Kate Osborne

Honours nominations are made in confidence, and there is an expectation that they remain confidential in order to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the honours system.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 166585 answered on 15 March 2021.

I refer the Hon. member to the answer given to PQ 141420 on 29 January 2021.

The Government’s objective continues to be ensuring the provision of a sustainable, accessible, and affordable universal postal service.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action where there are reasonable grounds for Royal Mail failing to achieve its obligations.

Following its investigation into quality of service performance for 2022-23, Ofcom imposed a £5.6 million fine on Royal Mail for contravening its service conditions. Ofcom has committed to closely monitoring Royal Mail’s performance and the steps it is taking to return delivery offices to pre-pandemic practices.

The Government is committed to fostering a strong, diverse and competitive financial services sector to ensure that SMEs can access the right type of finance to meet their needs.

The Government recognises the vital role that alternative lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), have played in the provision of credit to SMEs and is grateful for the way the sector has responded during the pandemic. It remains committed to promoting competition and widening the finance options available to UK businesses. We will continue to review our policies and work with the sector through its trade body, Responsible Finance, to achieve those outcomes.

One example of this collaboration is the Start Up Loans programme, whose extension for a further three years was confirmed at Budget. The programme offers loans of up to £25,000 to entrepreneurs and the participation of CDFIs as delivery partners helps to ensure that this opportunity is available to underserved businesses across the UK. 11 of the 21 Start Up Loans delivery partners are CDFIs, and they account for approx. 30 per cent of the loans issued through the scheme in 2020/21.

More widely, the British Business Bank was working with 21 CDFI delivery partners across a range of its programmes at July 2021. These programmes include the Regional Funds and the Recovery Loan Scheme. In addition, 14 CDFIs were accredited lenders for the Covid loan schemes.

The Government will publish its proposals for consultation on the regulatory regime for the insolvency profession shortly.

The Government agrees with the broad intentions of the Local Electricity Bill, but does not support it as the means to enable local energy supply. There are already mechanisms in the market to allow local supply. The current Ofgem regulatory regime allows for a company to supply a specific geographic area, and small-scale generators can also apply for a licence exemption in some cases to reduce the regulatory burdens of operating at a community level.

The Government supports community energy projects through the Rural Community Energy Fund and will work with Ofgem to ensure that local communities can play their role in delivering Net Zero and a Green Recovery.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy worked with a wide range of stakeholders to draft the guidance on safe return to work, as well as Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive.

The Secretary of State chaired seven roundtables and held other discussions involving employers, employees, unions, employer representative organisations and industry bodies. Additionally, there was extensive official-level engagement with those stakeholders as well as other Government department officials.

In all, the Department engaged in over 1000 one-to-one and group discussions. We made drafts of the guidance available to stakeholders to gather direct feedback, and we received over 750 responses to that consultation process. The final guidance reflects that incredible collective effort.

Government continues to monitor the Covid-19 schemes and is providing support across business for VAT and tax deferrals; and all business can reach out to their lenders and landlords for payment holidays during the Covid crisis.

Government is working with lenders to ensure that businesses can access finance. Depending on their eligibility newly formed businesses may be eligible for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) or Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).

Businesses are eligible for the CBILS if they are UK-based in their activity, with annual turnover of no more than £45m. For start-ups, or SMEs which have traded for less than 12 months, the lender should estimate turnover based upon the SME’s forecasted turnover for the first 12 months of trading.

Businesses are eligible for the BBLS if they are UK-based in their activity, were established on or before 1 March 2020 and have been negatively affected by Coronavirus.

All businesses in England including your constituency, can continue to access support through our GOV.UK website, the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565), and through their Local Growth Hubs.

BT customers who have incurred late payment charges should contact BT customer service to discuss and resolve any issues that the postal strikes may have caused.

Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, requires all communication providers to be members of an approved independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme, which can assist in settling complaints. BT has signed up to the Communications Ombudsman service, which is free for consumers: https://www.ombudsman-services.org/sectors/communications

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy.

Government has provided a range of support for swimming pools during the pandemic. The £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country. In addition, Sport England have made 127 Covid support awards to the Swimming & Diving community (totalling £1,100,560), and a further 20 awards to multi-sport projects (totalling £211,171) where swimming and diving are expected to benefit.

Beyond Covid, Sport England have awarded £8,529,154 to swimming and diving projects since April 2017, and have provided £16,123,002 of funding to Swim England in the same period.

The government recognises that the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be extremely challenging for businesses, including in the Bingo sector. In recognition of the impact of requiring some businesses to remain closed for a longer period, we have introduced an enhanced package of support, including Restart Grants of up to £18,000 per premises, specifically for those which have been required to remain closed beyond Step 2. The package also includes extensions to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, with further discretionary funding for Local Authorities.

Bingo clubs have accessed £44m of government support via the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme (£26.8m), Eat Out to Help Out (£600k), Business Rates Relief (£15.9m) and Grant funding (£1.6m). We are continuing to work with organisations in the land-based gambling sector to understand the impacts and how we may be able to support them.

The government recognises the importance of spectators to competitive sport, and to football in particular, as our national game, from the grassroots to the Premier League.

We welcome the return of spectators at selected sporting events as part of the science-led Events Research Programme (ERP). The ERP is running a series of pilots in April and May to inform decisions around the safe removal of social distancing at Step 4 of the Roadmap. The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venues, and activities, including football games, so that findings will support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors.

The government has published the ‘COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021’ setting out the roadmap out of the lockdown restrictions for England, and which explains how restrictions will be eased over time.

Step 2 of the Government's roadmap sets out that spectators are not permitted to attend sporting events taking place on private land, other than for safeguarding purposes for or providing care or assistance to a person with disabilities participating in an organised sporting event or activity. They should maintain social distance and not mix with other households. This does not prevent people from viewing recreational or organised sport that is taking place in a public space, e.g. a park, in groups of up to 6 people or 2 households.

Sporting events that are intended to attract spectators (including ticketed events), or events that are likely to attract a significant number of spectators (e.g. a major marathon) should not take place in a public space, or on private land, until Step 3.

Whilst we would like to offer as many businesses as possible the opportunity to take part in the pilot programme, unfortunately it is not logistically feasible at this stage to run a large number of pilot events. I fully recognise that in normal times, fans would cherish the opportunity to travel to Wembley Stadium to support their club’s participation in the FA Vase final, and I understand the disappointment with this not being possible this year. The return of crowds is our priority for all football clubs, and we look forward to being able to welcome back fans to clubs as soon as it is safe to do so.

The Government is clear that bullying should never be tolerated and is committed to supporting schools to tackle bullying. The Department provides advice for schools, which outlines schools’ responsibilities. The advice makes clear that schools should make appropriate provision for a bullied child's social, emotional and mental health needs. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.

Gender is a complex and sensitive issue. That is why the Department is working with the Minister for Women and Equalities to develop guidance to support schools in relation to gender questioning pupils. The Department will publish a draft for consultation later in the summer term.

More widely, the Department is providing over £2 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2023, to five anti bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying.

The Department is also making sure that all children in England will be taught about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of new mandatory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and for difference.

All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that outlines measures to encourage good behaviour and prevent all forms of bullying amongst pupils. The policy should set out the behaviour expected of pupils, the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour, and rewards for good behaviour. This should be communicated to all pupils, school staff and parents. This behaviour policy is supported by ‘Respectful School Communities’, a self review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This tool is available here: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/. This can help with combatting bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind, including hate based bullying.

Milk is an excellent food for children’s growth and development. This is why under the school food standards, schools must ensure it is available to all pupils who want it during school hours. Further guidance on the school food standards can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools.

Lower fat milk or lactose reduced milk must be available for drinking at least once a day during school hours and milk must be provided free of charge to pupils eligible for free school meals. Schools may offer milk as many times as they wish, however it must be free to infant and benefits-based free school meal pupils when it is offered as part of their school meal and free to benefits-based free school meal pupils at all other times.

Where schools provide milk, they can also choose whether to participate in the School Milk Subsidy Scheme which can be used to reduce the cost of the milk. The rate for the subsidy is topped up nationally for pupils in primary education.

Further information about the scheme is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-school-milk-subsidy-scheme-guidance.

As announced in the Spring Statement, the government is continuing to provide targeted cost of living support for households most in need. From April 2022, the government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of household essentials, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing the total funding for this support to £1 billion.

The Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) will provide individuals with a loan entitlement to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education to use over their lifetime. It will be available for both modules and full years of study at higher technical and degree levels (levels 4 to 6), regardless of whether they are provided in colleges or universities.

We want to drive a transformative impact on post-18 study, delivering greater parity between further education (FE) and higher education (HE). Under this flexible skills system, people will be able to space out their studies and learn at a pace that is right for them, including choosing to build up their qualifications over time, within both FE and HE providers.

The Skills and post-16 Education Bill modifies my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s existing powers to set the levels of loan available to support more modular provision, which could extend across both tuition fee and maintenance support. The LLE is also intended to fund whole courses, or their component modules if taken separately, that meet the necessary regulatory requirements and are provided by or on behalf of a registered provider. We are considering what maintenance loans and student support grants would be available for any study funded through the LLE, as well as how to best support modular study. We will consult on the detail and scope of this in due course. The LLE does not extend to level 3 provision, which is already funded through a number of other funding streams.

The Adult Education Budget (AEB) fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes a statutory entitlement to full funding for adult learners aged 19-23 undertaking their first full qualification at level 3.

Since 1 April 2021, the National Skills Fund has been supporting any adult who does not have A level equivalent or higher qualifications, to access over 400 fully funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. This offer is a long-term commitment, backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one. From April, any adult in England earning under the national living wage annually (£18,525) or unemployed, will also be able to access the Free Courses for Jobs offer for free, regardless of their prior qualification level.

Living costs support is not offered to those undertaking level 3 qualifications. General support for those costs is provided for by the Department for Work and Pensions. Through grant funding and a bursary fund for those with an advanced learner loan, colleges and other training providers are able to help adult learners overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part or continuing in learning. This includes:

• Learner support to support learners in financial hardship. Providers have discretion to help learners meet course related costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment and childcare.
• Learning support to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

The Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) will provide individuals with a loan entitlement to the equivalent of four years of post-18 education to use over their lifetime. It will be available for both modules and full years of study at higher technical and degree levels (levels 4 to 6), regardless of whether they are provided in colleges or universities.

We want to drive a transformative impact on post-18 study, delivering greater parity between further education (FE) and higher education (HE). Under this flexible skills system, people will be able to space out their studies and learn at a pace that is right for them, including choosing to build up their qualifications over time, within both FE and HE providers.

The Skills and post-16 Education Bill modifies my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education’s existing powers to set the levels of loan available to support more modular provision, which could extend across both tuition fee and maintenance support. The LLE is also intended to fund whole courses, or their component modules if taken separately, that meet the necessary regulatory requirements and are provided by or on behalf of a registered provider. We are considering what maintenance loans and student support grants would be available for any study funded through the LLE, as well as how to best support modular study. We will consult on the detail and scope of this in due course. The LLE does not extend to level 3 provision, which is already funded through a number of other funding streams.

The Adult Education Budget (AEB) fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to support adults to gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. This includes a statutory entitlement to full funding for adult learners aged 19-23 undertaking their first full qualification at level 3.

Since 1 April 2021, the National Skills Fund has been supporting any adult who does not have A level equivalent or higher qualifications, to access over 400 fully funded level 3 courses, with Free Courses for Jobs. This offer is a long-term commitment, backed by £95 million from the National Skills Fund in year one. From April, any adult in England earning under the national living wage annually (£18,525) or unemployed, will also be able to access the Free Courses for Jobs offer for free, regardless of their prior qualification level.

Living costs support is not offered to those undertaking level 3 qualifications. General support for those costs is provided for by the Department for Work and Pensions. Through grant funding and a bursary fund for those with an advanced learner loan, colleges and other training providers are able to help adult learners overcome barriers which prevent them from taking part or continuing in learning. This includes:

• Learner support to support learners in financial hardship. Providers have discretion to help learners meet course related costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment and childcare.
• Learning support to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

The government can confirm that funding for the School Games Organisers will be available for the full 2021/22 academic year. The government is considering arrangements for the School Games Organiser network for the 2022/23 academic year and beyond, and will confirm the position in 2022.

We are also working to deliver on the nearly £30 million announced in October 2021 towards opening up school sport facilities in England, as well as to improve the teaching of Physical Education at primary school. We will continue to work closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport and the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver on the aims of the School Sport and Activity Action Plan which we will be updating in 2022.

Defra is reviewing information provided from the Port of Tyne and other stakeholders in response to proposals for changes to Action Levels for sea disposal of dredged sediment, as well as evidence from work carried out by Cefas, and no decision has yet been made. Officials will continue to engage with stakeholders including those from the River Tyne to ensure we fully understand the impacts of the proposals for the region. Before implementing any proposed changes, an impact assessment will be completed. We will communicate the next steps in the review of Action Levels shortly.

The sediment transport pathways in the Tyne means that there is both a legacy contamination issue and transport of pollutants down the catchment where they are contributing to the issues. Action is therefore being taken via the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme to control inputs of metals which pollute more than 150kms of rivers in the Tyne catchment and to alleviate problems in the estuary. This is supported by our proposed target tackling metal pollution under the Environment Act to reduce the length of rivers and estuaries polluted by target substances from abandoned metal mines, which we are currently consulting on.

Defra is reviewing information provided from the Port of Tyne and other stakeholders in response to proposals for changes to Action Levels for sea disposal of dredged sediment, as well as evidence from work carried out by Cefas, and no decision has yet been made. Officials will continue to engage with stakeholders including those from the River Tyne to ensure we fully understand the impacts of the proposals for the region. Before implementing any proposed changes, an impact assessment will be completed. We will communicate the next steps in the review of Action Levels shortly.

The sediment transport pathways in the Tyne means that there is both a legacy contamination issue and transport of pollutants down the catchment where they are contributing to the issues. Action is therefore being taken via the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme to control inputs of metals which pollute more than 150kms of rivers in the Tyne catchment and to alleviate problems in the estuary. This is supported by our proposed target tackling metal pollution under the Environment Act to reduce the length of rivers and estuaries polluted by target substances from abandoned metal mines, which we are currently consulting on.

Defra is reviewing information provided from the Port of Tyne and other stakeholders in response to proposals for changes to Action Levels for sea disposal of dredged sediment, as well as evidence from work carried out by Cefas, and no decision has yet been made. Officials will continue to engage with stakeholders including those from the River Tyne to ensure we fully understand the impacts of the proposals for the region. Before implementing any proposed changes, an impact assessment will be completed. We will communicate the next steps in the review of Action Levels shortly.

The sediment transport pathways in the Tyne means that there is both a legacy contamination issue and transport of pollutants down the catchment where they are contributing to the issues. Action is therefore being taken via the Water and Abandoned Metal Mines Programme to control inputs of metals which pollute more than 150kms of rivers in the Tyne catchment and to alleviate problems in the estuary. This is supported by our proposed target tackling metal pollution under the Environment Act to reduce the length of rivers and estuaries polluted by target substances from abandoned metal mines, which we are currently consulting on.

Defra is reviewing information provided by stakeholders in response to proposals for changes to Action Levels for sea disposal of dredged sediment and no decision has yet been made. Officials will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure we fully understand the impacts of the proposals on businesses. Before implementing any proposed changes, an impact assessment will be completed.

Defra is reviewing information provided by stakeholders in response to proposals for changes to Action Levels for sea disposal of dredged sediment. Defra recognise there are regional variabilities and will continue to engage with stakeholders including those from the River Tyne to ensure we fully understand the impacts of the proposals for the region. Before implementing any proposed changes, an impact assessment will be completed.