John Whittingdale

The exception only applies to copying for data mining conducted in the UK. The new exception will make the UK one of the most attractive nations for businesses to carry out data mining, whether basing their whole business here or the part which conducts data mining. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.

This provision supports the National AI Strategy by helping to capture the benefits of AI innovation in the UK and ensure that AI technologies benefit all sectors and regions. This applies to all sizes of firms, whether established, start-up, growing, or even unicorn.

The new exception will put the UK amongst the leading nations globally who support AI development and wider use of text and data mining. It will make data more accessible, and help unlock the value of data sharing across the economy to drive innovation and growth and support the public good.

An academic study estimates that the effort required from researchers to undertake systematic reviews, an important part of research and innovation, is cut by 75% when using text mining services. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid.

The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but very limited quantitative evidence was submitted. However, smaller users such as small businesses and start-ups, as well as many researchers, have indicated that - when seeking to analyse works from multiple sources - licences have been out of reach on the grounds of cost or complexity.

The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but received very limited quantitative evidence. An impact assessment will be published alongside the legislation when laid. The proposed exception will be targeted to limit negative impacts, and the government welcomes further evidence from rights holders on how to best achieve this.

We took the opportunities of Brexit to allocate a greater proportion of the additional quota received under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to the inshore fleet. They now get double the quota share they did than before.

And, since opening in 2021, we have supported the inshore fleet from the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme which overall has invested £27 million in over 1,300 projects.

My department has designated 96 shellfish water areas in England where water quality is protected from harmful bacteria. Additional investment by water companies is being prioritised in waters with significant economic production of shellfish. In addition, we are delivering targeted action and practical support to farmers to reduce pollution from agriculture. This is on top of support to the sector through the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme.

NHS England does not collect the data requested.

The quality of the data is not sufficient to provide a breakdown of outpatient appointments at a hospital-level. However, trust-level data is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-outpatient-activity

Over the years, St Peter’s Hospital has provided valuable capacity for patients across Mid and South Essex to receive inpatient stroke rehabilitation in community beds. The volume of beds, and therefore patients treated on site, has changed over the years due to shifting demand and, in recent years, the impact of the pandemic.

In 2022/23, 118 patients received inpatient stroke rehabilitation care at St Peter’s Hospital. However, there are currently no inpatient stroke rehabilitation beds at St Peter’s hospital in Maldon, as the 16 stroke rehabilitation beds that were on site were moved to Brentwood Community Hospital in October 2023, to ensure the safe provision of care through this winter.

The current consultation being undertaken by Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board has set out options to increase community inpatient stroke rehabilitation capacity from 24 to 27, which would total 50 beds across the system. This increase is based on data that shows around 2,000 people in Mid and South Essex have a stroke each year, of which around 500 need a stay in a community hospital for specialist rehabilitation support.

This information is not held centrally, as the Department does not routinely track investments made to individual sites. It can however be confirmed that the trust that runs St Peter’s Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, has received significant amounts of capital funding from national programmes in recent years, including: £20.4 million in accident and emergency funding across 2020/21 and 2021/22; £17.9 million from our Targeted Investment Fund in 2021/22 and 2022/23; and £7.2 million in community diagnostic centre funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23, for schemes within the trust as a whole.

Furthermore, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s Integrated Care Board (ICB), Mid and South Essex ICB, received £61 million in operational capital in 2023/24, and £182 million across the 2021 Spending Review, which it can use for capital projects and works. This funding is prioritised by the ICB, in accordance with local needs.

This information is not held centrally, as the Department does not routinely track investments made to individual sites. It can however be confirmed that the trust that runs St Peter’s Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, has received significant amounts of capital funding from national programmes in recent years, including: £20.4 million in accident and emergency funding across 2020/21 and 2021/22; £17.9 million from our Targeted Investment Fund in 2021/22 and 2022/23; and £7.2 million in community diagnostic centre funding in 2021/22 and 2022/23, for schemes within the trust as a whole.

Furthermore, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s Integrated Care Board (ICB), Mid and South Essex ICB, received £61 million in operational capital in 2023/24, and £182 million across the 2021 Spending Review, which it can use for capital projects and works. This funding is prioritised by the ICB, in accordance with local needs.

The UK is a longstanding champion of media freedom globally. We co-founded the Media Freedom Coalition, and continue to work with them, and partners to address the deteriorating global media freedom situation. We commend all journalists for their bravery in these unprecedented times.

In Ukraine we are working with partners to support journalists, providing direct support to enable independent journalism to continue including for example security advice and facilitation of international monitoring (including of potential war crimes).

We commend all journalists in Ukraine for their bravery in these unprecedented times and condemn the censorship of independent journalists in Russia.

The UK is a longstanding champion of media freedom globally, which is vital to realising the network of liberty. My noble friend, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, led the UK delegation at the annual Global Conference for Media Freedom in Estonia last month.

We co-founded the Media Freedom Coalition, and continue to work with them, and partners to address the deteriorating global media freedom situation.

We delivered our commitment to recruit 20,000 additional police officers. There are now over 149,000 officers in England and Wales, higher than the previous peak in 2010. Forces have been fully funded to maintain this uplift.

Retention is a key priority. Voluntary resignation rates, at around 3%, are low compared to other sectors and 72% of new recruits say they intend to stay until retirement.

We have provided a range of weapons to Ukraine, including air defence systems with thousands of missiles to protect critical infrastructure, almost 100,000 artillery rounds, more than 10,000 anti-tank missiles, Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems and around three million rounds of small-arms ammunition. This financial year we expect to spend £2.3 billion on operations and support for Ukraine and we are prepared to deliver similar support next year.