage communities, to align with clinical need.

NHSBT is looking at systems as well as training and diversifying the network of Specialist Nurses and implementing national organ offering schemes, which play a key role in targeting inequalities. But more progress is needed, and everyone can help by signing up to the Organ Donor Register.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) provides funds to organisations via two routes, the Community Grants Programme and special project grants. Both funds complement and enhance NHSBT’s integrated marketing approach and are focused raising awareness, building trust with specific communities, and overcoming barriers to donation.

Since April 2023, The Community Grants Programme has provided around £700,000 of funding to 50 groups resulting in 304 initiatives, 134 events, 99 social media campaigns and 26 press and radio campaigns. The Community Grants Programme has contributed to increases in new Black heritage blood donors, increasing from 1% of new donors being from Black heritage backgrounds to 6% now. Overall, there was an increase from 31% to 48% of non-donors across ethnic backgrounds saying they would donate blood in July 2023.

NHS Blood and Transplant’s evaluation of opt-out legislation in England observed a consent rate of 61% which was lower than the predicted post opt-out legislation consent rate of 78%. The study to evaluate the impact of opt-out legislation in England was designed before the COVID-19 pandemic and opt-out legislation in England was implemented on 20 May 2020 during the height of the first COVID-19 lockdown. Deceased donation numbers dropped 25% during the pandemic period and have yet to fully recover. It is acknowledged that, as the legislation coincided with COVID-19, it may never be possible to distinguish the true impact of opt-out legislation due to the impact of COVID-19 on organ donation.

NHS England’s Operational Planning Guidance for 2023/24 recognises the importance of improving the completeness of data on patient characteristics. This is one of the five strategic priorities in our drive to reduce healthcare inequalities. NHS England has therefore asked systems to continue to improve the collection and recording of ethnicity data across primary care, outpatients, accident and emergency, mental health, community services, and specialised commissioning. To aid this, NHS England is working to develop tools to support collection of ethnicity information in frontline services.

The FCDO and Department for Transport have proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with cruise operators to ensure there is a clear understanding of the responsibilities of both operators and government should repatriation of cruise passengers be required. Discussions between the cruise industry and government are nearing completion. An agreed MoU is one aspect of the conditions required for the safe restart of international cruising. Travel advice for cruises will continue to be informed by the latest public health risk assessments.

The FCDO remains fully committed to working closely with the Department for Transport and industry following the publication of the second Global Travel Taskforce report. International cruises are expected to restart alongside the wider restart of international travel, in line with the "traffic light" system. This will be subject to continued satisfactory evidence from the domestic restart and cruising in other countries. Travel advice for cruises will continue to be informed by the latest public health risk assessments.

The FCDO advises against ocean cruising based on medical risk assessments by public health officials. We keep this advice under continuous review.

The FCDO remains fully committed to working closely with public health experts, the Department for Transport and key industry leaders to agree on the steps required to restart cruises safely.

The Home Office does not issue guidance on the recording of sex or gender to police forces.

It is down to individual police forces and the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College for policing to make decisions on how this information is captured.