James Sunderland

Throughout the UK’s Presidency year, we will work with Egypt as the incoming Presidency, and all countries, to deliver on the agreed outcomes in the Glasgow Climate Pact and keep 1.5 in reach.

In doing so we will continue to champion science, especially the IPCC and its major reports in 2022, and the urgency of action on emissions reductions, adaptation, finance to support developing nations and loss and damage.

This Government is supporting the automotive sector’s transition to zero emission vehicles and has committed £2.5bn for vehicle grants and infrastructure. The Net Zero Strategy announced a further £350m for the Automotive Transformation Fund, on top of £500m previously committed. Recent investments by Nissan, Stellantis and Ford show strong business confidence.

Aircraft pilots and crew are not required to complete a PLF as the UK Health Security Agency has introduced separate contact tracing protocols for this cohort of transport workers.

From 31 January 2022, the isolation period for care home residents has been reduced from 14 to 10 days. All residents, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, will be able to reduce their period of self-isolation to five days if testing arrangements are followed and test results are negative. Residents who are unable to be tested should isolate for 10 days.

No assessment has been made. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a duty to assess the care needs of their local populations.

A small proportion of children over 12 years old have or will receive full vaccination following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice. International standards for travel require a full course to be recognised as ‘fully vaccinated’. While there are some countries which require full vaccination for under 16 year olds, others treat under 16 year olds as fully vaccinated, accept testing, or in a small number of cases accept recovery as equivalent to full vaccination. We are exploring ways to provide fully vaccinated 12 to 15 year olds with a travel NHS COVID Pass.

The announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 17 April that Iran had started uranium enrichment up to 60% using advanced centrifuges is a serious and deeply worrying development. This is the latest step in Iran's continued and systematic non-compliance with its nuclear commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). The production of highly enriched uranium is an important step in the production of a nuclear weapon. Iran has no credible civilian need for enrichment at this level.

The UK has made multiple official level representations to the Iranians on this issue, both bilaterally and as the E3 alongside the governments of France and Germany. As the E3 said in a statement on 14 April, this step is contrary to the constructive spirit and good faith of discussions in Vienna that have the objective of finding a rapid diplomatic solution to revitalise and restore the JCPoA.

We continue to work with the parties to the JCPoA and the US Administration to seize the diplomatic opportunity for a full return to the JCPoA. We call upon Iran to avoid any escalatory measures which make a return to mutual compliance harder to achieve.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other tax policy. Basing HICBC on household incomes would mean having to assess the adjusted net income of everyone in each of the 8 million households registered for Child Benefit, as HMRC does not hold this data. This would effectively introduce a new means test, creating significant administrative costs and placing a disproportionate burden on the majority of families who receive Child Benefit.

The Government is committed to managing the public finances in a disciplined and responsible way by targeting support where it is most needed. The adjusted net income threshold of £50,000 used in the administration of the HICBC only affects a minority of those who receive Child Benefit, with comparatively high incomes. The Government therefore believes that the current threshold for HICBC remains the best option. As with all elements of tax policy, the threshold is kept under review.

The Government recognises the challenge that many are facing with the cost of living. This is why we are providing support worth over £20 billion across this financial year and next that will help families with the cost of living. This includes cutting the Universal Credit taper rate and increasing work allowances to make sure work pays, freezing alcohol and fuel duties to keep costs down, and the £9.1 billion package announced in February 2022 to help households with rising energy bills. In addition, we are increasing the National Living Wage by 6.6 per cent to £9.50 an hour in April 2022, which will benefit more than 2 million workers.

The Government has announced a £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to protect the cultural sectors through the pandemic.

To date, more than £790m of grants and loans have been allocated to over 3,000 cultural organisations in England. In addition, £100 million has been allocated in direct support to our national cultural institutions and the English Heritage Trust.

This unprecedented investment will help to protect jobs and organisations across the country.

I am pleased to announce that the £5 million Veterans’ Health Innovation Fund launched on 4 July and will close on 31 August.

We are working with the Defence and Security Accelerator on the Fund’s open competition, to explore how the marketplace can offer to help advance better health outcomes for veterans.

The Government recognises the value of precious community assets. That is why we created legal protections for Assets of Community Value. And why we have launched the Community Ownership Fund, which will invest £150 million to support community groups to protect assets at risk.

The Fund is already supporting 21 groups, and over 4 years will help many more communities take ownership of local assets.

Yesterday the Government announced the launch of the Independent Human Rights Act Review, which is a key manifesto commitment of Government.

The Review will be a technical examination of the operation of the Human Rights Act, chaired by Sir Peter Gross. It will focus on the relationship between domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature.

The Panel have been requested to provide a detailed, independent piece of advice outlining options for reform by Summer 2021. A government response will subsequently be published.

Last year, the Legal Aid Agency spent around £1.7bn on legal aid for those who need it – this government is committed to maintaining access to justice. Wider than legal aid, we are enhancing the support on offer to litigants in person by providing a further £3m of funding and investing up to £5m in a Legal Support Innovation Fund.

In addition, we are making a number of changes to legal aid. This includes undertaking a comprehensive review of the means test, improving and simplifying the exceptional case funding scheme, making face-to-face advice more readily available in a number of civil matters, and undertaking an awareness campaign for legal aid and legal support.

We are working closely together on the veterans railcard. My officials continue to work with both the Department for Transport and Welsh Government to ensure that the Veterans’ Railcard is accepted on services for which they are responsible.