James Davies

Our productivity plan Fixing the Foundations identified the importance of collaboration between universities and industry and set a goal to increase the income they earn from working with business and others to £5 billion per annum by 2025.

The Dowling Review, to which we will respond around the time of the Spending Review, stressed the need to make it easier for business to find help and support from universities and Government.

R&D Tax Credits remain the largest source of Government support for business investment in R&D and make an important contribution to innovation in SMEs.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The Government has in place conditions to ensure generators only receive subsidies for biomass that complies with the UK’s strict sustainability criteria. In 2021, biomass made up 12.9% of total electricity generation.

The UK sustainability criteria are some of the most stringent in the world and include requirements under the land criteria and GHG (greenhouse gas) criteria. The land criteria take into account a range of social, economic, and environmental issues, including protecting biodiversity and land use rights.

Where biomass is sourced from forests, the land criteria include requirements around regeneration rates and sustainable harvesting in the sourcing regions, requiring that the carbon stock of the forest from which biomass is derived is not decreased.

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.

Sport is typically a devolved matter. Support for grassroots sport and physical activity in Wales is therefore generally the responsibility of the Welsh Sports Councils and the Welsh Government.

However, using financial assistance powers created in the UK Internal Market Act 2020, the UK Government is investing over £400 million between 2021 and 2025 into a wide range of grassroots sports facilities across the UK, to provide people with much-needed spaces to get active and to level up communities.

In Wales, this includes:

• Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme: Over £6.6 million into over 110 sites funded directly from the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme since 2021. This includes over £1.5 million into the North Wales region, with 32 sites funded directly. All funded sites are listed on gov.uk.

• Park Tennis Court Programme: Over £800,000 into 89 park tennis courts across 36 parks, renovated directly as a result of investment from the Park Tennis Court Programme. Nearly £15,000 has been invested into the North Wales region, with 11 park tennis courts across 5 parks renovated directly as a result of investment from the Park Tennis Court Programme. All completed park tennis courts are listed on gov.uk.

As part of the Park Tennis Court Programme, the UK Government and Lawn Tennis Association are investing £30 million between 2022-2024 to deliver improvements to up to 3,000 park tennis courts across Great Britain. The renovation works include the installation of digital access gates, re-surfacing, and re-painting - all of which aim to improve access and increase participation in tennis, whilst prioritising the courts in the most deprived communities.

Since the start of the programme, over £800,000 has been invested in Wales with 89 tennis courts across 36 parks renovated directly as a result of investment from the Programme. A further £1.2 million will be invested in park tennis courts across Wales before autumn 2024, meaning in total the programme is forecast to invest £2 million renovating 178 courts across 65 parks in Wales. Completed tennis courts are listed on gov.uk here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/park-tennis-court-programme-completed-projects

More broadly, sport is a devolved matter and therefore support for grassroots sport and physical activity in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is generally the responsibility of the respective Home Nations Sports Councils and devolved governments. In England, we provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our arm’s length body, Sport England - which receives £323 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding each year. Prior to the Park Tennis Court Programme, from 2010 - 2022, Sport England provided over £59 million of support to programmes to facilitate participation in grassroots tennis in England. Sport England publishes data on all grant recipients as part of its register of grants awards, which is updated on a quarterly basis with awards dating back to 2009. Please find the information here,

In total, through all Lottery-funded programmes since 2010, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded a total of £3,923,036,950 to recipients across the UK.

• In 2010–11 it awarded £232,460,500 in support of 874 projects.
• In 2011–12 it awarded £308,388,050 in support of 1,014 projects.
• In 2012–13, it awarded £481,068,595 in support of 1,635 projects.
• In 2013–14 it awarded £481,141,451 in support of 1,950 projects.
• In 2014–15 it awarded £381,913,300 in support of 1,781 projects.
• In 2015–16 it awarded £385,006,116 in support of 1,508 projects.
• In 2016–17 it awarded £402,952,596 in support of 1,768 projects.
• In 2017–18 it awarded £280,216,875 in support of 1,487 projects.
• In 2018–19 it awarded £198,815,633 in support of 1,661 projects.
• In 2019–20 it awarded £214,813,858 in support of 1,025 projects.
• In 2020–21 it awarded £60,667,985 in support of 1,091 projects.
• In 2021–22 it awarded £213,334,981 in support of 745 projects.
• In 2022–23 it awarded £138,993,966 in support of 948 projects.
• In 2023–24 it awarded £143,263,044 in support of 1,231 projects.

In the financial year 2020–21, The National Lottery Heritage Fund made 956 awards across the UK, totalling £49,988,885, through the Heritage Emergency Fund, part of a package of support provided to the heritage sector as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In total, since 2010, the National Lottery Heritage Fund awards across all Lottery funded programmes has awarded a total of £221,956,000 to recipients in Wales.

• From 2010– 2011 £18,068,300 was awarded in support of 48 projects.
• From 2011 - 2012, £9,810,550 was awarded in support of 54 projects.
• From 2012 - 2013, £14,331,850 was awarded in support of 82 projects.
• From 2013 - 2014, £18,988,722 was awarded in support of 111 projects. From 2014 - 2015, £23,396,600 was awarded in support of 108 projects.
• From 2015 - 2016, £19,002,500 was awarded in support of 94 projects.
• From 2016 - 2017, £25,798,523 was awarded in support of 108 projects.
• From 2017 - 2018, £29,915,543 was awarded in support of 96 projects.
• From 2018 - 2019, £20,653,738 was awarded in support of 102 projects.
• From 2019 - 2020, £11,302,200 was awarded in support of 68 projects.
• From 2020 - 2021, £3,650,000 was awarded in support of 63 projects.
• From 2021 - 2022, £9,795,913 was awarded in support of 40 projects.
• From 2022 - 2023, £7,558,132 awarded in support of 62 projects.
• From 2023 - 2024, £9,683,429 was awarded in support of 86 projects.

In the financial year 2020–21, The National Lottery Heritage Fund made 53 awards in Wales, totalling £2,744,200, through the Heritage Emergency Fund, part of a package of support provided to the heritage sector as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

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.

Landscape Recovery will provide funding for long-term, large-scale projects to enhance habitats and deliver land-use change with a focus on biodiversity, water quality and net zero. This could include projects that plan to restore woodland or temperate rainforest.

Applications for the first round of Landscape Recovery pilots closed on 24 May. We are currently assessing the 51 bids received and will confirm which projects have been selected later this summer.

We intend to launch a second round of pilot projects next year and will confirm the proposed focus for that round later this year.

The Government is working to design a new Big Nature Impact Fund, which we propose should focus investments on the creation or restoration of carbon-rich biodiverse habitats, primarily native woodlands and restored peatlands. This could include projects involving temperate rainforest should they apply. In line with the Fund's aims to develop environmental markets, investments will only be made in projects capable of generating revenue from ecosystem services.

The international importance of temperate rainforests (also termed Atlantic woodland) in supporting rare and threatened species has been recognised in domestic biodiversity policy for many decades. Many temperate rainforests are protected by existing policy. Many are ancient woodlands, which are protected from development in all but wholly exceptional circumstances. We have also committed in the England Trees Action Plan to increase protections in the planning system for long established woodland in situ since 1840. Many of our temperate rainforests support rich assemblages of species and are in our series of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). SSSI selection guidelines for woodlands are focused on securing a representative series rather than protecting every example.

This government has made a world-leading commitment to halt the decline in nature by 2030, which will rely on the restoration and creation of habitats across the country. This will be supported by funding from the Nature for Climate Fund, future farming schemes including Landscape Recovery, and new funds such as the Big Nature Impact Fund. We will consider, while designing and rolling out these schemes, how they might support the protection and restoration of certain types of woodlands including ‘temperate rainforest’. We also provide financial support to the buffering and expansion of valuable woodlands such as temperate rainforests through the England Woodland Creation Offer, and funding for the improvement and restoration of temperate rainforest sites through the Regional Restoration Funds.

We are currently working on the revision of the 25 Year Environment Plan, the next Environmental Improvement Plan, due January 2023. This is the overarching strategy for the environment, as set out in the Environment Act, and where relevant we will consider the role of temperate rainforest in helping to meet our substantial environmental commitments.

Forestry policy is devolved, so the protection and restoration of temperate rainforests outside England is a matter for the devolved authorities.

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.

To date the Department for International Trade’s Defence and Security Organisation has not undertaken any bespoke market research into the market for armoured fighting vehicles and has therefore not received any revenue.

No formal assessment has taken place specifically for armoured fighting vehicles.

However, the Department for International Trade’s Defence and Security Organisation (DSO) is available to support companies seeking to export such goods. Companies can also commission bespoke market research from DSO.

The Department does not hold this information across all staff grades at Avanti West Coast (AWC).

On 30 July 2022, AWC experienced a near total cessation of drivers volunteering to work passenger trains on rest days. As noted by Avanti in its stakeholder bulletin of 8 August, it had regularly and reliably seen approximately 400 services a week worked by drivers on their rest day. This figure fell suddenly by 90 per cent.

Daily driver rest day working has remained minimal since then.

It is the responsibility of train operating companies to ensure they have adequate staffing to resource their operations.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continuing with its campaigns recruiting front line operational roles across its Driver, Vehicle and Enforcement services. The DVSA monitors retention across all roles and takes action when required. There are currently no concerns regarding the retention of staff in North Wales.

There is a national recruitment campaign aimed at recruiting driving examiners across Great Britain to further increase availability of driving test appointments. This has identified four successful candidates to fill the current vacancies in North Wales.

The DVSA will also shortly launch a further campaign aimed specifically at candidates that speak Welsh who may wish to join the agency as driving examiners.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises the high demand for learners wanting to take their practical driving test following the suspension of routine driver training and testing during the pandemic.

The DVSA understands how disappointing it is when driving tests are cancelled and therefore will only cancel appointments as an absolute last resort. Those affected by cancellations will automatically be offered a new appointment at the original test centre on the next earliest date available.

The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this. These include offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays and weekends).

The DVSA is also continuing with its campaign to recruit more driving examiners across Great Britain and further increase availability of driving test appointments.

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.

The Department is reviewing the intervention points and customer touchpoints to provide appropriate support where needed to our Employment Support Allowance, Job Seekers Allowance and Income Support customers to claim their State Pension before reaching pension age.

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.

A claimant can at any time request a copy of their LIMA or PIPAT report from our Medical Services Provider or from DWP.