Julia Buckley

The controls outlined in the Civil Service Equality Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance which was published on 14 May remain in place and apply to all civil servants.

The controls outlined in the Civil Service Equality Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance which was published on 14 May remain in place.

New tariffs or quotas on goods from a particular country can be applied via trade remedies. It is for the independent Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) to investigate whether trade remedy measures are needed to protect our industries. The Secretary of State can request the TRA to initiate an investigation. For the TRA to accept any application, an evidence threshold must be met. We encourage any UK producer that believes it has been harmed by unfairly dumped or subsidised goods to contact the TRA in the first instance.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. We will be ensuring that AI is used to drive the government’s missions and priorities. We are committed to building an AI sector that can scale and win globally, through the AI Opportunities Action Plan which will be published this Autumn. It will outline an approach to delivering the opportunities AI can bring across the system, setting out our governments ambition.

The department has set out its plan and ambitions for Skills England. Work is now underway to develop how it will deliver, and the department has already been clear that working with a wide range of stakeholders will be central to this. This includes the British Chambers of Commerce as well as other key organisations. The department will publish its first report in due course, which will be followed by a series of engagement activities.

The future of the Holiday Activities and Food programme beyond 31 March 2025, is subject to the next government Spending Review taking place this autumn. The department will communicate the outcome of that process in due course.

Following the last Ofsted inspection, departmental officials have been working with Shropshire Council to closely monitor progress against the areas for improvement identified by inspectors. The department has appointed a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) advisor to support and work alongside Shropshire Council and the local area partnership.

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with SEND or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with local area partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

Departmental officials are in regular contact with Shropshire Local Area Partnership to ensure children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families are provided with positive experiences and outcomes, helping to foster a shared sense of responsibility and accountability for inclusion.

This government is committed to taking a community-wide approach in collaboration with Local Area Partnerships, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

Bathing waters are one of the most visible ways in which the public interacts with the water environment. The Government recognises that there have been increasing changes to how and where people use bathing waters. Ministers are currently working through priorities and options for future reform of the bathing water system.

Protecting communities around the country from flooding and coastal erosion is one of the new Secretary of State’s five core priorities.

This Government will improve resilience and preparation across central government, local authorities, local communities and emergency services to better protect communities across the UK. We will launch a new Flood Resilience Taskforce to turbocharge the delivery of new flood defences, drainage systems and natural flood management schemes, which will ensure we’re prepared for the future and help grow our economy.

We will review the current 6-year capital programme (2021-2027) to ensure flood risk management is fit for the challenges we face now and in the future.

The programme is currently forecast to invest over £150 million across the English Severn and Wye Catchment, with almost £30 million of this to be invested in Shropshire, better protecting almost 450 homes and businesses there.

The Environment Agency also maintains existing flood risk management assets in Shrewsbury which better protect 154 properties from flooding, and provides a free Flood Warning Service to residents in the constituency.

As a general principle, Blue Badge eligibility is based on mobility. Reapplying for a badge every three years gives local authorities the opportunity to reassess badge holders when their badges expire, ensuring that they continue to meet the criteria which makes them eligible for a badge. It also serves the purpose of making sure that the details local authorities hold about the badge holder, and those that are displayed on the badge itself, remain correct.

The Department for Transport sets the legislation that governs the Blue Badge scheme and provides guidance for local authorities who are solely responsible for administering the scheme, including issuing the badges.

There are no timescales set for administering applications other than a suggested guideline that issuing authorities should aim to complete end to end applications within 12 weeks.

80% of citizens apply for a badge using the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) operated by the Department for Transport. The Department has a programme of continuous improvement of the digital service with the aim of making online badge applications quicker and easier for applicants and local authorities.

The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.

For those not on Universal Credit, housing support is tapered when their income exceeds the applicable amount. On Universal Credit, for those claimants in Supported Housing or Temporary Accommodation their housing support is not tapered as they are passported to full Housing Benefit. This ensures parity with Universal Credit and avoids them being tapered on both Universal Credit and Housing Benefit which could disincentivise work.

The Department acknowledges the challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those working and living in supported housing and temporary accommodation. This issue is a complex one, officials are working to explore this issue further.

It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment.

The Department acknowledges the challenge presented by the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those working and living in supported housing as the two systems were never intended to run alongside one another.

The income taper in Housing Benefit ensures people in work are better off than someone wholly reliant on benefits. In addition to any financial advantage, there are important non-financial benefits of working. These benefits include learning new skills, improved confidence, and independence as well as a positive effect on an individual's mental and physical health.

The Department will continue to work to build our understanding of this topic and to evaluate future policy options.

It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment.

A claim for Pension Credit can be backdated by up to three months, as long as the conditions of entitlement are met during that period. This means that any claim made by 21 December and successfully backdated can qualify for this year’s Winter Fuel Payment.

CMS are committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers within our growing caseload, though fully recognise that call waiting times are sometimes longer than we would like.

To address this, we are working to improve the efficiency of our customer interactions through both the telephone and Digital channels, and by promoting self-service online. These are freeing up CMS resource to support customers that need to contact us by telephone.

The class leading CMS online service supports customers in understanding options around child maintenance arrangements through to completing applications and the ability to manage their case online. These services are available 24/7, and in July 2024 over 1 million customers were logging on to their online My Child Maintenance Case account and using them. To improve the efficiency of the service, improvements have been made to process simple actions automatically, whilst also improving training and guidance for CMS colleagues.

As a result, call volumes are reducing, and improved customer service being delivered through the combination of Online and Telephone channels.

CMS is working to improve all forms of communication with customers, including greater use of SMS and email as well as improving letter content.

The Department continually seeks to review, evaluate, and enhance tools and training material to support staff in delivering a quality customer service and takes timely action to further train and support staff where further improvements can be made. Additionally, CMS have extended their telephony service to 6pm on weekdays to meet demand.

The Department plans to bring forward changes to allow the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to make an administrative liability order against a person who has failed to pay child maintenance and is in arrears. The administrative liability order will replace the current requirement for the CMS to apply to the court for a liability order, which is an outdated process and can take up to 22 weeks. We expect the new liability order process to take around six to eight weeks, meaning the CMS can use its strong enforcement powers more quickly to go after those who wilfully avoid their financial obligations to their children.

We will bring forward the legislation as soon as possible.

The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure that patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of a range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.

I recently met with NHS England, and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and quality of, palliative and end of life care.  We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.

No assessment has been made by the Government. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) oversees the work of the statutory bodies that regulate health professionals in the United Kingdom, including the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

On 30 August 2024, the PSA published its 2023/24 performance review of the HCPC. The HCPC met 16 out of 18 of the PSA’s Standards of Good Regulation. The HCPC met all four of the PSA’s standards on registration including Standard 11, that the regulator’s process for registration, including appeals, operates proportionately, fairly, and efficiently, with decisions clearly explained.

No assessment has been made by the Government. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) oversees the work of the statutory bodies that regulate health professionals in the United Kingdom, including the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

On 30 August 2024, the PSA published its 2023/24 performance review of the HCPC. The HCPC met 16 out of 18 of the PSA’s Standards of Good Regulation. The HCPC met all four of the PSA’s standards on registration including Standard 11, that the regulator’s process for registration, including appeals, operates proportionately, fairly, and efficiently, with decisions clearly explained.

Under the GP Contracts, premises liabilities are the responsibility of the contractor. Overall contractual payments reflect this arrangement, with the National Health Service also reimbursing direct premises costs including rent, business rates, water, and clinical waste.

There are 8,842 practice premises across England, of these, 51% are leased premises. The NHS is not a formal party to the leases on these properties. If NHS England were to consider a formal underwriting of the leases, legal advice notes, that would constitute a commitment, which would require capitalisation under the International Financial Accounting Standard IFRS16, and limited NHS capital budgets would have to be diverted to offset this commitment, in addition to the payment of rents against the properties.

This would provide, in effect, a double payment of costs against the asset and would commit substantial capital funds to the exercise, limiting the ability of integrated care systems to invest in the primary care estate, address secondary and community care, mental health services, and critical and usual infrastructure maintenance requirements, significantly adversely affecting the overall investment plans for communities. As a result, NHS England considers that a formal underwriting of leases would not provide best use of public funds.

No specific assessment has been made. Shared care records are in place in all integrated care boards, allowing information from general practice and acute settings to be shared for direct care.

The Frontline Digitisation programme is working to improve the digital maturity of all providers so that they have adequate enabling hardware, robust connectivity, electronic patient record systems, and other core capabilities in place.

The Data Information and Smart Data Bill announced in the King's Speech will include the statutory power to require IT suppliers to adhere to information standards. This will help ensure there is a ‘common language’ for health and care software systems to talk to each other, across all health and care settings.

The Home Office has already implemented a number of the recommendations, or is in the process of doing so. This includes:

- The rollout of an online spiking reporting and advice tool across the UK to encourage more and better reporting of spiking, including anonymously. This is intended to improve data on the prevalence and scale of spiking.

- Providing funding for the development of spiking training to ensure that night time economy staff are trained to respond effectively to reports of spiking and co-ordinate with security staff and the emergency services.

- The government has committed in its manifesto to introduce a new criminal offence for spiking to help police better respond to this crime. This will form part of the Crime and Policing Bill.

- The formation of a rapid testing capability for spiking to gather more accurate results in a quicker time frame (2-3 weeks opposed to 6-8). This is being supported by research into the efficacy of rapid urine testing kits which aim to provide results in a matter of minutes. At this stage however, I urge anyone who believes they have been spiked to contact the police as soon as possible to provide a report and a urine sample for lab testing.

Many of these measures were designed with the aim of addressing the key barriers to prosecution which we have identified as lack of evidence, and identification of perpetrators.

Decisions on funding post March 2025 are a matter for the Budget on October 30th.

We recognise the challenges this brings for some projects. We are working closely with local authorities and key stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition to future funding, so communities continue to benefit from this vital support. In the meantime, officials remain available to discuss any issues impacting delivery.

The Government will set out its plans for regulation of the private parking industry in due course.

We are aware that the Law Commission made recommendations for wholesale change of weddings law in July 2022. We will take the time as a new Government to properly consider this issue. We will set out our next steps on our manifesto commitment to strengthen rights and protections for women in cohabitating couples in the near future.