Kim Leadbeater

The Code for Crown Prosecutors makes clear that, when making decisions, prosecutors must be fair and objective and act in the interests of justice. To maintain transparency around its legal decision-making, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has integrated several processes into its working practices to ensure that victims are informed about decisions and the support available to them.

Since January 2020, the CPS has published quarterly bulletins of data tables and summaries of main trends as part of the CPS’s commitment to transparency on prosecution performance, which contain performance data on overall prosecution figures, police referrals, and charging rates in a range of offence types. These can be found here: CPS quarterly data summaries | The Crown Prosecution Service.

Transparency is important in particular for victims. Under the Victim Communication and Liaison scheme, in certain circumstances the CPS communicates directly with victims to explain its legal decision-making for charging. It also provides enhanced services to bereaved families of victims, including meetings to explain its legal decisions. To improve this offer, the CPS is testing direct communication of its charging decisions in a small number of regional areas, using victims’ preferred method of contact.

Victims may also seek a review of certain CPS decisions not to start a prosecution or to stop a prosecution, under the Victims’ Right to Review scheme.

The CPS also engages with communities impacted by hate crime and Violence Against Women and Girls through convening Local Scrutiny Involvement Panels. These panels enable the CPS to explain its role in the criminal justice system and how prosecutors make charging decisions.

The Government is committed to ensuring that only safe products are made available on the UK market, including products that fall under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.

Following the formation of the Government in July, the Department for Business and Trade is considering next steps for this important issue, including reviewing the evidence gathered from the 2023 consultation, Smarter Regulation: Fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture. The Government will engage with consumer organisations, businesses, and other interested groups and provide updates in due course.

Although there is no upper age limit to claiming Carer’s Allowance, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. It has been a long held feature of the UK’s benefit system, under successive Governments, that where someone is entitled to two benefits for the same contingency, then whilst there may be entitlement to both benefits, only one will be paid to avoid duplication for the same need.

Although entitlement to State Pension and Carer’s Allowance arise in different circumstances they are nevertheless designed for the same contingency – as an income replacement.

Carer’s Allowance replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need.

However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than Carer's Allowance, State Pension is paid and topped up with Carer's Allowance to the basic weekly rate of Carer's Allowance which is currently £81.90.

Where Carer’s Allowance cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £45.60 a week and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, they may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

Eligibility for the seasonal influenza vaccination programme is based on the advice and recommendations of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). This advice is kept under regular review.

Trends in influenza activity varies across the season, and from season to season. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes weekly flu surveillance reports, which are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2024-to-2025-season

The UKHSA has confirmed that during this season so far, flu activity has been higher than in the winter of 2023/24, but similar to levels seen in the 2022/23 season.

Eligibility for the seasonal influenza vaccination programme is based on the advice and recommendations of an independent expert committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The latest JCVI advice on seasonal influenza vaccines is available on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#influenza-vaccines-jcvi-advice

Details on the annual influenza vaccination programme, based on the JCVI’s advice, are set out in the annual flu letter, a copy of which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flu-immunisation-programme-plan-2024-to-2025/national-flu-immunisation-programme-2024-to-2025-letter

The groups in the 2024/25 programme are:

• pregnant women;
• all children aged two or three years old on 31 August 2024;
• primary school aged children, from Reception to Year 6;
• secondary school aged children, from Year 7 to Year 11;
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years old;
• those aged 65 years old and over;
• those aged 18 to under 65 years old in clinical risk groups;
• those in long-stay residential care homes;
• carers;
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals; and
• frontline health and social care workers.

The JCVI keeps its advice on seasonal influenza vaccines under regular review.

This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Spen Valley constituency, this is the NHS West Yorkshire ICB.

The Department asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a quality standard in England for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), to help the health and care system improve both diagnosis and support for people affected by FASD. The quality standard also covers support during pregnancy, to improve awareness and prevent the disorder. It was published in March 2022, and is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204

The Department has also taken a number of steps to help prevent FASD. The UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines, published in 2016, provide clear advice to women not to drink alcohol if they are planning for a pregnancy or are pregnant, and these are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80b7ed40f0b623026951db/UK_CMOs__report.pdf

The National Health Service’s website offers advice on the use of alcohol during pregnancy and sources of support, which includes speaking to a general practitioner, midwife, or local treatment service, or contacting the Government’s Talk to Frank website. The NHS’s website and the Talk to Frank website are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/drinking-alcohol-while-pregnant/

www.talktofrank.com/contact-frank

The Department will soon be publishing the first ever clinical guidelines on alcohol treatment for the United Kingdom. The aim of the guidelines is to promote and support good practice. The guidelines will set out how maternity, alcohol treatment, and other healthcare professionals should support women to reduce or stop their alcohol use as quickly and safely as possible, to reduce the ongoing exposure of the foetus to alcohol and the risk and severity of future disability.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026

The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.

Employers have a choice about whether to use the Overseas Scale Rates (OSR) or to pay the actual expenses incurred. If an employer pays actual expenses, they must check the employees’ receipts, but they do not have to do this if they use the OSR.

There will be occasions where OSR may not reflect the current prices in a particular location. If the employer chooses not to reimburse all of the actual expenses, the employee may claim tax relief on the difference from HMRC. The employee must provide HMRC with evidence such as receipts and what the employer has reimbursed.

The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

Joint Service Publication (JSP) 950 Leaflet 6-7-7 Section 4 Annex D sets out the current medical entry standards for the Armed Forces for respiratory conditions, including asthma.

Medical entry standards, including those relating to asthma, are regularly reviewed by subject matter experts, military health professionals and military occupational physicians to ensure they are fair to everyone with aspirations of an Armed Forces career and are informed by the latest medical evidence and developments in treatment and diagnosis.

We are reviewing medical criteria as part of our work to look at recruitment. A detailed review of the annexes within Section 4 of JSP 950 Leaflet 6-7-7 is currently underway, with a wide range of specialists engaged. Updated annexes will be published as they are reviewed and endorsed.

We will set out policies on the Private Parking Code of Practice in due course.

Amending the automatic release point for eligible Standard Determinate Sentences to 40% (SDS40) has allowed us to end more challenging measures like End of Custody Supervised Licence which gave us less predictability and stability in release planning.

Delivery of SDS40 prioritises public safety with strict probation supervision for those released from custody and, where necessary, conditions like tagging and curfews. Should offenders breach these conditions, they face being immediately recalled to prison. A pre-release plan will be ensured for everyone leaving custody.

The Probation Service plays a crucial role in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. We are strengthening probation by building a supported, skilled and resilient workforce that can deliver high quality supervision, focused on the areas of highest risk, and delivered within manageable caseloads. In recognition of this, we are recruiting at least 1,000 new trainee Probation Officers by the end of March 2025.

The central office for the Court of Protection installed a new telephone system on 29 April 2024. This has helped the court to monitor demand and move resource to address peak call times as well as using the interactive voice response technology to direct callers to the most appropriate place for help.

Additionally, an online form for Property and Affairs Deputyship cases has enabled the digital submission of application for both legal professionals and citizens. The uptake of this digital service is at nearly 90% and it has enabled the court to process applications more quickly and efficiently. His Majesty’s Court Service is committed to continually improving this service and is looking for opportunities to expand the digital submission portal process to other types of application.