Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe

All parties of the UNFCCC are entitled to attend a COP. We are not in a position to confirm at this stage the attendance of specific leaders, but as the Holy See is a UNFCCC observer state, His Holiness The Pope will receive an invitation.

It is at the discretion of each party as to what level of representation they send.

COP26 will seek to address the steps needed to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. In his closing speech at the Climate Ambition Summit, the COP26 President Designate set out four strategic aims for COP26: a step-change in mitigation; a strengthening of adaptation; getting finance flowing; and enhancing international collaboration.

The UK Presidency will focus on five campaigns, in the areas of energy, transport, nature, finance, and adaptation & resilience, but population growth is not an explicit focus in our work. Each aims to enhance international collaboration and accelerate progress towards a resilient and zero emission global economy. The campaigns bring governments, business and civil society together to address these systemic challenges.

There are currently no such plans to conduct public consultations as described.

The Government has always been clear that there will be opportunities to look back, analyse and reflect on all aspects of COVID-19. As the Prime Minister has said, this will include an independent inquiry at the appropriate time. For now the Government is focused entirely on responding to the pandemic and saving lives. Further details will be set out in due course and announced in the usual way.

Unsustainable consumption remains the primary driver of climate change and environmental degradation.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister has been clear that tackling climate change is a priority for this government. Over the past 30 years, the UK has been at the forefront of the transition to green – demonstrating that economic growth can be aligned with protecting the climate and environment, with our GDP growing by 75% whilst emissions have fallen by 43%.

In the lead up to COP26, we must listen to all voices to unleash the full potential of the Paris Agreement when we meet in Glasgow next year. Together we can reduce emissions, adapt to climate impacts, build resilience and grow our economies.

While it is clear that an economic slowdown caused by Covid-19 is likely to have an impact on emissions both domestically and globally, it is too early to know the likely size of the impact and the long-term implications. Domestically, Covid-19 has had a significant short-term effect. For example, BEIS statistics estimate that road fuel sales in the 12 weeks since the 23 March were 48 per cent below the preceding eight weeks, and electricity consumption has also reduced. Renewables have regularly been providing more than 50% of our power and we recently went 67 days without using coal for electricity generation. Internationally, the International Energy Agency estimate global CO₂ emissions will fall by around 8% this year, but then rebound with economic recovery.

These reductions are likely to be short-term. The fundamental need for the world to act urgently to decarbonise remains. Global emissions need to fall rapidly year on year in line with the Paris Agreement goal. That is why we set out ambitious plans at the Budget, and will be focusing on continuing to develop our net zero strategy in advance of COP26 – including through strengthening our plans for decarbonisation in key sectors. The Government will also continue to lead work on the international economic recovery, striving to deliver a UK and world economy which is stronger, cleaner, more sustainable and more resilient after this crisis. Through our COP26 and G7 Presidencies, we will work with our international partners to increase climate ambition and address the linked challenges of public health, climate change and biodiversity.

Any form of bullying and harassment is unacceptable and has no place in today’s workplace. Current legislation already provides robust safeguards for employees against harassment in the workplace.

Whilst it is important to have a safety net of legislation to protect employees from the worst form of abuses, the best way to address bad behaviour is through cultural change within the workplace. Employers can, for example, establish good practices through a clear anti-harassment policy and ensure all staff receive training in this area. There are currently no plans to undertake a further public consultation

The Government has however identified a need to take further action where employers are using non-disclosure agreements to intimidate victims of harassment into silence. It consulted on the misuse of confidentiality clauses between workers and their employers in 2019. In response to our consultation, we announced a package of measures, including that we will legislate so that no provision in a workplace non-disclosure agreement can prevent disclosures to the police, regulated health and care professionals and legal professionals.

The Government is clear that bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct is unacceptable and is concerned by evidence that confidentiality agreements are being used to intimidate victims of harassment into silence. We consulted on the misuse of confidentiality clauses between workers and their employers in 2019 and in response, have committed to:

• Legislating to ensure that a workplace confidentiality clause cannot prevent an individual disclosing to the police, regulated health and care professionals or legal professionals;
• Legislating so that the limitations of a confidentiality clause are clear to those signing them;
• Legislating to improve independent legal advice available to an individual;

This legislation will be brought forward in due course.

The Government recognises that, although we live in an increasingly online world, a significant part of the population remains digitally excluded. There are currently no plans to establish a national digital technology support force. There are, however, a number of initiatives that tackle the digital divide in partnership with local authorities and the private sector.

In 2017 the Digital Skills Partnership was established by DCMS to bring together the public, private and third sector to improve digital skills across the spectrum. We have worked closely with Local Enterprise Partnerships and Combined Authorities to establish Local Digital Skills Partnerships in seven regions. These bring together key regional stakeholders to address local digital skills challenges.

The introduction of the Digital Entitlement means that from August 2020, adults with no or low digital skills can undertake new digital qualifications free of charge. The Government also supports the Future Digital Inclusion Programme. Since 2014, the programme has helped over 1.4 million people to gain the digital skills they need for life and work.

The department does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that would be entitled to a Free School Meal (FSM) but do not make a claim.

The department wants to ensure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM, and to make it simple for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this, the department provides an Eligibility Checking System to make processes as straightforward as possible. A model registration form has been developed to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM. In addition, the department provides guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers, so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.

Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) are funded through a direct grant to schools. To recognise the pressures facing schools, the Department announced an £18 million increase to the per-pupil funding rate for UIFSM to support with costs around food, transport and staff wages.

UIFSM helps to improve children’s education, boost their health and save parents around £400 a year. There are no plans to change the conditions in which these grants are made. The Department is continuing to review funding in order to ensure that schools continue to be able to provide healthy and nutritious meals in school. The funding for the free school meal (FSM) factor is increasing in line with the latest available GDP deflator forecast when the New Funding Formula (NFF) was published in July 2022.

Schools receive their provisional allocations for UIFSM in June based on the final allocation of the previous academic year. Schools receive a subsequent allocation of revenue funding in early summer, adjusted either up or down to reflect actual number of meals taken. This is calculated using an average taken from the October and January Censuses.

Local Authorities can decide whether they should top up the UIFSM allocation from their general maintenance and improvement budgets in the light of local circumstances, as they would do in any other year.

The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. The Regulations ensure that schools provide children with healthy food and drink options, and make sure that children receive the energy and nutrition they need across the school day. The Standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted, and those which must not be provided. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar, including high sugar foods and confectionery, are restricted.

The current standards provide a robust yet flexible framework to ensure that pupils in England continue to receive high-quality and nutritious food, that builds healthy eating habits for life.

Defra alongside the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Northern Ireland and Wales, Food Standards Scotland, the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Scottish and Welsh Governments are currently conducting a review of The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and The Bread and Flour (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1998 to ensure the regulations are fit for purpose, supporting industry while protecting consumers. To assist the review, Defra convened a technical working group made up of a wide range of relevant stakeholders to help identify and explore issues around the regulations which cover the compositional requirements of bread and flour. We will consult on potential legislative changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations.

The Sugar Reduction Programme (2016-2020) led by Public Health England challenged businesses across all sectors of the food industry to reduce the amount of sugar in foods that contribute most to children's sugar intakes. This does not include bread but does include cake, biscuits and morning goods (e.g. buns, pastries etc).

Faith groups are key policy and delivery partners for DFID. We hold regular discussions with faith groups on all aspects of international development including on climate change.

Differences in population age structure mean that the impact of COVID-19 on population growth will vary from region to region. In many low-income countries, the indirect impacts of COVID-19, such as interruptions to education and reduced access to essential sexual and reproductive health services, will impact on people’s ability to access essential services and therefore population growth rates.

The UK is working to identify and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in low income countries.

There is a connection between population growth, sustainable development and climate change, though unsustainable consumption remains the primary driver of climate change and environmental degradation.

The Government has placed a high priority on tackling climate change and protecting the environment and, as part of this, we have committed to double our international climate finance over the next five years. This will help developing countries reduce global carbon emissions, cope with the climate change impacts that are already locked in, and invest more in nature.

We regularly discuss all aspects of climate change and environmental degradation with other governments and intergovernmental agencies and will continue to play a leading role in international work to combat these issues. Next year we will be hosting the international climate change discussions (COP26) in Glasgow, at which we want to secure commitments to take more ambitious and urgent action.

The UK is committed to increasing access to voluntary family planning, empowering women and girls to make their own decisions about if, when and how many children they have, without coercion or discrimination, and with full, free and informed choice.

The UK is the world’s second largest global bilateral donor on family planning and has committed to spend an average of £225 million per year on family planning up to 2021/22. We built on this commitment at UNGA 2019, where the Secretary of State announced a £600 million programme for reproductive health supplies up to 2025. Our investment in girls’ education, empowerment and economic opportunities, will ensure that rapidly growing young populations can access education, jobs and services.

The EU is a vital export destination for British businesses, with exports to the EU totalling £298 billion in the 12 months to the end of June 2022.

The Government’s refreshed Export Strategy helps businesses at every stage of exporting and our Export Support Service is a single point of access digital enquiry service, assisting business in trading with the EU. In addition, the Department for International Trade has around 300 trade experts across Europe, including a dedicated Trade Commissioner for the continent, and we will have facilitated almost 500 activities and events to support UK exporters between April 2022 and March 2023.

A table showing the number of finished consultant episodes with a main or secondary procedure code for limb amputation, broken down by primary diagnosis group and the year of the operation, is attached due to the size of the data.

Local authorities and the National Health Service provide weight management services to support their communities to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. These services incentivise behaviour change, by encouraging the development of sustainable habits and fostering independence and self-management

Maintaining weight loss over the medium and long term is challenging in an environment where high saturated fat, salt and sugar food are readily available, marketed, and cheaper than healthier alternatives. That is why the Government is taking action to help people maintain a healthier weight such as: the introduction of out of home calorie labelling regulations for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways; the introduction of restrictions on the promotion by location of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online; and working with the food industry to make further progress on reformulation and making healthier choices easier.

The Government also launched ‘The Better Health: Rewards’ pilot in February 2023 for adults who live in Wolverhampton. This is an innovative app-based health intervention where participants can download an app, receive a free wearable fitness tracker, and can earn points for completing diet and physical activity challenges which they can redeem for rewards in an in-app store. This pilot is designed to test whether financial incentives can be used to support people to improve their diet and physical activity behaviour.

Information on the cost to the NHS of prescribing methadone is not held centrally.

Through the NHS Long Term Plan we are committed to transforming and expanding mental health services in England by 2023/24 so that an additional two million people can get the mental health support that they need. This commitment is backed by our plans through the NHS Long Term Plan to grow the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 professionals, including more trained therapists to provide more people with National Health Service talking therapies, by 2023/24.

The fourth progress report, Sugar reduction – industry progress 2015 to 2020: Including the final report for foods included in the programme and the latest data for drinks included in the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and juices and milk based drinks on the sugar reduction programme was published on 1 December. A copy of the report is attached.

The independent Dasgupta Review explores a range of actions it argues are needed to protect the environment and our prosperity. The Government will examine the Review's findings closely, call on international partners to do the same, and will respond formally in due course. The review focuses on biodiversity, rather than climate change and carbon emissions.

It is growth in levels of consumption driven by unsustainable development that influences carbon emissions, and increases climate change, rather than population growth itself.

The UK supports many low income countries to plan for population growth and harness a demographic dividend, including through UK aid investments in voluntary family planning and 12 years of quality education. Effective investments in health and education can also build the adaptive capacity of communities to respond to climate change.

The UK Government participates in a large number of intergovernmental bodies including but not limited to the UN. Many of these bodies involve churches and faith organisations in their work and discussions in one capacity or another, whether regularly or periodically. We believe that faith and belief leaders have a valuable role to play in in promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief and in other areas particularly in regards to other human rights issues and we will continue to work with them both within intergovernmental bodies and elsewhere.

The next steps of the Alcohol Duty Review announced in the Growth Plan will continue as planned and will take effect from 1 August 2023.

The reforms are intended to improve the current system by making it simpler, more economically rational and less administratively burdensome on businesses.

The Government welcomed further views on aspects of Small Producer’s Relief and Draught Relief in a technical consultation which closed on 18 November 2022, to ensure stakeholders continue to be able to contribute to the reforms. The Government will respond to the consultation in due course.

The independent Review explores a range of actions it argues are needed to protect the environment and our prosperity.

The Government will examine the Review’s findings closely, call on international partners to do the same, and will respond formally in due course.

The Government introduced a Digital Services Tax (DST) in April 2020, which is designed to ensure tech firms with UK user generated content pay their fair share of tax in the UK.

The DST applies to businesses that provide a social media platform, search engine or an online marketplace to UK users. The provision of these services includes the carrying on of any associated online advertising business.

The DST is a temporary measure until an appropriate international solution is in place.