Jake Berry

I refer the Hon. Member to the oral statement on the Corporate Governance Green Paper of 29 November 2016, Official Report, Column 1408.

Government departments do not publish details of the salary of their highest to lowest paid employees.

The Office for National Statistics do, however, publish the salary ratio of highest to median earners for each Civil Service organization. These ratios are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/civilservicestatistics/2016

The Office for National Statistics publish the salary ratio of highest to median earners for each Civil Service organization. These ratios are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/civilservicestatistics/2016

The latest gender pay gap data (published in October earlier this year) can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/civilservicestatistics/2016

DCMS also published the overall gender pay gap mean and median figures in the DCMS 2015/16 Annual Report and Accounts:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/538368/DCMS_Annual_Report_and_Accounts_2015-16__Print_Ready_Version_.pdf

In October 2015, the then Prime Minister announced that new gender pay gap reporting measures being introduced across the private and voluntary sector from April 2017 would be extended to also apply across the public sector. We are actively working to ensure the gender pay gap data we report in future fully mirrors these new requirements.

Apprenticeships are crucial in driving growth and social mobility. They boost skills across the economy and improve people's earnings and career opportunities nationwide. Since 2010, there have been 13,680 apprenticeship starts in the Rossendale and Darwen constituency, and we want to ensure that this number continues to grow.

The Accrington and Rossendale College offers high-quality apprenticeship training with a particular focus on the construction and automotive sectors. Blackburn College is supporting people to develop the skills and knowledge they need for a rewarding career in a variety of industries.

To continue this growth in starts, the government is increasing its investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25, encouraging more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices. The department has introduced flexible training models, such as flexi-job and accelerated apprenticeships, to make apprenticeships more accessible, and has improved the transfer system so that levy-payers can make better use of their funds. We are also supporting employers to access apprenticeships by reducing administrative burdens and cutting by a third the number of steps needed to register to take on an apprentice.

The department recognises the vital role that small to medium-sized employers (SMEs) play in creating apprenticeship opportunities. That is why we removed the limit on the number of apprentices that smaller employers can take on, making it easier for SMEs to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need.

We are also allocating an additional £40 million over the next two years to support degree apprenticeship providers to expand and help more people access this provision, on top of the £8 million investment in 2022/23.

We continue to promote apprenticeships to young people in schools and further education colleges across the country through our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, and UCAS will be expanding its service to allowing students to search for and apply to apprenticeships alongside degrees.

High needs funding for supporting children and young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England is increasing by a further £440 million, or 4.3%, in the 2024/25 financial year, which will bring the total high needs budget to £10.5 billion, an increase of over 60% from the 2019/20 high needs allocations. This funding will help local authorities and schools with the increasing costs of provision for these children and young people.

The department has recently announced provisional 2024/25 high needs allocations for local authorities. Funding is provided to local authorities rather than constituencies. Lancashire County Council’s allocation is £203 million, which is £10.5 million more than it will receive this year, an increase of 33% per head over the three years from 2021/22. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s allocation is £33 million, which is £1.3 million more than it will receive this year, an increase of 34% per head over the three years from 2021/22.

In March 2022, the department also announced High Needs Provision Capital Allocations amounting to over £1.4 billion of new investment. This funding is to support local authorities to deliver new places for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND. This funding forms part of the £2.6 billion we are investing between 2022 and 2025 and represents a significant, transformational investment in new high needs provision.

Of the £1.4 billion announced, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council received £3.1 million and Lancashire County Council received £26.1 million.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out.

The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.

The Government Property Agency (GPA) acts as a landlord to government department clients, including Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Education and others.

The majority of GPA’s properties have heating systems served by gas fired boilers. This includes the Whitehall District Heating System, which is a system owned and operated by GPA that distributes heating to premises in the Whitehall Campus from conventional fossil fuel boilers.

GPA’s newly developed assets have utilised more carbon efficient forms of heating, such as the new hub in Birmingham at 23 Stephenson Street, which has a mechanical heat recovery system with electricity as its fuel source.

GPA has started a Net Zero Offices Programme, which seeks to remove fossil fuel boilers (where they have reached end of economic life) and replace them with more environmental forms of heating such as use of air source heat pumps and, in the case of the Whitehall District Heating System, the utilisation of ground source heat pumps. The Net Zero Offices Programmes is seeking funding for its heat decarbonisation projects through applications to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

The department is committed to supporting apprentices and employers to safely continue with, and complete, their apprenticeship programmes. We have introduced flexibilities to ensure that apprenticeship training and assessments can continue during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Where it is not possible and practicable for the apprentice to continue training, a break in learning can be used to allow the apprentice to return to learning at a future date. It is our goal that apprentices are able to promptly resume their apprenticeship and continue to successful completion of end-point assessment. For apprentices who have taken a formal break in learning, this will result in the planned end-date for their apprenticeship being replanned upon returning to learning to take into consideration the duration in line with the length of their break.

We continue to review the flexibilities in place to ensure high-quality training can continue allowing apprentices to undertake their learning and assessments despite current operating constraints. Our guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-apprenticeship-programme-response.

Identifying opportunities to decarbonise the department’s heating systems is already underway and the following breakdown of fuel sources has already been identified.

On the 93 sites that the Department provides heating:

• 53 are provided by gas
• 13 by electric
• 11 by other Government departments or local Government offices where we are a minority occupier in their buildings.
• 8 sites covered by service charges. This is the case in many small sites where we have a small office at a point of entry.
• 4 by oil
• 3 by biomass
• 1 by LPG

A number of Defra’s buildings will become part of the Government Property Agency’s (GPA) Government property model and GPA is leading net zero plans to decarbonise these buildings. Defra will support these plans where required.

The buildings that remain under Defra group Property’s remit will be decarbonised as much as possible by the department’s Spending Review plans and by bidding for funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. These plans include the deployment of air or ground source heat pumps to support or replace existing heating systems, a move towards electrical heating and a better use of building management systems to achieve zonal heating to avoid heating unoccupied parts of a building.

There is also some exploratory work underway to look at the viability of hydrogen fuel heating and power generation which could help significantly with the decarbonisation of the laboratory sites.

The department will not rely on carbon offsets as a means to decarbonise buildings, instead making the reduction of direct emissions the primary aim.

New measures to crack down on livestock worrying are to be introduced in England and Wales through the Kept Animals Bill introduced to Parliament on 8 June.

We will enhance enforcement mechanisms available to the police and expand the scope of livestock species and locations covered by the law. Improved powers will enable the police to respond to livestock worrying incidents more effectively – making it easier for them to collect evidence and, in the most serious cases, seize and detain dogs to reduce the risk of further incidents.

The scope of livestock species covered by the legislation will be extended to include animals such as llamas, emus, enclosed deer and donkeys. New locations will include roads and paths, as long as the livestock have not strayed into a road.

We are clear that everyone should follow the Countryside Code. A key part of Government strategy is to get clear and consistent messages to the media which highlight the problem and promote better behaviour in the countryside and encourage a partnership response.

There are existing powers in legislation which can be used by authorities to regulate and prohibit the lighting of fires on Access Land in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks. Current ‘Byelaw’ legislation allows for local authorities to restrict and enforce the use of disposable barbecues in parks and public spaces. Government has no plans for additional legislative proposals to introduce a seasonal ban on the use of disposable barbecues.

Government is working with AONBs, National Park Authorities; and other Government departments to promote a series of guidance videos to educate users about travelling to and spending time outdoors safely in the wider countryside. This includes an updated Countryside Code which advises not to have barbeques or fires. This guidance is available at the following links:

Green space access: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely

The Countryside Code: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code

We are clear that everyone should follow the Countryside Code. A key part of Government strategy is to get clear and consistent messages to the media which highlight the problem and promote better behaviour in the countryside and encourage a partnership response.

There are existing powers in legislation which can be used by authorities to regulate and prohibit the lighting of fires on Access Land in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks. Current ‘Byelaw’ legislation allows for local authorities to restrict and enforce the use of disposable barbecues in parks and public spaces. Government has no plans for additional legislative proposals to introduce a seasonal ban on the use of disposable barbecues.

Government is working with AONBs, National Park Authorities; and other Government departments to promote a series of guidance videos to educate users about travelling to and spending time outdoors safely in the wider countryside. This includes an updated Countryside Code which advises not to have barbeques or fires. This guidance is available at the following links:

Green space access: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely

The Countryside Code: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code

The Office for National Statistics publish the salary ratio of highest to median earners for each Civil Service organisation. These ratios are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be found on the Office for National Statistics website:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/civilservicestatistics/2016