John Whitby

The Government is supporting small businesses across the UK to understand and comply with the new EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and its application in Northern Ireland.

We have published information on GOV.UK regarding GPSR's application in Northern Ireland, which we regularly review, and continue engaging directly with businesses. Firms exporting to the EU should note that EU guidance is now available and may also wish to contact the Government's Export Support Service. Since October, the UK Export Academy has delivered five free online GPSR training sessions to over 2,600 attendees.

Apprenticeships are jobs with training, and it is for employers in the hair and beauty sector to decide how they use apprenticeships to meet their skills needs.

The sector has developed several apprenticeship standards, including the level 2 hairdressing professional standard. To support smaller employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care.

Employers can benefit from £1,000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. Employers can choose how they spend these payments. Employers are also not required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25, where they earn less than £50,270 a year.

When an Air quality management area (AGMA) is declared, local authorities are required to produce an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) to bring air pollution down to within statutory limits. Defra has been engaging with Derbyshire Dales District Council to ensure they have an AQAP that will achieve this.

Air pollution has been reducing in Derbyshire Dales, but they have a localised area of exceedance in Buxton Road partly caused by HGV’s using this stretch of road. Improving air quality will require localised action by councils and national measures. The Government is supporting the transition to electric vehicles and is turbocharging the rollout of EV infrastructure which will help reduce NO2 emissions UK wide.

The government is committed to delivering better, more frequent and more reliable bus services for passengers. We have already made significant progress, introducing the Bus Services Bill to help give local leaders the powers they need to take control of their local services if they choose to do so, and announcing investment of over £1 billion to support and improve bus services.

Verified data to the end of November 2024 shows that £82 million has been spent in the 2024/25 financial year on the seven common clinical pathways and the associated incentive payments on expanding blood pressure and contraception services. A comprehensive view of all spending against the Pharmacy First budget will be available after the end of the financial year.