Josh Simons

Enforcement powers exist for local authorities to take action when fireworks are unsafe, sold illegally or misused. Local authorities and the police also have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the misuse of fireworks. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers, based on their specific circumstances.

To inform any future decisions on the regulation of fireworks I intend to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues with and impacts of fireworks.

Information provided by employers to HMRC shows that the total value of payments made to individuals in receipt of Statutory Shared Parental Pay was £178.9m between 2014/15 and 2023/24 (the latest year for which full year data is available).

The table below presents a breakdown of the value of payments made to individuals by the region (based on recipient residence). Information on the sector or industry worked in by the recipient of Shared Parental Pay is not available.

Table 1: Total value of payments made to individuals in receipt of Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) by claimant resident region, 2014/15 to 2023/24

Notes

1. Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI). RTI is subject to revision or updates
2. Shared Parental Leave and Pay came into force on 1 December 2014 for eligible parents of children due to be born or adopted on or after 5 April 2015.
3. In the 2014/15 and 2015/16 tax year, those receiving Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) for children born before 6 April 2015 cannot be distinguished from those claiming ShPP within RTI data. The value of ShPP payments in 2014/15 was less than £2.5m only.

As committed to in the Plan to Make Work Pay, the Government will review the system of parental leave to ensure that it better supports working parents. We are still in the early planning stages for this Review and are actively considering the parameters and process for delivering it. As such it is not possible to confirm these details at this time.

Our Manifesto committed to reviewing the surplus sharing arrangements and transferring the Investment Reserve back to scheme members. We are committed to ending the injustice of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme and work on delivering these commitments is already underway.

Regulation of energy suppliers is a matter for Ofgem. All retail energy suppliers are required to meet the standard license conditions set out by Ofgem which detail the minimum standards customers must be provided. Suppliers are expected to provide customers with clear and easily understandable ways to contact them about a problem, question or other request for assistance.

The UK welcomes international partnerships and students, including those from China, who make a very positive impact on the UK’s higher education (HE) sector, economy and society as a whole. However, the UK will always protect its national security interests, human rights and values.

​​There are a set of measures that protect against undue foreign interference in UK universities. These include the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, which vets students and researchers seeking to study in sensitive areas, as well as the provisions of the Education Act 1986, which require HE providers to uphold freedom of speech within the law for staff, students and visiting speakers. In England, all registered providers must uphold applicable public interest governance principles in order to meet the regulatory requirements of the Office for Students, including principles on academic freedom and accountability, such as operating openly and with integrity.

The government also offers practical advice through the National Protective Security Authority, the National Cyber Security Centre and the Research Collaboration and Advice Team (RCAT) to support the HE sector with maximising the opportunities of international collaboration, whilst also managing the risks. The department works alongside these partners and engages directly with the sector to increase their understanding of the risks and their ability to respond to them.

​​The National Security Act 2023 further strengthened the UK’s legal powers to counter foreign interference, including those actions which amount to transnational repression, and provides the security services and law enforcement agencies with additional tools to deter, detect and disrupt modern-day state threats.

​This government will take a consistent, long-term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. We will cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must. The department is contributing towards the government’s audit of the UK’s relationship with China as a bilateral and global actor, to improve the UK’s ability to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities China poses.

The Government is working together with the devolved Governments to understand the issue, with a view to legislate to ban wet wipes containing plastic across the UK.

Sundays currently fall outside of the working week for 95 per cent of Northern’s conductors in the North-West, making the service reliant on staff volunteering to work their days off.

This is a key contributing factor to the unacceptably high levels of cancellations passengers are suffering on a Sunday. The Secretary of State and Rail Minister have both met Northern, and great efforts are going into solving the long-standing industrial relations issues and disputes that we been left with by the previous government, which are at the root of the problems with Sunday train services in the North-West.

We are getting on with delivery. Fundamental reform will be delivered through:

• Transformation of jobcentres to support people into and on in work.

• Working with local areas to tackle economic inactivity.

A Youth Guarantee for 18-21's in England to benefit from education, training or help to find work.

The Department is addressing two areas which have resulted in the underpayment of State Pension. We expect the majority of customers affected to be women.

On the State Pension Underpayment Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practices (LEAP) exercise and the Home Responsibilities Protection LEAP exercise we are identifying and correcting any errors, making arrears payments and amending ongoing State Pension awards.

The Department understands the importance of putting right any errors we find and adjusting State Pension payments without delay. Everyone should receive the State Pension payments to which they are entitled. Giving pensioners the security and dignity they deserve in retirement is a priority for this Government.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline, Headaches: Diagnosis and management of headaches in young people and adults, updated in December 2021, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraines. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraines.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraines, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit. The GIRFT Programme published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving recognition and diagnosis of migraines by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraines, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraines and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraine and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.

Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, has been made available on the National Health Service for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor for which the NICE has published guidance. The NICE recommended Atogepant for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraines on the NHS in England.

We are hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they or their children have suffered because of using hormone pregnancy tests (HPTs). The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, together with the wider Government, have committed to review any new scientific evidence which comes to light since the conclusions of the 2017 independent Expert Working Group (EWG), convened by the Commission on Human Medicines. In line with this commitment, we will be seeking independent expert advice on Professor Danielsson’s publication from the Commission on Human Medicines in due course.

On the other recommendation in the HPT All Party Parliamentary Group February 2024 report, we currently have no plans to set up an independent review to examine the findings of the EWG. In the interests of transparency, all evidence collected, and papers considered by the EWG, were published in 2018, along with full minutes of its discussions. Details of conflicts of interests and how these were managed were also published.

Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. NHS dental practices are contracted to deliver a course of treatment to an individual irrespective of where they live, allowing patients the choice of where they would like to receive care.

NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK website profiles up to date, so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. In circumstances where patients are unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice, they should contact NHS 111.

The Government has made no estimate of this. The Government keeps all tax policy under review.

The expansion at HMP Hindley will deliver c.500 places through two new houseblocks, as part of our wider prison build programme. The contract is being finalised and once concluded we expect the construction period to take c.3 years.