Lord Wigley

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

18 November 2024

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what conversations have been had with the Welsh Government about seeking to include statistics on the number of people resident in England who can speak, read or write in the Welsh language in the 2031 census (HL2487).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is developing its population and migration statistics by further expanding the range of data sources and methods it uses. A key focus of the Future Population and Migration Statistics (FPMS) Programme is continuing to expand the use of administrative data to produce population and migration statistics, working across the public sector to maximise the statistical value of its data assets. The FPMS will create a sustainable statistics system that will be flexible and dynamic in how it responds to the emerging issues of the day. The UK Statistics Authority (the Authority) plans to publish a recommendation to government in the coming months.

Decisions about the 2031 census have not yet been made. As such, topics for inclusion in a 2031 census have not formed part of the ONS’ discussions with the Welsh Government or other stakeholders. The FPMS programme has an ongoing programme of user needs engagement and carried out a consultation in 2023[1], which acknowledged the importance of collecting data on this topic. The consultation document categorised Welsh language skills as a topic for which further research is required into delivering statistics primarily based on administrative data. Welsh language is regarded as a priority characteristic within the FPMS programme with exploratory work on this topic ongoing. However, it is likely that data on Welsh language skills will predominantly come from sources relating to people resident in Wales.

In April 2023, the ONS and Welsh Government published a joint work plan on the coherence of Welsh language statistics produced from different sources[2]. The first project, to understand differences between Census 2021 and household survey estimates, has been completed. Other work outlined in the plan is ongoing, with the next priority looking at comparing Census 2021 with the Welsh School Census and other administrative sources. Welsh Government and ONS teams meet monthly to discuss progress and are arranging a secondment from Welsh Government to the ONS to support work on the planned projects. The ONS is also exploring the feasibility of producing Welsh language estimates through using existing administrative sources, with the involvement of Welsh Government.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://consultations.ons.gov.uk/ons/futureofpopulationandmigrationstatistics/

[2]https://www.gov.wales/office-national-statistics-ons-and-welsh-government-joint-work-plan-coherence-welsh-language-statistics

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

11 November 2024

Dear Lord Wigley,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what are the latest figures for employee activity rates for (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland (HL2370).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects information on the labour market status of individuals through the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households in the UK. The responses allow us to estimate how many people are in employment, and how many of those are in employment as employees, as opposed to other forms of employment such as self-employed.

Due to the current smaller sample sizes being achieved by the LFS, recent estimates are showing increased volatility and should be treated with additional caution.

The latest available estimates (June to August 2024) of the rates of employees for people aged 16 to 64 years, determined as the percentage of the population in employment as an employee, resident in each of the UK’s four nations, are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Rates of employees, people aged 16 to 64 years, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, not seasonally adjusted.

Source: Labour Force Survey

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

Since the introduction of the Inquiries Act 2005, there have been three inquiries which include matters which are partly or wholly devolved to Wales: the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the Infected Blood Inquiry, and the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

As announced in October, the Government has decided to introduce an investment support scheme for long duration electricity storage (LDES) assets, including pumped storage hydro (PSH). This scheme will be delivered by Ofgem. We expect it to open for applications in 2025.

As the scheme has not yet opened, there are currently no formal proposals for Ofgem to consider. The Government is aware of interest in Welsh PSH and the potential for there to be some Welsh project applications in due course.

All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year. The scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas.

The Contracts for Difference scheme is geographically neutral and does not award contracts to projects based on regional quotas. All projects in Great Britain that met the eligibility criteria were able to apply into Allocation Round 6 (AR6). Eligible projects competed in an auction, run independently by National Grid ESO, designed to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from hospital to the community.

Now that the budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements.

All devolved government settlements are growing in real terms in 2025-26.

The devolved governments’ Spending Review settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. They are each receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £16 billion more in 2025-26.

The Barnett formula ensures broadly the same change in funding per person across the whole of the UK, while the underlying baseline funding broadly reflects higher needs in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Fiscal Framework agreed between the UK and Welsh governments in 2016 added a needs-based factor into the Barnett formula to ensure Wales receives fair funding.

Crown Estate Commissioners are a public appointment made by The King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. All Commissioner appointments are governed by the Code for Public Appointments.

As of October 2024, none of the current Commissioners declare a primary residence in Wales.

The End Year Flexibility fund was replaced by the Budget Exchange mechanism in 2011. For the Welsh Government, this was then replaced by the Wales Reserve in 2016 to continue to allow Welsh Government to move funding between years. The Wales Reserve limit is £350 million.

Underspends that the Welsh Government are unable to manage within the Wales Reserve are returned to the Exchequer, as set out in the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

The Welsh Government receives around 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates to £3.5 billion more per year on average for the Welsh Government. It is for the Welsh Government to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.

Section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961 provides that the Chancellor of the Exchequer may direct the Commissioners as to the discharge of their functions under the Act, but in doing so must have regard to the general statutory duties of the Commissioners.

Neither the Treasury nor The Crown Estate have any known record of the power of direction in section 1 of the Crown Estate Act 1961 being used since the 1961 Act came into force.

The Government recognises there is a public interest in transparency in relation to how public money is managed. However, in this case, disclosure of information would be likely to prejudice The Crown Estate’s position in relation to future business negotiations with other water companies.

If The Crown Estate is unable to obtain best value, this could have a detrimental effect on the amount of money The Crown Estate returns to the public purse. On that basis, the Government believes the public interest weights in favour of withholding this information at this point in time.

During the financial year 2023-24, the Ministry of Defence paid £2,805 to the Crown Estate in relation to its activities in Wales.

His Majesty’s Government does not hold the information in the format requested to answer question and it could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

As of 30 September 2024, excluding those recalled to prison following release, there were 342 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences who had a recorded home address in Wales.

As at 30 September 2024, there were a total 8,501 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences in custody in England and Wales, excluding those recalled to prison following release.

The figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

The Wales Office has regular engagement with the Farmers Union of Wales as well as other farming union stakeholders in Wales. The Parliamentary Under Secretary for Wales met the Farmers Union of Wales on 11 September where challenges facing farmers in Wales were discussed. Furthermore, on 5 November the Secretary of State for Wales and the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Wales held a virtual meeting with farming unions to discuss the Budget and its effects on farmers in Wales.

The Secretary of State for Wales also hosted a farming unions roundtable event at the Royal Welsh Show on the 22 July.