Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Ensure Trans people are fully protected under any conversion therapy ban
Gov Responded - 12 May 2022 Debated on - 13 Jun 2022 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsEnsure any ban fully includes trans people and all forms of conversion therapy.
Stop work on HS2 immediately and hold a new vote to repeal the legislation
Gov Responded - 14 Jan 2021 Debated on - 13 Sep 2021 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsWe ask Parliament to repeal the High Speed Rail Bills, 2016 and 2019, as MPs voted on misleading environmental, financial and timetable information provided by the Dept of Transport and HS2 Ltd. It fails to address the conditions of the Paris Accord and costs have risen from £56bn to over £100bn.
Allow football fans to attend matches at all levels
Gov Responded - 21 Oct 2020 Debated on - 9 Nov 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsFootball is a powerful tool of which allows a range of benefits such as employment, and other important aspects of life. Football can be associated with passion, emotion, excitement and dedication across the community. With Fans attending football games a range of economic benefits are there too.
Pet Theft Reform: Amend animal welfare law to make pet theft a specific offence.
Gov Responded - 16 Jul 2019 Debated on - 19 Oct 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsWe propose to amend the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to make pet theft a specific offence, distinct from that of inanimate objects; and in sentencing, the courts must consider the fear, alarm or distress to the pet and owners and not monetary value.
Make pet theft crime a specific offence with custodial sentences.
Gov Responded - 31 Mar 2020 Debated on - 19 Oct 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsPet Theft Reform 2020: Revise the sentencing guidelines in the Theft Act 1968 to reclassify pet theft as a specific crime. Ensure that monetary value is irrelevant for the categorisation of dog and cat theft crime for sentencing purposes. Recognise pet theft as a category 2 offence or above.
Impose sanctions on China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims
Gov Responded - 28 Jul 2020 Debated on - 12 Oct 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsThe UK Government plans to introduce “Magnitsky law”, a law which targets people who commit gross human rights violations. Through this law or alternative means, this petition urges the UK Government to impose sanctions on China for their human rights violations on the Uyghur people.
Increase pay for NHS healthcare workers and recognise their work
Gov Responded - 4 May 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsI would like the government to review and increase the pay for healthcare workers to recognise the work that they do.
Reduce or scrap the immigration health surcharge for overseas NHS Staff.
Gov Responded - 29 May 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsTo revoke the Immigration Health Surcharge increases for overseas NHS staff. The latest budget shows an increase of £220 a year for an overseas worker to live and work in the UK, at a time when the NHS, and UK economy, relies heavily on them.
We would like the government to consider social care as equally important to NHS
Gov Responded - 20 Apr 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsWe would like the government to support and regard social care: financially, publicly and systematically on an equal par as NHS. We would like parliament to debate how to support social care during COVID-19 and beyond so that it automatically has the same access to operational and financial support.
Give non-British citizens who are NHS workers automatic citizenship
Gov Responded - 6 May 2020 Debated on - 25 Jun 2020 View Kieran Mullan's petition debate contributionsGive NHS workers who are EU and other Nationals automatic UK citizenship if they stay and risk their own lives looking after the British people during the COVID crisis.
These initiatives were driven by Kieran Mullan, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Kieran Mullan has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Kieran Mullan has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
NHS Prescriptions (Drug Tariff Labelling) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Craig Mackinlay (Con)
Local Authority Boundaries Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Robbie Moore (Con)
Community Wealth Fund Bill 2021-22
Sponsor - Paul Howell (Con)
The Government has launched a support service open to all victims and those at risk of conversion practices regardless of their background or circumstances. We have committed up to £360,000 over three years to this service, which includes a helpline, instant messaging service, and website to enable people to get the support they need.
More widely, the Government remains committed to protecting everyone from these practices. We are carefully considering the responses to the public consultation which closed earlier this year and will respond in due course.
Geothermal energy has a role to play as part of a diversified energy mix and last year, I visited a geothermal facility connected with the Eden Project, which is receiving demonstrator funding from the government.
The Government is currently consulting on our proposals to legislate for a ban on conversion therapy. The question is how, not whether, we will ban conversion therapy. The consultation runs until Friday 10 December and I would encourage anyone with an interest to respond.
The consultation responses will be used to further refine the Government’s policy proposals on banning conversion therapy and inform the process of developing legislation. We will analyse the responses to the consultation and respond in the new year. We will prepare a Bill for Spring 2022, to be introduced as soon as Parliamentary time allows.
The interests of the public, and particularly their trust and confidence in the democratic process, are central to the work of the Commission.
It supports electoral administrators to deliver high quality electoral registration and administration services to voters, and by providing detailed guidance to ensure they can undertake their responsibilities. It also provides direct information to voters - such as on voter registration and on preventing voter fraud - to support them in participating with confidence in the democratic process.
It oversees the regulation of political finance and compliance with Parliament's rules. This includes; supporting parties and campaigners to understand and comply with the rules; and taking proportionate enforcement action where breeches occur; and providing voters with transparency over the money spent and recieved by campaigners and parties.
The Commission's research shows that there are high levels of public confidence that elections in the UK are well-run.
The Electoral Commission is directly accountable to the UK's parliaments, and scrutiny of its work is an essential part of giving assurance to parliamentarians and to the public about how it undertakes its duties.
It reports to the UK Parliament through the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, which has a statatory duty to review the Commission's financial estimates and plans, and oversees the appointments of Electoral Commissioners. Parliamentary select committees, most notably the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, also pay an important role in scrutinising the work of the Commission.
The Commission is also accountable to the Scottish Parliament through the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, and the Sennedd through the Llywydd's Committee.
We have set out in the Queen’s Speech our intention to ban conversion therapy. This government is committed to ensuring people in this country are free to live their lives, judged on the basis of their character and talents alone. Ahead of bringing forward legislative action, we will launch a public consultation. We will also be putting new support in place for victims of conversion therapy.
Government Legal Department (GLD) lawyers are engaged in helping to shape and deliver the legislation required to support levelling up, including the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and supporting the implementation of the Levelling Up Fund and Town Partnerships.
The GLD is actively growing its presence in the North West. The Attorney and I were delighted to open the new GLD office in Manchester earlier this month.
In addition to recruiting qualified lawyers and other professionals into the Manchester office, GLD are committed to offering traineeships and legal apprenticeships there as the office grows. To support this, they are undertaking targeted outreach activity in the region to help raise the profile of the GLD and highlight opportunities to join at all stages of a legal career.
Effective disclosure is a vital part of the criminal justice process and inseparable from the right to a fair trial.
I am currently undertaking the first Annual Review of Disclosure to assess how my revised Disclosure Guidelines, instituted in January 2021, are operating. The Solicitor General and I have been meeting with key disclosure stakeholders from a range of geographic areas and professions to hear feedback on the Guidelines.
Regular monitoring ensures all those involved in disclosure across the criminal justice system are working together and prioritising a cross-system approach. It also allows me to support efficient disclosure practice at the front-line.
I am committed to making the disclosure process an efficient and effective one, and I see the Guidelines as a practical document which can offer principled, clear and useful guidance to all those involved in disclosure.
The CPS has made a number of recent improvements in its handling of cases involving defendants with a mental health condition or disorder, which has included new and refreshed training for prosecutors, and better information sharing with other criminal justice agencies.
Every CPS Area also has at least one single point of contact (SPOC) for mental health, who provide advice and support prosecutors in making decisions on complex cases involving mental health issues.
In addition, the CPS is also developing a mental health flag for its case management system, which will help to identify those with mental health needs and ensure that their cases get the specialist attention they require.
This good work was recognised in a Criminal Justice Joint Inspection report published in November 2021.
The CPS has a strong record of outreach programmes to engage young people in its work, and to promote career opportunities, including through apprenticeships.
The CPS has over 470 apprentices currently enrolled or waiting to be enrolled onto programmes across England and Wales, with 261 having started their qualification in the last 12 months.
The CPS has also consistently met the Cabinet Office apprenticeship target, which aims to ensure apprentices represent 2.3% of the workforce. At the end of December 2021, apprentices comprised 4.1% of the CPS workforce.
Within an ever-evolving and challenging context – which has included continuing to support the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the negotiation of new international agreements, COP26, the Northern Ireland Protocol, the challenges around energy supply to name a few – GLD continues to provide first class legal services across Whitehall.
Despite these pressures, GLD have continued to meet all three of the key performance measures they have agreed with HMT, reflecting their continued commitment to high professional standards and providing an excellent service to clients. Last year:
Moreover, GLD’s performed well against the eight challenging priorities set out in their Business Plan 2021-22.
Recent performance data shows that the conviction rate for CPS Mersey-Cheshire in the Cheshire Police Force Area is above with national average, with 87.1% of prosecutions resulting in a conviction.
As part of their ongoing Area Inspection Programme, Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) are currently conducting an inspection on the performance of CPS Mersey-Cheshire and will publish the report on the Area in the coming months.
Strengthening national resilience is a key priority for the Government.
In December 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister delivered the first Annual Statement to Parliament on risk and resilience and published the 2023 Implementation Update, which is available on GOV.UK. The update sets out the progress we have made to strengthen the UK’s national resilience since the publication of the Resilience Framework with context of the current risk landscape we face.
On 6 February 2024, we convened the UK Resilience Forum to garner insight from key stakeholders from across the resilience system and drive a whole of society approach. Details from the meeting are available on GOV.UK.
Later this year, the Deputy Prime Minister will report to Parliament on the progress made implementing the UK Biological Security Strategy which was published in June 2023.
The Cabinet Office leads and coordinates the UK’s national security crisis response through the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR), and national security policy through the National Security Council structures. This includes the National Cyber Strategy, National Security and Investment Programme, and the Biological Security Strategy, all of which the department is taking essential steps to deliver.
Key successes in 2023 included publishing the Integrated Review Refresh, passing the National Security Act, launching the Emergency Alerting service, and delivering the Atlantic Declaration and risk elements of the AI Summit. So far in 2024, we have launched a new Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security with the US and continued to coordinate the response to the conflict in Gaza and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
The National Cyber Strategy 2022 sets out how the UK will continue to be a leading responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in and through cyberspace. It is supported by more than £2.6 billion of investment over three years with a particular emphasis on improving the government’s own cyber security.
The Strategy is delivering a step-change in the UK’s cyber resilience with the government leading the way, adopting a more proactive and sustained campaign approach to deter our adversaries, putting cyber power at the heart of the UK’s foreign policy agenda, whilst protecting and pursuing a competitive advantage in the underpinning technologies that are critical to cyberspace. It also emphasises a whole-of-society approach calling on all parts of society to play their part in reinforcing the UK’s economic and strategic strengths in cyberspace.
In August 2023 the Government published its first annual report on progress implementing the Strategy. The report highlighted the success in the last twelve months in improving cyber resilience through the NCSC Cyber Action Plan and Cyber Essentials as well as disruptions such as the first tranche of cyber sanctions and the takedown of the GENESIS marketplace, a go-to service for cyber-criminals.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the House on the 27 October:
“As announced in the civil service apprenticeships strategy, we are committed to 5% of total civil service headcount being apprentices by 2025. Some 47,490 apprentices have been recruited since April 2016, with 78% of those being outside London. We will provide entry and progression routes within a range of careers and professions for new and existing staff.”
The development of the Veterans Strategy Action Plan 2022-24 was launched at a Cabinet meeting in Summer 2021, and Ministers have engaged with Cabinet colleagues over the course of the process. Ministers regularly discuss veterans issues including through the Ministerial Covenant and Veterans Board, which is co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-2024 contains over 60 commitments worth over £70m from a range of government departments, all contributing to the Government’s mission to make the UK the best place in the world to be a veteran by 2028. We continue to monitor progress against delivering the Action Plan commitments and will do so until the end of the Action Plan period in 2024.
Our new National Cyber Strategy, launched in December 2021(by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, HCWS484), sets out how we will ensure that the UK continues to be a leading, responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in the rapidly evolving online world. This includes our approach to making the UK more resilient to cyber attacks and countering cyber threats. The strategy is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cyber-strategy-2022/national-cyber-security-strategy-2022
A core component of our National Cyber Strategy is to further strengthen the cyber security of government and public services. The Government Cyber Security Strategy, launched in January 2022, will ensure that core government functions are resilient to cyber attack. This will be supported by an enhanced assurance regime to raise standards and a new Government Cyber Coordination Centre enabling departments to defend as one.The Government Cyber Security Strategy is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1049825/government-cyber-security-strategy.pdf
The delivery of both the National and Government strategies is supported by £2.6 billion of investment over three years.
Our new National Cyber Strategy, launched in December 2021(by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, HCWS484), sets out how we will ensure that the UK continues to be a leading, responsible and democratic cyber power, able to protect and promote our interests in the rapidly evolving online world. This includes our approach to making the UK more resilient to cyber attacks and countering cyber threats. The strategy is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cyber-strategy-2022/national-cyber-security-strategy-2022
A core component of our National Cyber Strategy is to further strengthen the cyber security of government and public services. The Government Cyber Security Strategy, launched in January 2022, will ensure that core government functions are resilient to cyber attack. This will be supported by an enhanced assurance regime to raise standards and a new Government Cyber Coordination Centre enabling departments to defend as one.The Government Cyber Security Strategy is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1049825/government-cyber-security-strategy.pdf
The delivery of both the National and Government strategies is supported by £2.6 billion of investment over three years.
Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the UK economy. That is why we are making sure Government spending supports this vital sector, both as part of our economic recovery from COVID-19 and as part of our levelling up agenda. We are increasing opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a variety of ways - from transparently publishing contract pipelines, to simplifying bidding processes.
These measures are working. The latest procurement figures for 2019/20 show that £15.5bn was paid to small and medium sized businesses to help deliver vital public services. This figure is an increase of £1.3bn on the previous year and the highest since records began in 2013.
The Government is committed to reducing burdens on business and consumers by reforming regulations where appropriate to make sure they are best suited to the UK and to help grow the economy. We have made a series of regulatory reform announcements as part of our Smarter Regulation programme, including reforms to wine retained EU Law (REUL), product safety regulations and drip pricing.
As part of this, we have already reformed or revoked over 1000 pieces of REUL. In addition to the list of around 600 coming in the Bill, the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the Procurement Bill will repeal around 500 pieces of REUL. This means more than 2,000 revocations and reforms are already completed or under way.
The Department worked with stakeholders throughout the Scheme to ensure every effort was made to reach all eligible households. A voucher day campaign was launched at the end of May that included articles in national and regional newspapers, posters in major train stations and TV and radio interviews with Ministers across the country to increase the voucher redemption rate.
As of 1 June, 98% of vouchers since EBSS launched in October had been delivered to eligible customers and 85% of these had been redeemed. Vouchers needed to be redeemed by 30 June, when the Scheme closed.
The Government is committed to improve digital connectivity in rural areas. Project Gigabit is the Government’s £5 billion programme to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to rural and hard-to-reach communities across the UK. Alongside suppliers’ commercial rollout plans, our target is to achieve 85% gigabit coverage of the UK by 2025, and then nationwide coverage by 2030. Over 79% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, which represents significant progress since January 2019, when coverage was just 6%.
We now have 16 contracts in place, and combined with our procurements running across the country, we have made over £2 billion of funding available to support the deployment of gigabit-capable broadband to over 1.1 million premises in hard-to-reach areas across the UK.
Support is also available for homes and businesses in some rural areas through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Over 108,00 vouchers have been used to connect rural homes and businesses with fast, reliable broadband.
For very hard to reach premises, in April 2023, the Government announced a capital grants scheme to provide up to 35,000 premises with help to access Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite equipment to improve their connectivity. More information on this scheme will be announced in the new year.
To improve 4G coverage in rural areas, the government is working with the UK’s four mobile network operators (EE, Three, VMO2 and Vodafone) to deliver the Shared Rural Network. This agreement will see the Government and industry jointly invest over £1 billion to increase outdoor 4G mobile coverage across the UK to 95% by the end of 2025. The programme targets areas of the country with partial or no 4G coverage, and will significantly improve mobile coverage for an extra 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads. 4G coverage across the UK is approaching 93%, which is up from 91% when the Shared Rural Network deal was signed in March 2020.
Alongside the Shared Rural Network, the Government’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, published in April 2023, set out further steps to improve connectivity across the UK, including a new ambition for nationwide coverage of standalone 5G in all populated areas by 2030.
Finally, Simon Fell MP has been appointed as the Government’s Rural Connectivity Champion. His role will be to ensure that rural communities and businesses can access and adopt the connectivity that they need.
Recent progress to strengthen the life sciences sector includes a raft of new initiatives and funding announced at the Autumn Statement. These include £520 million for life sciences manufacturing; £51 million for Our Future Health; the launch of a Rare Therapies Launch Pad; and £10 million of investment in a Centre of Excellence in Oligonucleotide Manufacturing Innovation. Additionally, the government has recently published the full response to the Commercial Clinical Trials Review. These announcements build on the £650 million growth package announced in May and reaffirm the government’s commitment to supporting a thriving life sciences sector.
In March 2020, we agreed a deal with the UK’s mobile network operators to deliver the Shared Rural Network programme. This agreement will see the government and industry jointly invest over £1 billion to extend 4G mobile coverage to 95% of UK landmass by the end of 2025. The programme is already delivering coverage improvements across the UK. 4G geographic coverage is approaching 93%, which is up from 91% when the Shared Rural Network agreement was signed.
In April 2023 we published the UK Wireless Infrastructure Strategy which set a new ambition of nationwide coverage of higher quality standalone 5G to all populated areas by 2030. It also emphasised our unwavering commitment to extending 4G coverage to 95% of the UK’s landmass and set out a 10-point plan to support rural connectivity, including the appointment of a Government Rural Connectivity Champion. Simon Fell MP was appointed to the role in June.
The Government recognises the challenges that businesses are facing and is committed to helping ensure they are able to thrive. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses that receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. The new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, will run from April until March 2024, and continue to provide a discount to eligible businesses.
In order to support households with energy bills, the Government has set up the Energy Bills Support Scheme which is delivering a £400 non-repayable government discount this winter.
The Energy Price Guarantee reduces the amount a household is charged per unit of gas or electricity, to an annual equivalent of around £2,500 for a typical household in Great Britain from 1 October 2022 to end of March 2023.
For households that use alternative fuels such as biomass, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or heating oil, the Alternative Fuel Payment scheme will deliver an additional £200.
A secure supply of critical minerals is fundamental to supporting almost all other UK manufacturing industries – such as automotive, aerospace, defence, energy and electronics. Without a reliable supply of critical minerals, the health of these industries, and the communities in which they operate would be adversely affected.
The Critical Minerals Strategy sets out the Government’s ambition to increase domestic capabilities in critical mineral supply chain, which has the potential to create well-paid jobs and boost productivity, particularly in areas such as Cornwall, Merseyside and Yorkshire.
The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme will provide a one-off payment to UK (GB and NI) households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil or LPG, instead of mains gas. This will ensure that those who do not benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee for fuel they use to heat their homes receive support for the cost of the fuel they do use.
£400 of EBSS Alternative Funding will be made available for those who do not have a direct contract with an electricity supplier or an electricity meter and will therefore not receive the Energy Bills Support Scheme directly.
The Alternative Fuel Payment scheme will provide a one-off payment to UK (GB and NI) households that use alternative fuels for heating, such as heating oil or LPG, instead of mains gas. This will ensure that those who do not benefit from the Energy Price Guarantee for fuel they use to heat their homes receive support for the cost of the fuel they do use.
£400 of EBSS Alternative Funding will be made available for those who do not have a direct contract with an electricity supplier or an electricity meter and will therefore not receive the Energy Bills Support Scheme directly.
From April to July 2020, the Department consulted on “Future support for low carbon heat”, setting out proposals for future schemes to follow the closure of the Renewable Heat Incentive. A government response to this consultation will be published later this year.
The Government is also planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course, which will set out the immediate actions we will take to reduce emissions from buildings.
The most promising use of geothermal energy in the UK is for low temperature applications such as district heating schemes. We have been providing support to the deployment of district heat networks from geothermal through the Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) and the Heat Networks Investment Project (HNIP).
The £270m Green Network Heat fund is still at an early stage of scheme development, and we will be issuing a consultation response in due course.
The Government has also funded the £31m UK Geoenergy Observatories which will provide a world class infrastructure for a wide range of geoenergy related research including geothermal.
If Companies House are made aware of a company whose trading disclosures do not comply with Companies Act requirements, they will contact the company concerned to clarify the position. If necessary, they will advise the company that it is committing an offence and request that it updates any non-compliant information.
The primary aim is to seek compliance. If the company refuses to comply, Companies House will consider taking prosecution action as a last resort.
The Government is leading efforts to find and manufacture a vaccine, working with industry and experts, both here in the UK and internationally to ensure we are in the best position possible to support the discovery, manufacture and mass-deployment of a successful vaccine should a candidate prove successful. A number of agreements to procure millions of doses of vaccines have been made, ensuring the greatest possible chance of securing access to a safe and effective vaccine. The UK has now secured access to 6 different candidates, across 4 different vaccines types, including University of Oxford’s vaccine being developed with AstraZeneca and agreements with BioNTech/Pfizer alliance, Valneva, Novavax, Janssen and GSK/Sanofi Pasteur.
Businesses are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund if they are based in England with a property that has a rateable value of up to £51,000 and is wholly or mainly being used for the purposes of retail, hospitality and/or leisure. The Government is also providing an unprecedented package of wider support to businesses across the economy in response to the current coronavirus outbreak.
It is a government priority to ensure that new build homes are future-proofed and are ready for gigabit-capable connections. Working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, we have developed proposals to require developers to install into new homes the physical infrastructure necessary and to work with network operators to provide a gigabit-capable connection.
The measures will give more people access to fast, reliable and resilient broadband connections and reduce the need for costly and disruptive work to retrospectively install them in homes. A statutory technical consultation on these proposals is underway and closes on 28 February 2022 in advance of legislation being brought forward.
The Life Chances Fund was established as a nine-year fund running from 2016 up until 2025; the government remains committed to delivering the Fund within this timeframe. It is expected to support over 48,000 people to achieve improved life outcomes across the country.
DCMS will continue to share insights and learnings from the Life Chances Fund across government, in order to support the commissioning of future programmes and services, based on evidence and data.
The Life Chances Fund (LCF) is a fund specifically designed to test the use of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), also known as social outcomes contracts. The evaluation supporting the LCF has been designed to provide an answer to the question of cost effectiveness. It seeks to determine the comparative cost benefits of using SIBs compared to other commissioning routes.
The evaluation findings are due in 2025, following the completion of LCF funding.
We recognise the severe impact of COVID-19 on tourism and have published the Tourism Recovery Plan to help the sector recover back to pre-pandemic levels and build back better for the future. The plan aims to recover domestic tourism to pre pandemic levels by 2022 and international tourism by 2023; both at least a year faster than independent forecasts predict.
The British Tourist Authority (BTA) will deliver a £10 million consumer promotion with the National Lottery to support the domestic tourist industry. In addition, the Government and VisitBritain will develop a new domestic rail tourism product, similar to the Britrail Pass for international visitors, working with the Rail Delivery Group.
The Government has allocated at least £19 million to domestic and international marketing activity, with a £5.5 million domestic campaign already underway. The Government will work with VisitBritain to welcome back international visitors as soon as it is safe to do so.
The government is committed to delivering lightning-fast, reliable broadband to everyone in the UK. ‘Project Gigabit’ is ambitious, challenging and central to how we build back better. Our plan - to stimulate investment, bust barriers and drive competition - is working. We are on track for one of the fastest rollouts in Europe and for 60% of all households to have access to gigabit speeds by the end of the year. It is a huge leap forward from 2019, when it was 9%.
We are backing Project Gigabit with £5 billion so hard to reach communities are not left out - starting to level up now, not waiting for the end of the commercial rollout, and building on the half a half a million rural homes and businesses already connected through our support.
As part of Project Gigabit we are funding up to £210 million worth of vouchers over the next three years to help with the costs of installing gigabit to people’s doorsteps and up to £110 million to connect up to 7,000 rural public buildings such as GP surgeries, libraries and schools. All premises not covered through these measures or expected to be addressed by commercial coverage will be in scope for new Project Gigabit contracts.
Premises which can’t access a decent broadband connection remain eligible for the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). The broadband USO was launched in March 2020 and gives every eligible premises the legal right to request a decent, affordable broadband connection, providing download speeds of at least 10 Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps.
Furthermore, on 9 March last year, the government agreed a £1 billion deal with the Mobile Network Operators to deliver the Shared Rural Network. This will see the operators collectively increase 4G mobile phone coverage throughout the UK to 95% by the end of the programme, underpinned by legally binding coverage commitments. The programme will level up the country by improving mobile coverage for an extra 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads with areas around the UK starting to see improvements to 4G coverage long before the programme completes.
On 29 June we announced the next step of the Shared Rural Network so people who live and work in rural areas will be able to see how 4G coverage will increase through this world leading programme.
I know the cultural and arts sectors have been hugely impacted by Covid, with the effects felt across individual business and organisations, as well as staff, freelancers and supply chains. That is why last year the government announced the unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the culture sector. To date, over £1.2 billion has been allocated from this fund, reaching over 5000 individual organisations and sites.
In the 2021 Budget, the Chancellor announced an additional £300 million to support theatres, museums and other cultural organisations in England through the Culture Recovery Fund. This extra funding, together with other cultural support such as funding for our national museums, means that our total support package for culture during the pandemic is now approaching £2 billion. These are unprecedented sums and this is the largest one-off investment in UK culture.
The arts and culture sector has also been eligible to access pan economic Government COVID-19 support throughout the duration of the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes various Government-backed loans, business grants, reduction in VAT and the extended furlough and self-employed support schemes. Organisations in this sector were also able to access the discretionary Local Restrictions Support Grant and Additional Restrictions Grant which provided Local Authorities with funds to support businesses who met the eligibility criteria. And, earlier this year the Chancellor also announced one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring and eviction protection has been extended for businesses most in need.
On 9 February 2023, the government announced a number of updates which demonstrate positive progress in delivering the manifesto commitment to champion family hubs and their continued commitment to ensure every baby has the best start in life. The announcement included:
An additional £28 million has also been made available to the 75 local authorities to improve children's home learning environments, helping them to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-of-families-to-benefit-from-local-support-in-rollout-of-family-hubs.
Thousands of parents and carers across England will be able to access local, co-ordinated support and advice in raising a family, through the 75 upper tier local authorities that have received investment from the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme.
The 75 upper tier local authorities who are eligible for this Family Hubs and Start for Life funding were announced on 2 April 2022. The Programme Guide and sign up process was launched in August 2022 and all 75 local authorities have now signed up to the programme. We are now working with local authorities on their delivery plans.
Local authorities will be expected to open family hubs in the first half of 2023 and meet programme expectations by the end of March 2025.
This government is committed to ensuring that all care leavers are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes.
On 2 February, the department published ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’, our strategy for the reform of children’s social care. The strategy sets out the department’s plans to improve the education, employment, and training outcomes of children in care and care leavers. This includes, from 2027, a year-on-year narrowing of the gap in care leaver higher education participation rates compared to the general population.
The department will do this by increasing the support available in both higher and further education including the expansion of the Virtual School Head role to include care leavers up to 25 years old, the introduction of a gold standard accreditation scheme for higher education and further education institutions supporting care leavers, and further £24 million in pupil premium plus style between 2023 and 2025.
The government believes that freedom of speech and academic freedom are fundamental pillars of our higher education system, and that protecting these principles should be a priority for universities.
That is why we have introduced the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which passed its 2nd reading in the House of Commons on 12 July 2021 and was debated by the Public Bill Committee in September 2021. The Bill will strengthen existing freedom of speech duties and directly address gaps within the existing law. This includes the fact there is no clear way of enforcing the current law when a higher education provider breaches it as well as applying the duties directly to students’ unions and constituent colleges. The changes will introduce clear consequences for breaches of the new duties and ensure that these principles are upheld.
It is a priority for this government to ensure that everyone can access the skills they need to have the career they want, wherever they live and whatever their stage in life. Just last week, we launched the Skills for Life campaign, which will promote skills offers among adults, such as Free Courses for Jobs, Skills Bootcamps and apprenticeships.
This is in addition to our wider support for adults to get the skills they need. Whether through the Adult Education Budget or delivering on the promise of a Lifelong Loan Entitlement under my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, which, from 2025, will enable flexible and modular study across higher and further education.