Jason McCartney

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) provides grants to property owners in England and Wales to replace existing fossil fuel heating with a low carbon heating system. Where a heat pump may not be suitable, the BUS provides grants of £5,000 for Biomass Boilers in off gas grid properties in rural locations.

The Government has committed £485m of capital spending for heat network development (across England only) through the Green Heat Network Fund. Government does not provide financial support for domestic customers to connect to heat networks.

The Government’s ‘Find ways to save energy in your home’ (www.gov.uk/improve-energy-efficiency) website also helps users get tailored recommendations for their home that could make their property cheaper to heat and keep warm. Consumers can also call the home retrofit phoneline service on 0800 098 7950.

The government has consulted on the best ownership model to support Channel 4 as part of our review of the public service broadcasting ecosystem.

The public consultation ran for 10 weeks before closing on 14 September. We received around 60,000 responses.

We are analysing every response to make sure we come to an informed decision on whether a change of ownership is the best way to secure Channel 4’s future.

Keeping gambling fair and open and free from crime, and protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited are priorities for the government and key licensing objectives for the Gambling Commission. The Commission requires all operators to monitor gambling activity and to intervene where a customer may be at risk of harm. It has consulted on tightening its rules on customer interaction for online operators and will publish a response and next steps in the summer.

The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the broad scope of the Review, we called for evidence on the effectiveness of our regulatory system, including protections for online gamblers and the Gambling Commission's powers and resources. We aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year.

Keeping gambling fair and open and free from crime, and protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited are priorities for the government and key licensing objectives for the Gambling Commission. The Commission requires all operators to monitor gambling activity and to intervene where a customer may be at risk of harm. It has consulted on tightening its rules on customer interaction for online operators and will publish a response and next steps in the summer.

The government launched its Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the broad scope of the Review, we called for evidence on the effectiveness of our regulatory system, including protections for online gamblers and the Gambling Commission's powers and resources. We aim to publish a white paper by the end of the year.

In 2019 and 2020, the Government consulted on proposals to further restrict HFSS advertising on TV and online. We will be publishing the government response to the consultation shortly, which will set out the future policy direction for both TV and online HFSS advertising.

In the 2020 consultation we proposed that the day-to-day responsibility for applying HFSS advertising restrictions be given to the Advertising Standards Authority, recognising their expertise and experience in regulating advertising. Following the current regulatory regime, we propose that breaches would be resolved in line with current ASA policy of responding to individual complaints and promoting voluntary cooperation with the restriction.

If this approach failed or advertisers were committing repeated or severe breaches relating to HFSS marketing material, they would face stronger penalties through a statutory backstop. We would envisage that the backstop regulator would have powers to issue civil sanctions, including the ability to issue fines.

We want to ensure that the enforcement powers of the statutory regulator are designed and used in a way that incentivises compliance and allows for rapid remedial action. The Government will implement any new HFSS advertising restrictions across both online and TV simultaneously by the end of 2022, as outlined in the Tackling Obesity policy published on 27 July 2020.

The government will shortly publish its response to consultations held in 2019 and 2020 which set out proposals to ban HFSS advertisements being shown on TV before 9pm, and for further statutory measures to restrict HFSS advertising online.

The response will set out the Government’s approach to online liability and enforcement.

Modelling the cost of increasing the base rate to £4,760 for 16-19 funding allocations for 2020-21 would require consideration of various factors, such as, the forecast of expected student numbers across age ranges, the characteristics of those students, the courses undertaken, the effect of lagged funding and the impact of the policy change required. The department does not routinely make estimates of this kind.

The information requested is not held centrally as the department does not routinely make estimates of this kind. Modelling such costs would require consideration of various factors, such as the forecast of expected student numbers across age ranges, the characteristics of those students, the courses undertaken, the effect of lagged funding and the impact of the policy change required.

DFID is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle illegal logging and promote sustainable trade in timber, and eliminate deforestation from supply chains. These programmes, and other assistance from the UK, are helping to preserve the world’s most valuable habitats and address biodiversity loss.

The government is committed to ensuring Yorkshire reaps the benefits on high-speed services. The Integrated Rail Plan will consider the sequencing and delivery of HS2, as well as Northern Powerhouse Rail and other rail investment projects to ensure the benefits of these investments are delivered to passengers and communities more quickly. We intend to publish the IRP this Spring.

£589m funding announced in July 2020 has enabled further design and development work on the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme. The first stages of Overhead Line Electrification (OLE) installation have begun between York and Church Fenton, and in the Spring Network Rail will be carrying out engineering work between Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge to support future masts and electric wires.

Through the Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (ULEBS), West Yorkshire Combined Authority (which includes both Colne Valley and Kirklees) and First West Yorkshire received £617,000.00 for 5 electric buses and charging infrastructure and £1,770,472.50 for 9 electric buses and charging infrastructure respectively, totalling £2,387,472.50.

We do not hold information on how many buses are operating in a particular area, but we can provide the number of buses & coaches registered in West Yorkshire according to the location of the recorded keeper of each vehicle.

The following table relates to where these vehicles are registered by their keeper, which does not mean they are operated in these areas, nor does it stop other buses & coaches registered elsewhere from operating in these areas.

Table: Registered battery electric buses & coaches at the end of March 2020

The programme is rapidly progressing into its detailed design phase with early construction enabling activities happening in parallel. Peak construction is expected around 2023/2024 with final completion in the late 2020s.

NHS England is currently held to account for the delivery of National Health Service public health functions through Director General-led accountability meetings, supplemented with an annual ministerial accountability meeting.

The annual ministerial NHS public health functions accountability meeting with NHS England is chaired by the minister with responsibility for public health. Other Department ministers with responsibility for relevant programmes are invited to attend, or to feed views into the discussion via the lead minister.

As the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, I now have responsibility for screening, and engage with the national screening programme performance outside these meetings.

Arrangements under the section 7A agreement are negotiated at an official level. Health ministers are sighted in these arrangements, and have the opportunity to steer the process, usually feeding in through their private offices.

As the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, I have the ability to request improvement plans, trajectories, and regular meetings with NHS England, where key deliverables on any screening programme are not met.

The Government is committed to improving uptake in the NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHS BSP), and is working with NHS England on the development of the breast screening improvement plan.

At this time, NHS England has not requested any additional funding to support the delivery of the breast screening improvement plan. Assessment of the effectiveness of the NHS BSP is made through the regular accountability meetings, under the Public Health Functions Section 7A Agreement.

The National Health Service in England funds abiraterone for eligible NHS patients in line with recommendations published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It has been recommended by the NICE for the treatment of metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer before chemotherapy is indicated, and for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen.

NHS England is in the process of considering a clinical policy proposal for the use of abiraterone as an off-label treatment option for patients newly diagnosed with high risk, non-metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, or in whom prostate cancer has relapsed after at least 12 months without treatment. The policy proposal was sent out to stakeholder testing between the 30 November and 14 December 2023, and will now be considered by NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, who make recommendations on NHS England’s approach to commissioning services, treatments, and technologies, and considers which of these should be prioritised for investment.

This Government recognises the devastating impact crimes such as burglary and robbery have on our communities and businesses.

We are recruiting 20,000 police officers and continuing to invest in the Safer Streets Fund to prevent these crimes from happening, supporting deployment of evidence-based solutions such as home security and increased street lighting in high crime areas.

In Planning for the Future we make clear that, under the reforms proposed, local authorities would use the plan-making process to ensure the continued protection and enhancement of areas important for biodiversity, including ancient woodland.

The consultation direction has been committed to and further details on this will follow in due course. While the necessary changes are awaited there is, in the meantime the option for requests to be made for individual applications to be called in for determination by the Secretary of State, using the broad powers under section 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

As part of our reforms, we have set out that the National Planning Policy Framework will be revised. Our approach to planning reform remains under very active consideration, in the context of my departments’ wider mission to level-up our country. The way forward will be announced as soon as possible.