Luke Evans

In the King’s Speech 2024, the government has committed to introduce a Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, which could provide the legislative basis to implement the statutory open data scheme. The government will respond to the road fuels consultation, published earlier this year, in due course.

The Digital Markets, Competition & Consumer Act 2024 gives the Competition and Markets Authority information gathering powers to undertake the permanent monitoring function. We will commence these provisions as soon as possible.

The Government is committed to improving mobile coverage across the UK. Ofcom’s most recent coverage data for the former constituency of Bosworth shows 97% 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators and that 5G is available from at least one mobile network operator outside 88% of premises.

I am aware that Ofcom’s coverage data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks at a local level, and I am intent on ensuring Ofcom takes all necessary steps to improve the accuracy of its coverage data.

Alongside this, the Government intends to reform the planning system in a way that will make it easier to build digital infrastructure.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is aware of the campaign regarding the future of the SV Tenacious after its owner and operator, The Jubilee Sailing Trust (Tenacious) Limited, entered administration. Unfortunately, the department does not have a suitable funding stream or policy lever to meet the unique and necessary means required to support the ship, and therefore does not believe it would be appropriate to hold discussions with representatives of the organisation. However, if an organisation offers to take over the running of the ship, then officials could potentially provide advice on how to access funding streams.

There are now over 960 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid (150kW+) chargepoints at motorway service areas across England.

The Rapid Charging Fund pilot will fund a portion of the cost of upgrading electrical capacity at motorway service areas, where it is not commercially viable for industry to do so. This will support the rollout of ultra-rapid (150kW+) chargepoints.

Government is also collaborating with National Highways on the Energy Storage Systems project. This project is focusing on motorway service areas where the current electrical capacity is limited. National Highways are procuring and installing batteries to support the installation of ultra-rapid chargepoints.

The Government wants everyone to be able to make the switch to electric vehicles, which is why we strongly encourage chargepoint procurers and operators to adopt the British Standards Institution Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 1899:2022 standard. This was sponsored by the Government and Motability, providing specifications on designing and installing accessible public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints.

The Government is actively encouraging relevant parties to adopt its specifications, building on improvements already being made in the sector. It is also encouraging local authorities to incorporate accessibility into their procurement models.

The Government and Motability Foundation is working with advocacy groups, industry and other stakeholders to review the effectiveness and implementation of PAS 1899. This working group is expected to make its final recommendations in February 2025.

The Government generally supports ways of working that incentivise effective co-ordination, planning and delivery of road and street works. The Government is still in its early stages and is carefully considering next steps in this policy area.

The process of transitioning railway passenger services into public ownership will not impact existing multi-year projects to update fleets, improve timetables and support infrastructure improvements. Existing projects can continue unless there is a good reason for review. The continued operation of rolling stock is one of the considerations when taking operators back into public ownership. The Department will work closely with private sector Train Operating Companies and Network Rail during the transition process to understand the position of any such projects and build these into transition planning if appropriate.

Railway passenger services currently operated by private sector companies under contract to the Secretary of State will transfer into DfT OLR Holdings Ltd (DOHL) when current contracts end or reach their contractual break point. DOHL is tasked with undertaking transfers efficiently and effectively, with no disruption to passengers and employees. DOHL has managed four successful transfers in recent years and is scaling up to ensure the successful transfer of more services into public ownership.

The Government has been clear that passenger train operations will transfer to a public-sector operator as current contracts end or reach their contractual break point, avoiding the need to pay compensation to the current operators. The Secretary of State is continually monitoring performance and will not hesitate to take appropriate action when operators fall short, up to and including termination if the relevant contractual conditions are met.

The Government has announced funding to extend the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025.

An additional £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.

As with previous HSF schemes, the Fund will be made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England to provide discretionary support to those most in need.

The HSF scheme guidance and individual Local Authority funding allocations for the forthcoming extension will be announced as soon as possible ahead of the scheme beginning on 1 October 2024.

The Department is committed to working with NHS England to ensure effective implementation of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015.

The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England as part of the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts. The cash payments received by the NHS from overseas visitors are also published annually in the consolidated NHS provider accounts. The following table shows the aggregate income identified, and cash payments received by the NHS in England from overseas visitors, over the last five years:

Source: the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts and Consolidated NHS provider accounts.

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

The Department is committed to working with NHS England to ensure effective implementation of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015.

The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England as part of the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts. The cash payments received by the NHS from overseas visitors are also published annually in the consolidated NHS provider accounts. The following table shows the aggregate income identified, and cash payments received by the NHS in England from overseas visitors, over the last five years:

Source: the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts and Consolidated NHS provider accounts.

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

The Department is committed to working with NHS England to ensure effective implementation of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015.

The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England as part of the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts. The cash payments received by the NHS from overseas visitors are also published annually in the consolidated NHS provider accounts. The following table shows the aggregate income identified, and cash payments received by the NHS in England from overseas visitors, over the last five years:

Source: the Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts and Consolidated NHS provider accounts.

NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year.

The Government is determined to tackle the challenges facing adult social care. We want everyone to live an independent, dignified life. That is why we will build consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service. We will engage with a range of stakeholders, including cross-party and people with lived experience. We will set out more detail of our priorities for adult social care in due course.

NHS England is leading a programme on medicine optimisation which aims to help patients to improve outcomes and safety, take medicines as intended, avoid taking unnecessary medicines, and reduce wastage. Community pharmacies also offer the New Medicines Service, providing further support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication.

Structured Medicine Reviews are offered by general practices (GPs), where pharmacists are part of multi-disciplinary teams to review patients’ medication, optimise their medication, and prevent wastage. In addition, electronic Repeat Dispensing (eRD) allows a GP to send repeat prescriptions to a patient’s pharmacy to manage the dispensing of the specific medicines required. As part of the eRD service, the pharmacy is required to make sure that the patient still needs all of their medicines, and dispense to the patients only those that are needed.

The national overprescribing review from 2021 set outs a series of practical and cultural changes necessary to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their needs, while ensuring value for money. The impact of these and other measures is not centrally monitored.

While the ongoing trend in payments in the UK has been away from cash and towards digital payment methods, the government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or who otherwise rely mainly on cash. In May 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Financial Lives Survey estimated that 3.1 million people paid for everything in cash over the previous year.

In recognition of the importance of cash access, it has been protected in UK law. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, with reference to the government’s stated objectives for protecting cash access as set out in a government Policy Statement. The FCA must also seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities in relation to personal current accounts, so that those who rely on cash are protected.

In July 2024, the FCA published its final rules setting out its approach to regulating access to cash, which come into force on 18 September.

This Government recognises the crucial role that councils and the voluntary and community sector play in addressing homelessness and is committed to working closely with these partners, as well as councils and mayors, as we develop a new cross-government strategy that will put us back on track to ending homelessness once and for all.