James Davies

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector, including businesses in the supply chain, to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses.

Businesses have been able to benefit from Government support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Government-backed loans.

On 5 January, when the new National Lockdown began, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extra £4.6bn in business support including a £594 million discretionary fund to support impacted businesses.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector, including businesses in the supply chain, to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses.

Businesses have been able to benefit from Government support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Government-backed loans.

On 5 January, when the new National Lockdown began, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extra £4.6bn in business support including a £594 million discretionary fund to support impacted businesses.

The Government is aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the funding of medical research charities.

The Government already provides significant direct funding to charities’ research through Research England’s Quality Related (QR) charity support funding. This year charity QR will amount to £204m, to support charity funded research in universities in England.

Additionally, the Government supports this research through investments in the necessary infrastructure, through collaborations with UKRI and through the tax system. In 2018-19 over £1.3bn in tax relief on donations was received through Gift Aid benefitting all charities, including those carrying out vital medical research.

BEIS officials have also been meeting regularly with the Association of Medical Research Charities to develop an appropriate approach to supporting the important research that their members fund through the challenges they are currently facing.

The Department continues to engage with industry and suppliers to ensure that we can support our?manufacturing sectors?during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministers have been leading a series of roundtables, bringing together businesses, business representative groups, and leading academics, including representatives from the Welsh Government, to consider the measures needed to support the UK’s economic recovery.

The Government’s support for the manufacturing sector includes £147 million towards the Made Smarter programme to support digitalisation in UK manufacturing, £1 billion for the Automotive Transformation Fund, and £1.9 billion committed to the Aerospace Technology Institute programme.

In addition, the UK Government is investing £120 million in the North Wales Growth Deal, which includes support for manufacturing. The manufacturing project that the Growth Deal is funding is run by Glyndwr University.

The Government considers a range of matters when setting the parameters for Contracts for Difference allocation rounds, including the anticipated pipeline of eligible projects. We will publish allocation round parameters in advance of the next auction in 2021, when assessments of the potential volume of participants can be informed by the most current information on project pipelines.

Sports and physical activity facilities play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.The Government has made it clear that it will adopt a phased approach based on scientific and medical advice, and that the primary goal is to protect public health.

The government's guidance remains that people should gather in groups of no larger than six people from different households, or two households, adhering to social distancing including when as part of organised walking groups.

It is not within DCMS’s gift to grant charitable status on a temporary basis and there are no plans to widen the definition of charity. Some music venues, community sporting venues and amateur sports clubs already qualify for charitable status and can therefore benefit from gift aid on donations. In England and Wales, charitable status is dependent on meeting the definition of a charity set out by Parliament in the Charities Act 2011. The advancement of arts, culture or amateur sport for the public benefit are determined to be charitable purposes within scope of the Charities Act 2011. To meet the definition of charity, organisations must exist for public benefit rather than private benefit. Further detail is set out in the Charity Commission’s Guidance on ‘Charitable Purposes’.

Arts and sporting organisations can benefit from the broad range of support the Government has made available to support organisations through the crisis, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. In addition to the £750 million funding package the Government has provided specifically for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, the Government has unlocked £150 million from dormant bank and building society accounts, part of which will provide emergency loans for civil society organisations and improve the availability of fair, affordable credit to people in vulnerable circumstances.

The Government has also provided more targeted provision to support arts and sporting organisations through the crisis. On the 5th July, the Government announced a £1.57bn targeted rescue package to protect the arts, cultural and heritage industry. This represents the largest one off investment in culture, and will include investment in music venues to ensure future sustainability of the sector. Sport England has provided up to £210m of funding to support community and grassroots clubs facing financial challenges over the period of the COVID-19 crisis. This includes £35m of public funding under the banner of Community Emergency Funding (CEF) available to community clubs.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charitable-purposes/charitable-purposes#the-advancement-of-the-arts-culture-heritage-or-science.

The government appreciates that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many of DCMS’ sectors including the Creative Industries, which is why we announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency.

To ensure we are assisting the sectors as effectively as possible, regular ministerially-chaired roundtables are held with business representative organisations as well as trade associations from across the Creative Industries. In addition, officials are in regular contact with stakeholders from these sectors, and we continue to speak with HM Treasury colleagues to ensure that the full spectrum of government support reaches the UK's world-leading media and Creative Industries.

Sport is a devolved matter, but we remain in close contact with the Devolved Administrations on a range of ways to support sport at this time, We are seeing fantastic levels of cooperation between all political parties and governments as we work together to tackle this crisis.

The Government has announced an unprecedented package of support to protect businesses across the UK, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (covering 80% of furloughed employees wages up to a cap of £2,500 per month), and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (up to £2,500 per month in grants for eligible self-employed workers). These support measures are open to businesses across the UK and in every sector, including Sport.

We know that young children have missed out on early education at a crucial period of cognitive and behavioural development. This is especially significant for vulnerable and disadvantaged children, which may widen the early development gap.

The most effective intervention government can take to address this is to get children back into early education. Children in early years were the first priority for the reopening of education settings.

Since 1 June, early years settings have been able to welcome back children of all ages. We want to ensure councils and early years providers can get children back into settings as quickly as possible, where they can be fully supported during this crucial period for their development.

Fifteen hours of high quality free early education is provided for all three- and four-year olds and disadvantaged two-year olds. An additional fifteen hours (30 hours) is provided for eligible working parents for three- and four-year olds.

We will work with the sector to explore how best to continue to support children’s early development, including through the department’s Hungry Little Minds campaign which we will use to continue to provide support for parents to develop their children’s early language and literacy.

Information on the Hungry Little Minds campaign can be found at:
https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk.

We have recently closed our second consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and are analysing the responses with a view to publishing a government response later this year. We will be appointing a Deposit Management Organisation to run the DRS scheme. The recent consultation explored the potential for both a flat rate and variable rate deposit to be used in the scheme, and stated that the intention would be for the Deposit Management Organisation to have the power to set the deposit level within parameters set out in legislation by Government. This would include the ability to set either a flat rate or variable rate deposit. The government response to the consultation will include details on the agreed approach to setting a deposit level in the DRS.

I am acutely aware of the concerns that stakeholders have raised regarding the possible market distortions that could occur depending on the type and level of deposit set, and we will be keeping these concerns in mind when finalising the approach to setting and amending the deposit level.

The most effective way to tackle smoking related litter is by reducing the prevalence of smoking in the first place. The Government has committed to publish a new tobacco control plan for England later this year, to deliver its ambition of a smoke-free country by 2030. We have also recently announced our intention to explore regulatory options to ensure that the tobacco industry takes sufficient financial responsibility for the toxic litter created by its products.

DEFRA is continuing to hold regular conversations with each of the seven supermarkets participating in the priority access to online deliveries offer: Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. The department uses these meetings as an opportunity to convey any concerns raised by charities or Local Authorities around topics such as delivery charges. Although DEFRA cannot legally dictate the delivery costs charged by supermarkets, our regular conversations ensure that supermarkets understand the impact that delivery charges can have in preventing a clinically extremely vulnerable person from being able to access food.

Alongside encouraging supermarkets to seriously consider the impact delivery charges can have on clinically extremely vulnerable people, the department also monitors delivery charges and circulates this information to Local Authorities to allow them to advise their residents accordingly.

If a vulnerable customer is struggling to afford the costs associated with online delivery, they could consider using a supermarket’s click and collect service. While there is no priority access to click and collect slots, slot availability tends to be much higher than for online deliveries. Vulnerable customers could ask friends, family or a volunteer to visit the store and collect the shopping they ordered online on their behalf. If a vulnerable customer is unable to access food through one of these routes, then they may wish to contact their local council to see what support they are able to offer.

The non-commercial movement of cats, dogs and ferrets is covered by the EU Pet Travel Scheme which has three categorisations of third country: unlisted; Part 1 listed; and Part 2 listed. Third countries can apply to the European Commission to be listed under the EU Pet Travel Scheme.

The UK has submitted its application to allow the UK to become a Part 1 listed third country under Annex II of the EU Pet Travel Regulations to the European Commission. Should the UK become a Part 1 listed country, there would be little change to the current arrangements, with only minor changes needed for documentation and, in most cases, no change for owners from what they currently need to do in terms of their animal’s health preparation. It is now for the Commission to consider our application for listed status.

In October 2020 the Department for Transport discussed the topic of a Graduated Driver Licence and compulsory black box usage at the Transport Select Committee on Young and Novice Drivers.

After giving our reasoning that we are not currently pursuing the topic as a future policy, the Secretary of State has accordingly not met with industry representatives on the matter.

The Department for Transport take any consideration of restrictions on any road users very seriously, particularly those in rural areas for access to education, employment and leisure.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this Government has no current plans to enforce any further restrictions which could be detrimental to the younger generation’s prospects for employment, education or livelihood.

My Department is actively engaged with Transport for Wales’s work to progress plans for a North Wales Metro and is providing strategic planning support and guidance on funding mechanisms.

Interventions to deliver service frequency improvements are currently being progressed and my officials will continue to engage with regional bodies on wider proposals and to provide advice on how they might be funded in the future.

Rail decarbonisation will be an important element in the UK’s first Transport Decarbonisation Plan. The Department is working with Network Rail and the rail industry to determine which parts of the network are best suited to use of hydrogen and battery trains and electrification.

Introduction of these technologies will deliver environmental improvements and benefits for rail users across the rail network. Through the Transport Decarbonisation Plan the Government will continue to support the UK economy through the development of expertise on low carbon technologies.

This month the HS2 Minister will meet with leaders from the Midlands and the North, to discuss priorities for rail investment. During this meeting the Government will present an Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands by the end of 2020, which will look at how to deliver NPR, HS2 Phase 2b, and related connections more effectively.

Some supporting infrastructure enhancements in this corridor, including line speed improvements, are already under consideration through industry planning studies and the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.

We welcome the work Cheshire East Council and the Constellation Partnership are doing to ensure the wider local benefits can be fully realised. We continue to work collaboratively on the development of a business case to support this vision and look forward to formally receiving in due course.

We are working closely with employers and other partner’s to deliver the Government’s Plan for Jobs, providing a comprehensive package of support for all young people – including graduates.

Our national and local Employer and Partnership Teams are engaging with employers across the country to bring in employment opportunities in a variety of sectors. These include many of the opportunities established as part of the Plan for Jobs, including Kickstart, Sector-based Work Academy Programme, Apprenticeships and traineeships. These provide a wide range of ways for young people to access work in their local area and enable employers to engage their future workforce. Young people, including new graduates will have access to these through their local Jobcentre Plus and via the Government’s official job matching service Find a Job website.

We have supported the development of the Department for Education’s Graduate Employment and Skills Guide that is published on the Office for Students website. The guide is designed to help final year students and recent graduates by signposting to a range of public, private and voluntary sector opportunities, to help build employability skills, gain work experience or enter the labour market.

We have provided Plan for Jobs information for employers on GOV.UK and employers can access our Help for Employers website which offers a range of advice to help businesses overcome challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Whether employers are needing to expand rapidly, or worried about redundancies, they can find advice on next steps and the best ways to support their staff.

The Government’s Plan for Jobs is delivering a comprehensive package of support for young people, including graduates, which DWP is providing in collaboration with the Department for Education, employers and other partners

The DWP Youth Offer is the wrap-around support programme, helping young people access so much of the positive provision stood up as part of the Plan for Jobs, (including Kickstart, Sector-based Work Academy Programme, Apprenticeships and traineeships), alongside local work-related provision. The Youth Offer includes 13-week Youth Employment Programme, complimented by joined-up local delivery through our Youth Hubs and specialist Youth Employability Coaches.

The Government has implemented a range of measures to help deliver on our commitment to provide all young people with opportunities to develop skills that will enable them to secure jobs in productive and fulfilling careers, including help for young people through Kickstart. Jobs from the Kickstart Scheme are open to 16–24-year-olds, who are claiming Universal Credit, and are at risk of long-term unemployment. Young people can speak to their work coach to find out more.

Our experienced and well-trained jobcentre Work Coaches have access to tools that help them understand vacancies, opportunities and skills needs and are well versed in collaborating with their local partners, including employers, local authorities and independent volunteer and charity organisations.

We are publicising our offer for young people and have launched the JobHelp website in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. JobHelp offers job search advice, showcases recruiting sectors and signposts to job vacancies to help people successfully find work. The JobHelp campaign encourages young people under 25 to visit the JobHelp advice and signposting hub where they can access careers advice, job opportunities and signposting to initiatives such as Kickstart and Access to Work.

We have supported the development of the Department for Education’s Graduate Employment and Skills Guide that is published on the Office for Students website. The guide is designed to help final year students and recent graduates by signposting to a range of public, private and voluntary sector opportunities, to help build employability skills, gain work experience or enter the labour market.

The Government has introduced a package of temporary welfare measures worth around £9.3 billion this year to help with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chancellor announced a series of policies to support people, jobs and businesses on 20 March 2020 during which he confirmed an increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance for 12 months by £1040 a year, which was in addition to planned uprating of 1.7% announced by the Secretary of State in November 2019. Further decisions on spending will be made at the next fiscal event.

In addition to the standard allowance increase, Universal Credit claimants have also benefited from an increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates so that it covers the lowest third of local rents, and during Covid-19 the Minimum Income Floor, (an assumed level of earnings) has been relaxed to zero for self-employed claimants.

The Government has made significant investment to improve Universal Credit’s generosity through the reduction in the taper rate from 65% to 63% in 2017, and an extra £1.7 billion a year put into Work Allowances by 2023/24, increasing them by £1,040 a year for working parents and disabled claimants, from April 2019 - an extra £630 a year in the pockets of 2.4 million of the lowest paid families.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their local markets, and ensure that people have a range of high-quality, sustainable and person-centred care and support options available to them. As of 1 September 2021, the Care Quality Commission rated 85% of all social care organisations as good/outstanding.

Health, social care and housing are devolved matters. In England, the Government’s plan for health and social care, announced on 7 September, recognised the important role of housing in providing care and support to people in the community. An independent pre-evaluation scoping exercise commissioned by the Department has found good evidence for the benefits of extra care housing for older people. The Government will invest in supported housing, including housing-with-care, as well as exploring other innovative housing solutions to allow more people to live independently at home for longer, with personalised care and support. We will continue to work closely with the sector, including as part of the white paper on adult social care which will be published later this year.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to shape their local markets, and ensure that people have a range of high-quality, sustainable and person-centred care and support options available to them. As of 1 September 2021, the Care Quality Commission rated 85% of all social care organisations as good/outstanding.

Health, social care and housing are devolved matters. In England, the Government’s plan for health and social care, announced on 7 September, recognised the important role of housing in providing care and support to people in the community. An independent pre-evaluation scoping exercise commissioned by the Department has found good evidence for the benefits of extra care housing for older people. The Government will invest in supported housing, including housing-with-care, as well as exploring other innovative housing solutions to allow more people to live independently at home for longer, with personalised care and support. We will continue to work closely with the sector, including as part of the white paper on adult social care which will be published later this year.

Since August 2020, Public Health England has evaluated over 150 lateral flow antigen devices (LFDs) produced by United Kingdom and international manufacturers. To date, 31 of these have displayed performance characteristics desirable for mass testing, with a very high specificity and sensitivity against viral loads associated with infectiousness. Devices are also tested for robustness, usability and evidence of cross-reactivity with seasonal coronaviruses.

The Department monitors the evaluation of LFDs that are performed in other countries to shortlist LFDs for validation that meet criteria designed to identify the most likely future requirements and use cases in the United Kingdom.

Evaluation from Public Health England and the University of Oxford have shown that Innova lateral flow tests were shown to detect over 95% of individuals with high viral load or the most infectious cases. Results of the Innova evaluation in 2020 showed that the tests were effective in picking up viral antigens in both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. The Department continues to monitor the performance of the Innova lateral flow test.

The Government is committed to supporting research into dementia and to delivering a moonshot. Later in 2021, we will bring forward a new dementia strategy to set out our plans for dementia research, care, support and awareness in England for future years.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the government to take the difficult decision to temporarily reduce ODA to 0.5% of GNI. The Foreign Secretary has set out a strategic approach to ensure maximum impact for our aid spend. Global health remains a priority. It is one of seven challenges where the Foreign Secretary believes UK aid can make the most difference.

In light of this decision, we are currently planning spend for the next financial year, and will be able to provide more information in due course. We will seek to remain one of the most generous donors in the world on malaria. The UK's current pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is our largest to date and will help to distribute 92 million bednets.

Under the VAT rules, veterinary medicines supplied to certain charities may be eligible for a zero rate of VAT. Otherwise, veterinary services and animal medications are subject to the standard rate of VAT.

Changing the rate of VAT on veterinary services and animal medication would come at a considerable cost to the Exchequer. The Government has no current plans to change the VAT treatment of such services and goods, but keeps all taxes under review

The Levelling Up Fund will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery. We will publish a prospectus for the fund and launch the first round of competitions very soon.

This government recognises the importance of connectivity to levelling up all parts of the UK. The Levelling Up Fund is one part of this wider strategy and its investments will include local road schemes, bus lanes, and rail station upgrades. Further details will be published soon in the prospectus.

The Levelling Up Fund will empower local areas to identify and bring forward genuine local priorities: we will only fund projects prepared in collaboration with local stakeholders that have clear benefits to the local community and are aligned with a broader local economic strategy. Further details will be published in the prospectus.

The new national infrastructure bank will help to support infrastructure projects across the whole of the UK, including Wales. The new bank is primarily aimed at increasing investment in infrastructure, whereas the Development Bank of Wales focuses on business support. Where their interests are aligned on specific projects, the two institutions will be able to work collaboratively.

Sopra Steria Ltd (SSL) are our commercial partner who run the UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) on behalf of UKVI. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted all UKVI services. On 27 March, Sopra Steria Ltd closed all UKVACS service points to protect the health and safety of both their staff and our customers. This decision was taken in line with Government and PHE advice.

On 1 June 2020 SSL began a phased reopening of the UKVCAS service. Like all public services, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on some visa services, and we had to adapt our working practices to allow social distancing, which led to some understandable delays.

Whilst more of our services have resumed the impact of Covid-19 continues to be felt in different ways across our UK operations. Our priority is the safety of our customers and staff, to ensure we can deliver an effective service that meets public health guidelines and the service customers expect.

UKVI officials meet with Sopra Steria Limited (SSL) on a regular basis to review performance and drive improvements to service standards through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within the contract: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/ec5031ea-021e-471a-86cf-af540e8d8efa

UKVI monitor UKVCAS performance against set key performance indicators (KPIs) within the contract with the Home Office maintaining oversight to ensure Sopra Steria Ltd adhere to contractual requirements. This has continued throughout the phased restart of the UKVCAS service after suspension of services due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 October 2021 to Question 56262 from the hon. Member for Portsmouth South (Mr Morgan).

All Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) have a dedicated Government Liaison Officer from MHCLG, who provides a direct line of contact into central government. LRFs are further supported by senior MHCLG leaders and experts in local engagement and response. Ministers talk to LRF leads regularly to discuss issues and how we can better support them.

MHCLG have also supported the embedding of four highly experienced military planners into each LRF, who are providing on-the-ground support. I would like to take this opportunity to particularly thank the North Wales Local Resilience Forum, and, as I know my Honourable Friend is a medical practitioner himself, the whole NHS for their tireless and determined work at this most difficult time.

With any emergency each local resilience forum partnership will, as a matter of course, seek to identify and then learn lessons from the response. Matters pertaining to Welsh local resilience forums are for the Welsh Government to answer.

To protect those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and reduce transmission of infection, new cohorting strategies were developed by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service advised by the Public Health Authorities and implemented from March 31. As a result, prisons are in the process of implementing units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable (including those with underlying health conditions) and cohort new arrivals to reduce risk.

In addition, prisoners identified as ‘extremely vulnerable’ as defined in the NHS guidelines will merit consideration for Release on Temporary License (ROTL). Any prisoners released on temporary license must abide by the provisions of that licence; the licence can be revoked for breach of a condition or for any other reason. All prisoners released under ROTL will be returned to prison once the justification for temporary compassionate release ends, provided they are still serving the custodial element of their sentence at that point.

More widely, the Prison Service is creating extra cells, restricting regimes, limiting prisoner movement and releasing some prisoners early. The strong measures the Prison Service is taking are successfully limiting the transmission of the virus.

On 24 April, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the rollout of COVID-19 testing for all essential workers and symptomatic members of their household, including prison and probation staff in England. To date, we have referred more than 2,000 staff working for HM Prison and Probation Service for testing.

As healthcare is devolved in Wales, testing for prison and probation staff, and symptomatic members of their household, is being delivered through local resilience forum arrangements and local health boards.

Tests will be conducted on symptomatic prisoners on site and are carried out by qualified healthcare practitioners. Those who are well enough to be safely managed by prison healthcare teams will remain in prisons, and those requiring hospital care will be transferred to the appropriate medical facility.

The testing capacity and availability can vary between establishments, depending on local circumstances at the time. This means that the total number of potential cases at any establishment can include clinically diagnosed but untested cases, as well as those who have a confirmed COVID-19 positive result. Outbreak control teams monitor and take account of these matters in their advice on the management of prison cases.

Routine transfers of both staff and prisoners are being minimised to reduce opportunities for transmission of COVID-19 between prisons and prevent the introduction of infection into prisons where there is no outbreak.

Some controlled prisoner movements between establishments have been authorised in order to utilise the headroom created by population control measures. All such moves require COVID-19 Gold Command authorisation and only take place once the receiving prison has a Reverse Cohorting Unit established to receive incoming prisoners.

Staff detached duty has been minimised and used only in exceptional circumstances.

The government has committed to recruiting 20,000 more police officers, investing £85 million in the CPS and doubled funding for support services to support victims of the most harmful crimes through the criminal justice process. I also welcome the announcement made by the Homes Secretary that the Government will review the use of pre-charge bail.

We’re also working across the CJS to help agencies join up and make processes more effective and efficient.

We are backing the North Wales Growth Deal with £120m including for innovative net zero projects such as the Morlais tidal energy test facility. We are seeing a further 2 gigawatts of offshore wind in development. And we are also providing close to £5m for the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub.

The UK Government regularly meets with the Welsh Government and local authorities to discuss support for regional economies in Wales. I wrote to Cllr Mark Pritchard, Chair of the Mersey Dee Alliance (MDA) on 28 September 2020, and met with him on 6 October 2020, to offer our support for the work that the MDA is doing to bring key partners together to support manufacturing in the region.

We continue to work in collaboration with both the Welsh Government and regional partners to ensure that the UK Government’s £120m funding commitment for the North Wales Growth Deal is delivered as soon as possible.