Karl McCartney

Over 70% of the global economy now has net zero or carbon neutrality commitments, up from less than 30% when the UK assumed the COP Presidency. Over 100 countries have submitted enhanced 2030 targets, but we must increase global ambition to keep 1.5 degrees in reach and will continue to push all countries, particularly the G20, to do so.

Churches across the Country play an important role in supporting community infrastructure for their local communities. The Diocese of Norwich since 2011 have been the majority shareholder in WiSpire which provides discreet Fixed Wireless Access technology to attach to church towers. This system builds a network of transmitters offering schools, businesses and residents the opportunity to connect to Wi-Fi and broadband particularly in rural areas.

The Church is in early discussions to expand this provision into the Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich and Diocese of Ely. Given the geography of the Diocese of Lincoln it may be a suitable candidate for consideration as the project expands as best provision using this system needs direct line of sight. Conversations are also in progress with the Government to test viability of this and other potential schemes across other parts of the country.

The Church of England takes anti-Semitism very seriously and is supporting the work of the Chief Rabbi and the Holocaust Memorial Trust to counteract the increase in reported anti-Semitic incidents over the last year. Last week, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chief Rabbi launched ‘In Good Faith’, a twinning arrangement between rabbis and priests in local neighbourhoods around the country. It is in its early stages, but it will involve a commitment to work together to counteract anti-Semitism.

We value diversity but want the best people in the classroom, as evidence shows that quality of teaching is the single most important factor in determining how well pupils achieve.

Recent figures show that from 2011/12 to 2015/16, the number of full-time equivalent male teachers increased from 115,000 to nearly 120,000. Last year, 26 per cent of teachers in state schools were male.

The First World War Centenary cathedral Repairs Fund has currently allocated £3.45million of the £40million total, this has as so far enabled 116 vital repair and restoration projects across 57 Anglican and Catholic cathedrals to be undertaken.

Lincoln Cathedral has received £1.18 million for repairs to turrets and roofs, typical of the costs faced for high-level cathedral repairs involving extraordinarily complicated scaffolding. These repairs have gone a long way to complete the major repairs but with any building of this size and age constant maintenance is needed.

The final grants are currently being processed, as the grants scheme comes to a close there will be a programme of formal evaluation to assess the wider social and economic benefits the projects have contributed, such as increased employment, training, volunteer opportunities and tourism. A copy of this evaluation will be made available to all Members early in 2018 so as to ensure it covers all works the Fund has invested in.

I am delighted that my revised Disclosure Guidelines have now been published. These Guidelines will come into force on 31 December and will be key to the requisite culture change and thinking approach needed when investigators and prosecutors carry out their disclosure obligations.

This will ensure that better, fairer decisions are made in criminal cases, which will help to ensure that fewer cases are dropped post-charge due to issues arising due to late disclosure.

It is the long-standing position of successive UK Governments that a state may use force in self-defence not only in response to armed attacks but to prevent an armed attack that is imminent. In each exercise of the use of force in self-defence, the UK asks itself questions such as: how certain is it that an attack will come; how soon do we believe an attack could be; what could be the scale of the attack; could this be our last opportunity to take action; and is there anything else we could credibly do to prevent that attack?

We have the strongest legal framework in place including the Modern Slavery Act, which came into force in July 2015. The Law Officers are supporting the Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Modern Slavery, and the CPS continues to see a year on year increase in the numbers of prosecutions.

The number of sentences considered by my office has increased by over 108% since 2010 from 342 to 713 requests in 2015.

Of those, 136 were referred by my office to the Court of Appeal as potentially unduly lenient, with the Court agreeing to increase the original sentence for 102 offenders.

The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other government departments, including the Attorney General’s Office, and a wide range of other interested parties.

Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery has been appointed as the chair of the expert group to advise on the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations on compensation. The names of the other members of the expert group have not been disclosed to safeguard the privacy and ability of experts to continue their frontline clinical roles whilst advising on Government policy.

The Government has committed to update Parliament through an oral statement on next steps within 25 sitting days following the publication of the final report on 20 May, and it is our intention to make this statement as soon as possible. Additionally, we will bring forward amendments at Report Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the Other Place with the intention of speeding up the implementation of the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The Government will respond in full to Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations on compensation following the publication of the Inquiry’s final report on 20th May, and we will provide an update to Parliament on next steps within 25 sitting days following this date. Additionally, we will bring forward amendments at Report Stage of the Victims and Prisoners Bill in the Other Place with the intention of speeding up the implementation of the Government’s response to the Infected Blood Inquiry.

The Cabinet Office holds no information in relation to the Inquiry's methodology. The process and findings of the independent inquiry are a matter for the Chair, Sir Brian Langstaff.

Anyone can nominate anyone for an honour. The Cabinet Office outreach includes this message in all public communications, including press releases.

In England, as reported in the English Housing Survey, 799,000 dwellings (3 per cent) used oil central heating as their main heating system in 2019. In Scotland, as reported in the Scottish House Condition Survey, 129,000 households (5 per cent) used oil as their primary heating fuel in 2019. Data for Greater London, Inner London and Lincoln are not available.

Data on domestic petroleum consumption by Local Authority (including those authorities within Inner and Outer London, Lincoln and Scotland) is published annually in subnational total final energy consumption. The data available refers to domestic petroleum consumption as a whole, heating oil is not identified separately.

The Department is working closely with all interested stakeholders to ensure their views are properly captured. I am working with colleagues across government to make sure we understand all of the potential risks and opportunities across the economy.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone with the potential has the opportunity to benefit from higher education, irrespective of their background or gender.

In the last academic year we saw record entry rates to higher education, including among those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In our recent guidance to the Director of Fair Access, we asked him to focus support on groups with the lowest participation rates, including white males from disadvantaged backgrounds. Universities expect to spend more than £745 million through access agreements agreed with the Director of Fair Access on measures to improve access and also success for students from disadvantaged backgrounds - up significantly from £404 million in 2009.

My Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills does not intend to withdraw the appointment of Paul Newby as the Pubs Code Adjudicator.

As of 18 March 2016, my Department has received one piece of correspondence from an individual pub tenant and three pieces of correspondence from pub tenant groups on the appointment of the new Pubs Code Adjudicator, since the appointment was announced.

The total prize payout by game type and region is not collated.

The total amount that has been paid out in prizes since 2010 is £38,447.5 million and the list below shows how this is broken down each year during that period. This information has been collated from an analysis of Camelot UK Lotteries Limited annual accounts, which are publicly available:

• 2019/20 - £4,505.0 million

• 2018/19 - £4,128.5 million

• 2017/18 - £3,928.4 million

• 2016/17 - £3,943.2 million

• 2015/16 - £4,198.9 million

• 2014/15 - £4,043.0 million

• 2013/14 - £3,636.6 million

• 2012/13 - £3,697.6 million

• 2011/12 - £3,388.6 million

• 2010/11 - £2,977.7 million

The 3rd National Lottery Licence sets out the amount the operator and good causes retain after certain costs (for example, prizes, lottery duty and retailer commission).

Camelot UK Lotteries Limited publish their annual report on their website. Profit for the financial year and total comprehensive income attributable to owners of the Company after tax from 2010/2011 to 2019/2020 is shown below:

• 2019/20 - £78.1m

• 2018/19 - £68.0m

• 2017/18 - £68.4m

• 2016/17 - £70.5m

• 2015/16 - £77.5m

• 2014/15 - £71.0m

• 2013/14 - £58.5m

• 2012/13 - £54.6m

• 2011/12 - £33.3m

• 2010/11 - £28.6m

The operation of the National Lottery and the distribution of good cause income are two separate processes. As the current operator of the National Lottery, Camelot UK Lotteries Limited has no influence over the distribution of National Lottery good cause income.

All good cause income generated through National Lottery sales is placed into the National Lottery Distribution Fund which is distributed by the 12 National Lottery Distributing Bodies at arms length from the Government. The Lottery Distributing Bodies distribute funding across four good cause areas as set out in legislation, the National Lottery etc Act 1993; communities 40%, arts 20%, heritage 20%, and sport 20%.

There is a publicly available database to access information on distribution of Lottery funding that can be accessed through the Gov.uk website. This website brings together National Lottery grant data from the commencement of the National Lottery in 1994 to January 2018 and allows searches to be made for good cause grants in each region within specific timeframes. Due to technical limitations with the historic database, we have not yet been able to incorporate more recent National Lottery grant data. We are currently developing a new database which will be launched this year and will include data from 2018 onwards.

DCMS does not hold this information. The amount the National Lottery operator spends on advertising is a commercial decision, subject to conditions set out in the licence which specify minimum amounts that must be spent on marketing. For the current year the figure is £72m or 1.07% sales, whichever is higher. Information for further years can be found at Schedule 10, Condition 11, Part 1 of the third licence at the following link: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/NL-licences/NL-Third-licence.pdf

DCMS does not hold this information. The amount the National Lottery operator spends on advertising is a commercial decision, subject to conditions set out in the licence which specify minimum amounts that must be spent on marketing. For the current year the figure is £72m or 1.07% sales, whichever is higher. Information for further years can be found at Schedule 10, Condition 11, Part 1 of the third licence at the following link: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/PDF/NL-licences/NL-Third-licence.pdf