Luke Evans

Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. The Cross-Whitehall Counter Disinformation Unit was stood up on 5 March 2020 to look for trends on social media platforms so that we can work with them and other partners to respond to misleading content rapidly.

The Rapid Response Unit in the Cabinet Office has also tackled a range of harmful narratives online. Up to 70 incidents a week have been identified and resolved - from false public health advice to criminal fraudsters running phishing scams. When alerted to Covid-19 vaccination fraud or scams in particular, the unit works alongside partners across the government and beyond, including NHS England to address and resolve the issues quickly.

The £292bn of annual public sector procurement spend has a key role to play in the economic recovery of the UK.

The UK’s exit from the EU offers a huge opportunity to reform public procurement so that it better meets this country’s needs. Simpler, less bureaucratic processes for businesses and better commercial outcomes for our public bodies. We will publish our reform proposals in due course.

The UK and EU have agreed to consider addressing future arrangements on social security coordination and healthcare, in the light of future movement of persons. These arrangements will be without prejudice to the rights protected by the Withdrawal Agreement. The Government will continue to update Parliament on the progress of our negotiations with the EU.

The Government believes it is essential that consumers of domestic fuels get a fair deal. There is an open market for the supply of heating oil in the UK as we believe this provides the best long-term guarantee of competitive prices. Changes in the price of heating oil are mainly driven by those in the underlying price of crude oil. The Department publishes regular price data at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/oil-and-petroleum-products-monthly-statistics.

The supply of domestic bulk domestic heating oil is also subject to UK competition law and consumer protection through a regulatory scheme under the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Government committed in the Clean Growth Strategy to look at a trajectory to improve as many privately rented homes as possible to Energy Performance Band C by 2030, where practical, cost-effective, and affordable.

The £500m Sustainable Warmth Competition, which brings together two fuel poverty schemes; Local Authority Delivery and the Home Upgrade Grant, will deliver energy efficiency upgrades by March 2023 to eligible households living on and off the gas grid. BEIS is working with local authorities across England to promote energy efficient measures to all residents. BEIS encourages interested private tenants to discuss the benefits of the schemes and their eligibility with their landlord before contacting their local authority.

The retail fuels market is subject to UK competition law under the Competition and Markets Authority. A competitive market ensures that road fuel prices stay as low as possible. The Government and its regulatory bodies periodically conduct in-depth reviews to explore issues such as differences in local and regional price. This framework delivers below the European average for pre-tax prices for both petrol and diesel in the UK.

The Government is therefore confident that, for the UK road fuels sector, competitive markets ensure that consumers get a fair deal and that road fuel prices stay as low as possible.

Petrol and diesel prices are mainly driven by the price of crude oil (priced in US$) and exchange rates.  But are also influenced by a range of factors, which can create small price differences in the short term. This includes balance of demand and refinery capacity, levels of oil stocks, changes to the costs of biofuels and distribution, and retail margins.

BEIS publishes weekly national average pump prices: www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/oil-and-petroleum-products-weekly-statistics. BEIS analysis shows that both rises and falls in crude oil prices are passed through to consumers over the course of 6-7 weeks and found no evidence to suggest that, for given changes in crude oil prices, retail prices rise faster than they fall; and fuel prices will be driven by crude prices over the previous few weeks.

In July 2021, the Department launched the first-ever hospitality strategy to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of England’s pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. The Government has committed to explore options for vocational training offers that support career paths in the sector, and to work with the sector to raise the profile of skills and careers in hospitality.

The Department for Education has also added hospitality and catering qualifications to the Free Courses for Jobs, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. Additionally, we increased employer-led apprenticeship funding to £2.7 billion by 2024-25, extending the £3,000 incentive payment for every apprentice a business hired up until 31 January 2022, and improving the apprenticeship system for employers. 7 February marks the start of the National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2022, celebrating the positive impact apprenticeships bring to employers, individuals, and the economy.

In July 2021, the Department launched the first-ever hospitality strategy to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of England’s pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. We have also launched the Hospitality Sector Council to oversee the delivery of the strategy, including working with the sector to address labour and skills shortages.

To help address the immediate challenges of labour shortages in the hospitality sector, the Department for Work and Pensions has been working hard to fill ongoing vacancies by using work coaches to help find local talent and Plans for Jobs programmes, such as Kickstart and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes.

The Government meets regularly with Ofgem, energy suppliers and consumer groups to help support vulnerable consumers save energy and reduce their bills.

The Warm Home Discount scheme currently provides over 2 million low-income and vulnerable households with a £140 rebate off their winter energy bill. The scheme will be extended to 2026, and from 2022 it will be worth £475 million a year (in 2020 prices) and reach nearly 3 million households. The Energy Company Obligation Scheme has delivered around 3.3 million measures in around 2.3 million homes since 2013. As per the Sustainable Warmth Strategy, the Government has committed to a four-year, £4 billion successor scheme to accelerate efforts in helping homes meet fuel poverty targets.

Decisions on the level of the price cap are for Ofgem. Ofgem’s consultation on proposed changes to the price cap closed on 17 December 2021. Ofgem intends to have a decision published by the beginning of February 2022.

The Government is in regular contact with Ofgem and industry to discuss the impact of unprecedented global gas prices and will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure consumers are protected.

Decisions on the level of the price cap are for Ofgem. Ofgem’s consultation on proposed changes to the price cap closed on 17 December 2021. Ofgem intends to have a decision published by the beginning of February 2022.

The Government is in regular contact with Ofgem and industry to discuss the impact of unprecedented global gas prices and will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure consumers are protected.

Following the announcement of the review of Local Enterprise Partnerships at Spring Budget, we have engaged with local partners, business organisations, higher and further education representatives, senior officials from local authorities across England and chief executives from Mayoral Combined Authorities. I am grateful to them for their time and constructive engagement over the course of the review.

Since initiating the review, we have also committed to publish a landmark Levelling Up White Paper, which will set out Government’s vision for empowering local leaders and institutions, including LEPs, and will be published in 2022.

In the future, the Government expects to see a mix of low carbon technologies used for heating and it is unlikely that there will be a one-size-fits all solution. Low carbon heat networks, equipped with large heat pumps or recovering surplus heat from natural or industrial sources, can provide heating and hot water for new buildings at very low carbon emissions. There will also be a role, where appropriate, for other low-carbon technologies and renewable electricity generation such as solar photovoltaics. The Building Regulations will continue to set a performance-based standard rather than mandating or banning the use of any technologies.

From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will ensure that new homes produce at least 75% fewer CO2 emissions than those built to current standards. No further energy efficiency retrofit work will be necessary to enable them to become zero-carbon over time as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.

The Government is analysing the evidence received and will respond in due course.

BEIS and DfE jointly convened the independent Green Jobs Taskforce formed of business, unions and skills providers, to advise on how we can develop plans for new, long-term, good quality green jobs, and support industries and their employees as they transition to net zero. The Taskforce has assessed how the UK jobs market and the skills sector will need to adapt to support net zero, developing ideas and solutions for how the UK can deliver the green jobs of the future.

In addition to the anticipated report from the Taskforce (published today), we have the programmes in place now – including Apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, Traineeships, T Levels, and the forthcoming National Skills Fund - to help us grow future talent pipelines and deliver the skilled individuals we will need. The Lifetime Skills Guarantee announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister will help people train and retrain at any stage of their lives and so develop the skills most valued by employers.

The Government will consider the Taskforce’s rich evidence base and comprehensive recommendations ahead of setting out, later in the year, our Net Zero Strategy and future skills policy.

The Climate Action Strategy Committee, chaired by my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister, and the Climate Action Implementation Committee provide two important ministerial forums for discussion on climate, including skills and training for the green economy.

We are determined to seize the once-in-a-generation economic opportunities of the net zero transition by creating new business opportunities and, by one estimate, supporting up to 2 million green jobs by 2030 across all regions of the UK. For example, the policies set out in the Ten Point Plan, support 90,000 green collar jobs across the UK by 2024, and up to 250,000 by 2030.

In order to ensure we have the skilled workforce to deliver net zero and our Ten Point Plan, my Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills and I convened the Green Jobs Taskforce, to help us develop plans for new long-term good quality, green jobs by 2030 and advise what support is needed for people in transitioning industries. The Taskforce is currently preparing its report and independent recommendations for the Government, industry and the skills sector, which will feed into the development of our Net Zero Strategy to be published later in the year.

In Leicester and the surrounding area, Leicester and Leicestershire’s Growth Hub (Biz Gateway) is working to support businesses to become greener through workshops, including sustainable packaging, renewable energy and behavioural change. For instance, green recovery is one of four key priorities running through the Leicester and Leicestershire Local Skills Report.

The Government takes the issue of IP infringement seriously, including counterfeit electrical goods. The Intellectual Property Office works closely with law enforcement and government partners such as Trading Standards and Border Force to prevent counterfeit electrical goods from being sold in the UK. Industry initiatives such as the Real Deal have also reduced the availability of counterfeit electrical goods at local markets and online marketplaces.

The Police IP Crime Unit, launched in September 2013, has had a significant impact having investigated intellectual property crime worth more than £100 million and suspended over 30,000 internet domains. Ongoing enforcement initiatives include Operation Beorma tacking counterfeits and organised crime groups, and work by National Trading Standards and the Intellectual Property Office to deal with the risks posed by sellers who use self-storage units to distribute counterfeit items.

BEIS officials have also met online retailers to discuss the availability of counterfeits on their platforms and to help co-ordinate law enforcement action against sellers.

We have established a weekly ‘Reopening Retail Working Group’ to bring together businesses, Local Authorities, PHE, the police and relevant Departments to discuss the operational challenges of reopening and to agree practical steps that can be taken to support this.

On 22 February, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister published the Government’s COVID-19 Response-Spring 2021. The roadmap is a step-by-step plan to ease restrictions in England gradually, starting with education. Across the four steps, the roadmap sets out the sequencing and indicative timing for easing restrictions, including those on the wedding sector.

I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and jobs in the sector.

Under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, traders are banned from using misleading statements about the geographical or commercial origin of products. Aside from certain specified products such as food there is no requirement for goods to be labelled with their country of origin.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality and tourism sectors to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses. In 2021 we will continue to provide a package of support including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants, additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses and the Cultural Relief Fund. We keep all support under review.

In the Global Travel Taskforce Review, the Government committed to producing a Tourism Recovery Plan. This is being led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality and tourism sector to understand the impact of the pandemic on their businesses.

Hospitality and tourism businesses have been able to benefit from Government support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, Government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants, additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses and the Cultural Relief Fund.

On 5 January, when the new National Lockdown began, the Chancellor announced a one-off top up grant for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the spring.  A £594 million discretionary fund has also been made available to support other impacted businesses.

The Government has announced that it intends to publish a Tourism Recovery Plan, and we will bring forward further details in due course.

Green Homes Grant installers may continue to carry out installations in people’s homes during the national lockdown provided they follow the government guidance for working safely in other people’s homes.[1]

We understand that some customers may not feel comfortable having an installer visit their home during a period of national lockdown. To reduce risk, installers can provide a quote remotely using a video call or detailed photographs, rather than physically attending a customer’s home.

In November, the scheme was extended from March 2021 to March 2022 to give customers longer to complete home improvements under the grant. We do not currently have plans to extend the scheme beyond this date but keep the scheme under continual review.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes#national-lockdown

The Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme launched for applications on 30 September and as announced on 18 November, will run until 31 March 2022. As of 13 January, the number of grant applications within (a) and (b) are as follows:

(a) Leicestershire County - 1,641

(b) Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council - 94

The value presented in (a) Leicestershire County is inclusive of (b) Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.

The Safer Workplaces guidance includes robust health and safety measures to ensure businesses are supported or, where required, challenged. Alongside legal requirements covered in the guides, they outline the enforcement powers held by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities.

In October we extended the Energy Price Cap until at least the end of 2021, which means that 15 million households across the UK will continue to be protected from overcharging on their energy bills. Since its introduction in January 2019, the Cap has saved customers around £1 billion a year.

We have also introduced energy efficiency measures to further reduce bills and tackle fuel poverty. The Green Homes Grant voucher scheme, which opened in September 2020, provides low income homeowners in England up to £10,000 each to install energy efficiency and low-carbon heating measures in their homes. An additional £640m per year is available through the Energy Company Obligation scheme to help fuel poor and low-income households stay warm while reducing their energy bills.

In addition, the Warm Home Discount provides over 2 million low-income and vulnerable households with a £140 rebate off their winter energy bill.

The Government is committed to supporting local businesses during this crucial trading period. BEIS and MHCLG have been working closely with retailers and Local Authorities for a safe and successful reopening of non-essential retail on 2 December.

In order to further support retailers, planning rules limiting opening hours will be eased to allow shops to be open for longer Monday to Saturday from 2 December, giving consumers greater flexibility to choose when they shop. These measures will run through the January sales.

We have modified the closing time for hospitality to last orders at 10pm and closing time at 11pm. This allows customers to depart gradually and provides greater flexibility.

The excellent Small Business Saturday UK event took place on the 5 December and was a great way to celebrate small and micro businesses across the UK, raise awareness of the importance of SME’s to our local communities and help them get back on their feet.

My ministerial colleagues across Government and I were delighted to be able to take part on the day itself to champion our small businesses and draw attention to the brilliant campaign.

The Government is investing more than £1.3bn to support new EV charging infrastructure, including £950m on future proofing electricity network capacity along the Strategic Road Network.

Electricity network operators at both the distribution and transmission levels are responsible for assessing the need for new investment to support electric vehicle charging as part of their business plans, which are then approved by Ofgem, the independent regulator. My officials regularly meet with network operators across Great Britain to discuss the impacts of the electric vehicle transition, including how the increasing demand will be managed.

Electric vehicles also present an opportunity for consumers to contribute to the efficient management of electricity supply and demand and share the benefits of doing so through smart technologies.

The necessary investment in infrastructure and the adoption of smart charging will ensure that the electricity network is able to support the mass charging of electric vehicles.

The Department has been considering the potential contributions of different technologies to decarbonise heat, including the deployment of heat pumps and the potential use of hydrogen on the grid.

In order to support this, prototype ‘hydrogen-ready boilers’ are being developed under the £25m BEIS Hy4Heat programme. This programme is seeking to investigate if it is technically possible and safe to replace methane with hydrogen in appliances for residential and commercial buildings and evaluate the likely costs and performance.

The Government is also supporting the uptake of heat pumps and hybrid heat pumps through the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme. We are continuing to develop our position on the potential role of hybrid heating systems in meeting net zero by 2050 and they have been included in our large scale ‘Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project’. The project aims to gather further evidence on how these systems operate in practice, which will provide more in-depth understanding of hybrids’ role in decarbonising heating going forwards.

We will be setting out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings in our Heat and Buildings Strategy which we plan to publish in due course.

The Government remains engaged with key stakeholders in public health, the retail industry, and trade unions to ensure the sector can continue to operate safely. Guidance issued to employers and employees is helping them take all the necessary precautions to limit the spread of the virus in working environments including shops.

The Government welcomes efforts by supermarkets and other retail stores to ensure vulnerable groups and older people can shop safely but this is a decision for each business.

The Jet Zero Council met on 28 July, creating a partnership between industry and the Government to drive high ambition in the delivery of new technologies and innovative ways to cut aviation emissions.

The Council has been set up to develop bold, new thinking on ways to develop UK capability to tackle zero emission commercial flight.

This includes considering how to develop and industrialise clean aviation and aerospace technologies, establish UK production facilities for sustainable aviation fuels, and develop a coordinated approach to the policy and regulatory framework needed to deliver net zero aviation.

The Department, alongside the Department for Transport, will continue to engage with a wide range of stakeholders on delivering our Jet Zero ambitions.

We regularly discuss post-Covid-19 recovery with aerospace companies across the UK, including through the Aerospace Growth Partnership.

The UK’s aerospace and aviation sectors are benefiting from over £8.5 billion from the Government’s Covid-19 business support measures, including the Coronavirus Corporate Financing Facility, support for research and development, supply chain performance improvement programmes, and export finance.

Ministers and officials are engaging extensively with UK hydrogen stakeholders to inform development of hydrogen as a strategic decarbonised energy carrier for the UK, including business models to support investment in low carbon hydrogen production.

Engagement has covered interests from production to end use, including the UK’s industrial clusters with representatives from carbon capture and storage enabled hydrogen projects and potential users of hydrogen; and electrolytic hydrogen producers such as Ryse and ITM Power.

We are formalising our engagement with such stakeholders through the establishment of a Hydrogen Advisory Council, which met for the first time this week. This will enable Government to work in partnership with Industry to drive commercial demonstration and deployment of low carbon hydrogen in the 2020s.

The UK is well placed to be a world leader in both the leading low carbon hydrogen production routes - electrolysis and carbon capture and storage enabled methane reformation. We are home to the world’s largest offshore wind market, have depleted oil and gas reservoirs off our coastline that could potentially store more than 78 billion tonnes of CO2 and significant underground salt beds which could provide tens of gigawatts of cost effective hydrogen storage.

The UK has world leading companies in both these production routes who are already developing major scale production projects, and a world leading innovation base that will contribute to development of the next generation of hydrogen production technologies.

Enterprise Zones (EZs) are designated areas that create local economic growth by supporting businesses to grow.

Currently, the Government has no plans to extend or create new EZs. However, the Government remains committed to creating up to ten new innovative Freeports across the UK, to level up the country and make sure businesses and communities benefit from the opportunities of leaving the EU. The consultation concludes on the 13^th July, after which the Government will make further announcements.

The Minister of State for Regional Growth and Local Government chairs an Economic Recovery Working Group, bringing together representatives of local authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships, and Combined Authorities. This Group works with local regions to understand the full scale of the challenges they face in the short to medium-term.

We are not starting recovery planning from a blank page. Through the Local Industrial Strategies programme, Local Enterprise Partnerships have done excellent work to develop an evidence base and to scope long-term priorities for their areas. In the short-term, we encourage partners to prioritise those issues their existing strategies –have not considered. This will include how to restart the economy whilst maintaining social distancing in line with Government guidance.

It is critical that employers offer safe workplaces. The Government has published guidance to help ensure workplaces are as safe as possible during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These guides cover a range of working environments and are available at www.gov.uk/workingsafely.

Nothing in this guidance affects employers’ existing responsibilities under employment and equalities legislation. Employers therefore need to bear in mind the particular needs of different groups or individuals, and make sure that the steps they take to address the risk of COVID-19 do not unjustifiably impact on some groups compared with others.

The safer workplaces guidance provides information to employers on how best to meet these responsibilities in the context of COVID-19.

As you are aware, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister confirmed on 25 May that retail shops (including shops selling clothes, shoes, toys, books and electronics) will begin to reopen more widely from 15 June, subject to progress against the five tests and only where the business is able to follow the safer working guidance.

The Government has updated the guidance on working safely in shops and branches to allow venues to prepare. The updated guidance takes into account the best practice demonstrated by the many retailers which have been allowed to remain open and have applied social distancing measures in store.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy chaired a taskforce meeting involving businesses, business representative organisations and unions. In addition, a questionnaire was issued to approximately 60 businesses covering the retail outlets captured by the updated guidance.

The guidance on safer working has been welcomed and many sectors appreciate the joint work between government, business and trade unions.

As per the announcement and publication of the Government’s roadmap, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy leads on the Pubs and Restaurants Taskforce. Its engagement group was convened on May 22nd.

Venues like restaurants and pubs are naturally crowded by design and require more contact between people, which means it is more difficult to socially distance. It is the government’s ambition to reopen these types of businesses as part of Step 3 of the roadmap, subject to further scientific advice and the risk assessment at the time.

The BEIS taskforce is considering how these businesses can reopen safely in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions. We are working with the sector to develop guidance on safer ways for them to open at the earliest point at which it is safe to do so.

The Government is supporting businesses and their employees through a package of measures, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, during this period of unprecedented disruption to help firms keep people in employment, and reduce the need for redundancies. The Government is continually reviewing what further support can be offered to business and whether amended guidance is appropriate

The legislation relating to collective redundancies remains in force and employers are expected to comply with these requirements. If there are special circumstances which mean that it is not reasonably practicable for an employer to comply in full with some of the requirements, the employer should still take all such steps towards compliance with that requirement which it reasonably can. This is a matter for employers to consider based on their own situation.

Employees who feel their rights have been denied may complain to an employment tribunal, which may make a protective award of up to 90 days’ pay to each affected employee.

Businesses and employees can get advice on individual employment issues by visiting the Acas website. Acas has detailed best practice guidance online for employers on handling large-scale redundancies. Businesses can also ring the BEIS Business Support Line for further advice on support for business.

The Government recognises the extremely difficult circumstances small travel companies are currently facing, which is why on 17 March the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a wide range of support for businesses, in addition to the £30bn support announced in the budget. The Government is keeping package travel regulations under review and are collecting intelligence on how businesses are adapting to these challenges.

The Government is clear that we will support people in work during the Covid-19 outbreak. We are regular engaging with industry stakeholders, including the British Retail Consortium and supermarket CEOs, to ensure they are well prepared and that their operations remain in line with the latest health guidance.

The Government is collaborating with businesses across the manufacturing sector to ensure additional personal protective equipment (PPE) can be provided to frontline workers as quickly as possible to ensure their safety. While PPE supplies are currently being prioritised for health and social care workers, we are working to ensure additional requirements for PPE and consumables can continue to be sourced through normal distributors.

Food shops that remain open at this time will be expected to comply with social distancing requirements This approach is clinically led, based on the expert advice of the UK’s Chief Medical Officer.

Government is unable to comment on individual cases given that the Criminal Case Review Commission (CCRC) is independent in their determination of applications. The CCRC is working hard to progress these cases at speed though and is treating the cases as a group to enable them to review the cases more efficiently. However, within the group of cases the CCRC will still need to assess each case individually, so that they can make a decision as to whether the case meets the statutory test to be referred to the appeal courts. Post Office Ltd has assured Government that it is fully cooperating with the CCRC. ?

More widely in respect of the Horizon case, the Post Office, under its new chief executive officer, has accepted that it got things wrong, apologised and said that it aims to re-establish a positive relationship with postmasters. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working actively with the Post Office on this matter and will hold it to account on its progress. We are also looking into what more needs to be done.

Government provides businesses in Hinckley and Bosworth with support through Leicester and Leicestershire’s LEP Growth Hub.

We have made specific investments in Horiba MIRA to support the future automotive industry.

This has included £9.5m to establish the MIRA Technology Institute to develop state of the art training facilities to nurture automotive engineers of the future.

Government provides businesses in Hinckley and Bosworth with support through Leicester and Leicestershire’s LEP Growth Hub.

We have made specific investments in Horiba MIRA to support the future automotive industry.

This has included £9.5m to establish the MIRA Technology Institute to develop state of the art training facilities to nurture automotive engineers of the future.

Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) play an important role in providing a business voice to inform investment decisions and drive economic growth. The Leicester and Leicestershire LEP has supported Hinckley and Bosworth through a total of £13.1m of Local Growth Funds since 2014. This has included:

• £9.5m for the MIRA Technology Institute – training 2,500 learners per annum in advanced manufacturing and automotive technologies for the future.

• £3.6m for the Local Sustainable Transport Fund Rd 2 (Hinckley) - introducing 13 miles of new cycle paths and walking routes, thereby reducing journey times on the highway network.

There are 3 LEPs in the East Midlands: Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (D2N2); Leicester and Leicestershire; and Greater Lincolnshire. Through these LEPs, the Government has invested £539m in projects to create infrastructure, drive job creation, and accelerate skills development.

The Government recognises the recent challenges faced by Rugby Union. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government went above and beyond through the Sports Survival Package to provide unprecedented levels of financial support to sports clubs, including rugby union clubs, to ensure their survival.

The Government is clear that robust governance is essential to sustainable and successful sport. The respective National Governing Body is responsible for the governance of their sport. In the case of Rugby Union, the Government is working closely with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby League (PRL).

The Government shares the concerns of fans about where the game goes next, so has appointed two expert independent advisers to work with the RFU and PRL on their plans to secure the future of professional rugby union. They will report their recommendations to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport later in the summer.

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) continues to provide an important free service for people and businesses who wish to opt out of receiving unsolicited live sales and marketing calls. Anyone who wishes to add their landline or mobile number to the TPS database can do so by visiting tpsonline.org.uk. Once a number has been registered, direct marketing organisations are legally required under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) to refrain from calling it.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces the law and has powers to fine persons that break it. In 2021/22, the ICO issued over £2.8 million in fines issued to companies responsible for nuisance calls, texts and emails.

The ICO are currently considering responses to their consultation on new regulatory guidance on the use of their enforcement powers under PECR. This includes consideration of the circumstances where it would be appropriate to fine organisations or individual directors; and the factors the ICO would take into account when setting the level of a monetary penalty. The draft guidance can be viewed on the ICO’s website.

Ofcom has industry rules in place which are designed to protect consumers - specifically around complaints processes and customer access to alternative dispute resolution procedures. In June 2019, major broadband and mobile providers signed up to Ofcom’s voluntary Fairness Commitments which sought to encourage signatory providers to embed fairness across their businesses. In May 2021, Ofcom reviewed progress against the Fairness Commitments and identified customer service levels as an area of concern, as such this is likely to be a focus for future work on the Commitments.

In May 2022, Ofcom published its customer service tracking report for mobile, broadband and landline, which is based on customers’ experiences in 2021, amid the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ofcom found that overall customer satisfaction levels were high - with 91% of mobile customers and 83% of broadband customers satisfied with their service overall. However, service levels did not return to 2019 levels across the industry. Ofcom will continue to engage with providers and challenge them to prioritise service improvements to beyond pre-pandemic levels.

We appreciate that price rises are never welcome, and we understand the recent increases announced by some operators may be particularly unwelcome given the wider pressures on the cost of living.

We are engaging with mobile and broadband providers to explore ways that they can provide support to households who may be facing challenges paying their bills.

The recent price increases announced by some providers are contained within the terms and conditions that consumers agreed to when taking out their service. We encourage customers to first check whether they are in contract or whether they might be able to leave without penalty. Figures released by Ofcom in November 2021, show that 35% of consumers in 2020 were out of contract, and the average out of contract broadband customer could save more than £61 a year by switching.

Consumers who are bound by their contract may benefit from speaking with their provider and discussing the options that may be available to support them.

We appreciate that price rises are never welcome, and we understand the recent increases announced by some operators may be particularly unwelcome given the wider pressures on the cost of living.

We are engaging with mobile and broadband providers to explore ways that they can provide support to households who may be facing challenges paying their bills.

The recent price increases announced by some providers are contained within the terms and conditions that consumers agreed to when taking out their service. We encourage customers to first check whether they are in contract or whether they might be able to leave without penalty. Figures released by Ofcom in November 2021, show that 35% of consumers in 2020 were out of contract, and the average out of contract broadband customer could save more than £61 a year by switching.

Consumers who are bound by their contract may benefit from speaking with their provider and discussing the options that may be available to support them.

There are a range of social tariff products currently available to over 5 million households in receipt of Universal Credit support, and other means tested benefits. These offers are available to eligible households in over 99% of the country.

In July 2021, Ofcom reported take-up of social tariffs to be between approximately 1-2% of eligible households, so we are aware that more can be done to increase consumer awareness and encourage take-up of these offers.

We welcome increased promotion and consumer signposting of the social tariff products by providers such as BT, Virgin Media O2 and Hyperoptic.

DCMS is also working closely with colleagues across the government, including the Department for Work & Pensions and the Department for Education, to raise consumer awareness of social tariffs through local stakeholder channels to ensure that the individuals who may be eligible for social tariffs are made aware of the support available to them.

The Department continues to work alongside Ofcom to monitor the affordability of telecoms services.

Fixed-broadband social tariff products are currently available to over 5 million low-income households in receipt of Universal Credit support and other means-tested benefits, such as Pension Credit, Income Support and Job-Seekers Allowance. These tariffs are available in 99% of the UK. We encourage anyone with financial concerns to speak with their provider about the support that may be available to them.

Her Majesty's Government is delighted to be supporting the celebrations to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and there are many ways that we are helping high streets and local businesses to join in and benefit from this national moment.

The Government has written to Local Authorities in England, highlighting the many opportunities for their communities to get involved in the celebrations. The Home Office are currently consulting on extending the licensing hours over the bank holiday weekend. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) set out a cross-Whitehall vision through the High Streets Strategy and government’s commitment to support celebrations and involvement of communities.

Those local authorities who have signed up to take part in the Government’s Welcome Back Fund may choose to use their allocation to undertake preparations for the Platinum Jubilee, before the Fund ends on 31 March 2022.

The Platinum Jubilee Emblem is available, free of charge, to all communities and businesses.

The Government’s dedicated Platinum Jubilee website contains information on sources of funding, including £22m of Lottery funding. The website also contains an online map onto which event organisers can add their events and Jubilee celebrations.

DCMS continues to work alongside Ofcom to encourage Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to go further to support low-income families.

Following our discussions with the telecoms sector, affordable social tariffs are now available from BT, Virgin Media, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre and KCOM for £15 per month to those on Universal Credit as well as other means-tested benefits. These ISPs operate in 99% of the UK. We continue to have on-going discussions with Ofcom who have a statutory duty to monitor affordability in the telecommunications sector. We also continue to encourage all operators to introduce affordable tariffs.

DCMS also continues to work with Ofcom on the issue of switching. Ofcom introduced new rules in September 2021 which are designed to make broadband switching easier. Under these rules, consumers only need to contact their new ISP, who will lead the switching process, regardless of the underlying network provider or connection type. These rules will go into effect in April 2023.

Following the consultation response which set out our policy proposals last year, we have worked with industry stakeholders and other government departments to develop legislative proposals that will ensure that new homes are future-proofed with gigabit-ready infrastructure and built with gigabit-capable connections.

We will shortly be publishing a statutory technical consultation on our legislative proposals and seek to lay the implementing regulations in Parliament as soon as possible.

Since the consultation on the Electronic Communications Code closed on 24 March 2021, officials have been analysing the responses received. The government’s response will be published once this process is completed.

Local authorities work closely with the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector and other organisations, including the public sector and the NHS, to recruit and coordinate volunteers at a local level. The Government aims to empower these local partnerships and ensure national efforts to encourage volunteering complement locally-led responses.

Where there is urgent need for intervention from the Government, we work closely with the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership (VCSEP). The VCSEP is a collection of voluntary and community sector organisations, and is co-chaired by the British Red Cross and National Association for Voluntary and Community Action. The Partnership aims to help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies. They do this by coordinating and directly providing support to those in need, including mobilising volunteers if the need arises.

My department continues to work closely across government to support the development of a coherent and robust approach to dealing with online fraud, including with the Home Office as the lead department responsible for setting out the government’s approach to tackling fraud. The Government is aware this type of advertising exists and depending on the final scope of the policy, this type of advertising may fall within the scope of the Online Advertising Programme. The programme is seeking to reduce harms through online advertising.

Following a call for evidence in 2020, DCMS will be launching the Online Advertising Programme later this year to examine how best to strengthen standards around the placement and content of online advertising to minimise these types of financial harm, and to ensure they can be effectively enforced, including through new legislation where required.

More information about the Online Advertising Programme can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-advertising-call-for-evidence/online-advertising-call-for-evidence

My Department is taking a number of steps to support the reopening of the events and exhibition sector.

We seek to reopen business events and conferences in Step 3, subject to a capacity cap. Attendees at outdoor business events will be capped at 50% capacity, up to 4,000 people. Attendees at indoor business events will be capped at 50% capacity, up to 1,000 people.

Step 3 will take place no earlier than 17 May, and at least five weeks after Step 2, following a further review of the data and the four tests.

As part of our efforts to get such events back in full operation, we have launched the Events Research Programme to explore when and how large events can return with reduced social distancing requirements.

The Government’s Covid-19 Secure guidance for the visitor economy will be kept up to date over the coming months, in line with the reopening process for the sector.

Attendees will take a LFD test at an assisted testing site the day before an Events Research Programme pilot event. A smartphone is not required to receive this test result, though some event organisers may require text confirmation of a negative LFD test result.

Ticketing arrangements are managed by individual event organisers, and will vary from event to event. Further details on the ticketing requirements will be made available by individual event organisers, and may include app-based tickets, print-at-home tickets, or text confirmations. Individual event organisers will confirm ticketing and test requirements with attendees ahead of each event. We will continue to engage with stakeholders, and the scientific community to help shape these plans.

The Events Research Programme aims to examine the risk of transmission of Covid-19 from attendance at events and explore ways to enable people to attend a range of events safely. To achieve this, the programme will explore how a combination of testing and non-pharmaceutical interventions (actions that people can take to mitigate the spread of coronavirus) can inform decisions on safely lifting restrictions at events.

We have confirmed 8 events that will run as ERP pilots to inform the safe removal of social distancing from Step 4 of the Roadmap. The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venue types, and activity types so that findings could support the full reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors.

These pilots will be held in locations across England, including Liverpool, London, and Sheffield. All events will be subject to national and local approvals (including the Directors for Public Health and local authorities), and further events may be announced in due course.

The Global Travel Taskforce last year committed the Government to publish a Tourism Recovery Plan in support of the sector. We are continuing to hold discussions with stakeholders, including via the Tourism Industry Council, to assess how this plan can support the sector’s short and long term recovery from the pandemic.

The Government intends to set out proposals in the Spring, including plans for a marketing campaign to welcome visitors back to the UK as soon as it is safe to do so.

DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.

The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.

DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.

The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.

DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.

The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.

DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.

The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/.

The BBC is responsible for assessing the take up and engagement of audiences with its services, including those which provide televised learning programmes. However, in its most recent Annual Report, the BBC said that, over the first week of school closures (23-29 March 2020), there were 37.7m iPlayer requests for CBeebies and CBBC.

Education policy and the impact of the national lockdown on learning in England is the responsibility of the Department for Education.

We are committed to getting spectators back into stadiums as soon as it is safe to do so.

We will continue to work closely with a whole range of sporting bodies, including the football authorities, to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.

The Government recognises the impact that Covid-19 is having on the sporting sector and our multi-billion-pound package of business support has enabled many of our sports clubs to survive. But we know that the decision not to reopen stadia to spectators on 1 October will have economic consequences for sports and clubs across the country who relied on those fans for income, including professional rugby union teams.

I meet regularly with representatives from rugby union, and we will continue to engage directly with both the RFU and with Premiership Rugby as part of this process.

The safety and security of players and spectators remains of paramount importance. Work continues at pace to find solutions that will allow crowds safely back into stadia as soon as possible. The Government will continue to work closely with the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) and a whole range of sports to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this. Ministers and officials will continue to engage with the RFU and Premiership Rugby as part of this process.

DCMS Ministers and officials are in regular discussions with both public health officials and rugby union authorities across a range of matters, including the admission of spectators to sports stadia.

We recognise the news that stadia would not be reopening from 1 October was disappointing to many fans and sports, particularly after all the work on test events and preparations. However we have to take difficult decisions that give us the best chance of containing the virus this winter. The safety and security of spectators and players is of paramount importance.

The Government will also continue to work closely with the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) and a whole range of sports to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.

Ministers and officials will continue to engage directly with both the Rugby Football Union and with Premiership Rugby as part of this process.

The Secretary of State and DCMS are committed to supporting the cultural sector to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so, and ensure appropriate support and guidance is provided.

To that end, DCMS has established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce and the Entertainment and Events working group which include extensive membership from across the artistic and creative industries sectors. The Taskforce and Working Groups will be focusing on ensuring that COVID-19 secure guidelines are developed in line with the phasing ambitions and public health directions, building on the existing guidance and providing intelligence and sector-specific expert input.

Further details on the Entertainment and Events Working Group can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/cultural-renewal-taskforce-and-supporting-working-groups#entertainment-and-events-members.

It is vital that the sport and physical activity sector is supported to come through this difficult period and it has a crucial role in supporting the nation back into activity once the pandemic has abated and as lockdown measures start to ease.

Both I and the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage are holding regular discussions with a range of sport and physical activity organisations to ensure that the sector is in the best possible place to support a return to physical activity and competitive sport.

On 20 May, the Government established the Cultural Renewal Taskforce which will examine the most effective and creative ways to support the reopening of the recreation and leisure sectors, with membership drawn from those sectors. The Taskforce is being supported by working groups specifically focused on individual sectors, including sport and physical. Further details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/culture-secretary-announces-cultural-renewal-taskforce.

We are committed to working with the arts and entertainment sectors to reopen their doors as soon as it is safe to do so.

As part of the Government’s roadmap for recovery from Covid-19, DCMS has launched the Cultural Renewal taskforce which will develop plans for reopening across DCMS sectors. Its work is supported by the Entertainment and Events working group, which brings together representatives from key sector bodies and organisations in these sectors.

My officials and I continue to regularly discuss this matter in detail with representatives from across the tourism industry.

My Department has launched the Cultural Renewal Taskforce to help our sectors prepare to reopen when it is safe to do so. To inform this taskforce, we have set up a Visitor Economy Working Group to specifically focus on developing guidance for restarting tourism activity. We remain in regular contact with tourism stakeholders through both this group and the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group.

Given the uncertainty about how long social distancing restrictions will be in place, the 2020 NCS summer programme will not take place in its traditional format. Instead, the Department is working closely with the NCS Trust, the Government Arms’ Length Body commissioned to deliver the programme, to develop an alternative offer for this summer.

The details of the alternative summer programme are being developed at pace between DCMS and the NCS Trust. Any offer will be fully compliant with Government guidelines in response to COVID-19.

The telecoms sector has undertaken a significant amount of work over recent years to prepare for a pandemic. DCMS is working closely with the main broadband providers to ensure the network remains stable and continues to have sufficient capacity for the increases in home-working and remote learning the country has seen as a part of its response to Covid-19.

Physical activity is crucial to the health and wellbeing of the nation. We have been working closely with our national sports council Sport England to continue to promote health and fitness during lockdown. Sport England have launched the Join the Movement campaign which provides tips, advice and guidance on how people can keep or get active in and around the home.

Join the Movement has involved the health and fitness industry, including partners like ukactive, in the development of the campaign. Its online hub offers free exercise content and advice from organisations such as the NHS. Workouts from fitness brands and influencers such as Les Mills on Demand, The Body Coach (Joe Wicks) and FiiT are also available via the hub, many of whom are offering extended free trials to help people get active at home.

As part of the campaign, Sport England are keen to hear from those who have more content to share and they have also urged those who share their ambitions and values to help spread the message of Join the Movement across the nation.

In addition, the 450 school games organisers, funded by government have been redeployed to help children and families to get active at home using online content.

The Government recognises the impact that covid-19 is having on the sporting sector. The Chancellor has announced an unprecedented package of measures to help businesses in this period, including £330 billion worth of government-backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses across the UK.

The Government is keen to ensure mass participation sporting events and spectator sports can function effectively once the covid-19 outbreak has subsided. We are engaging regularly across the sector, including working with competition organisers, to understand how sports are planning to return and the circumstances in which they foresee it may be possible for events to go ahead. But we have been clear throughout that this can only happen when it is safe to do so and in line with the public health guidance of at the time.

Advice on sporting events has at all times been in accordance with the latest scientific and medical advice. The Government has been taking a clear, phased approach to tackling the virus, led by our medical experts and our absolute priority is to protect people's health. However the situation continues to evolve and we will update guidance as the medical advice changes.

I refer the Honourable Member for Bosworth to my answer to his question, reference number 28001, on Monday 23 March.

The Chancellor has announced an unprecedented support package including: a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, where small and large employers will be eligible to apply for a government grant of 80% of workers’ salaries; a deferral of the next quarter of VAT payments for firms, until the end of June, representing a £30bn injection into the economy; £330bn worth of government backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses; and a Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will help eligible freelance workers receive up to £2,500 per month in grants for at least three months.

During the Coronavirus outbreak I have engaged regularly with the sport sector to understand how it can benefit from this support, and address any remaining issues.

Overall, the telecoms sector is well prepared for the impacts of Covid-19 on national broadband infrastructure; its plans are extensive and there is currently sufficient network capacity to support the various needs of consumers during the pandemic.

The Government recognises how important good connectivity is across the United Kingdom, as an increasing number of people have to self isolate. With that in mind, I am pleased that we have worked with the industry to announce additional measures to protect and support consumers, including the vulnerable and those who may become vulnerable due to Covid-19 related circumstances. A joint statement from the Government, industry and Ofcom was published on 29 March 2020 highlighting these commitments.

This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-agrees-measures-with-telecoms-companies-to-support-vulnerable-consumers-through-covid-19

I remain in regular touch with Ofcom and the relevant companies and will continue to keep the situation under review.

Openreach has a standard internal process whereby they monitor the capacity available within individual cabinets. Where cabinets are nearing maximum capacity they will deploy additional capacity. It is in Openreach’s commercial interest to do this as additional take-up of broadband services equates to additional revenue.

Building Digital UK (BDUK), the broadband delivery arm within DCMS, has standard arrangements within their Superfast contracts such that if take-up of these services exceeds a certain threshold - where a given postcode is more commercially viable than Openreach predicted - then a proportion of the public subsidy is returned to BDUK via what is termed “Take-up Clawback”.

The Government is committed to ensuring people across the country have access to football facilities, which is why we committed to investing £550m into grassroots football facilities over the next 10 years.

The government has also committed £1m to support The Football Association’s and Sport England’s programme to raise awareness and promote Euro 2020 across England. This includes improving football facilities around the country - known as the ‘National Promotion Programme’. The ‘National Promotion Programme’ will focus on both new and existing community football facilities, forming part of the existing National Football Facilities Strategy.

The Football Foundation, who provide Exchequer funding on behalf of Sport England as well as other investments funded by the FA and Premier League, have already invested £1,803,840 for football projects in the constituency of Bosworth. This includes £1,750,044 for facilities that have supported Hinckley United FC, the Richmond Park Sporting Hub, Market Bosworth Sports Club, and Greentowers FC Hinckley.

The Government announced in-principle support in October 2019 for the mobile network operators’ (MNOs) Shared Rural Network (SRN) proposal. The proposal would share investment costs between the MNOs and government and increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the United Kingdom to 95% by 2025. It will be underpinned by a legally binding coverage commitment from each operator.

The Government's in-principle support is subject to detailed negotiations. While this is not yet a done deal, the Prime Minister has made improvements to rural mobile coverage part of his first 100 days pledge. I will continue to work with the sector to make that happen.

The exact site deployment plans and timescales will be managed by the MNOs themselves in order for them to best deliver the agreed coverage outcomes. So until the operators’ final radio planning exercise is complete, neither the Government nor the operators will know the precise location or number of new or upgraded masts. However, the operators will be consulting with local communities as their roll out plans become clearer.

The government has made good progress in Bosworth, with over 97% of premises able to access superfast speeds. This is up from 57% in 2010.

Only 1% of premises in the constituency of Bosworth have speeds below 15 Megabits per second. This is testament to the great work undertaken by the Superfast Leicestershire superfast broadband rollout programme, which has been boosted by just under £8 million of central government funding. In October 2018 the 600th Superfast Fibre cabinet in Leicestershire was unveiled in Market Bosworth.

Ensuring that anyone, regardless of their background, can pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupation is a key priority for this government.

To ensure a strong pipeline of qualified students into higher education (HE) and careers in STEM areas, the department has committed substantial spending on mathematics, digital and technical education including funding the Stimulating Physics Network. This network provides tailored support to schools to increase rates of progression to physics A level, including an ‘inclusion project’ which is designed to increase the uptake of A level physics from students in underrepresented groups, including girls.

The department has funded a £84 million programme to improve computing teaching and participation at GCSE and A level, particularly amongst girls.

The department is funding research programmes to investigate ways to tackle gender balance in STEM subjects, including the ‘Improving Gender Balance’ national research trial for physics, and the ‘Gender Balance in Computing’ programme, led by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

The department has also introduced T Levels as a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. The current T Levels in Science and Digital, as well as the upcoming T Levels in Engineering and Manufacturing, will provide opportunities for all students to study STEM-related subjects. To challenge stereotypes which may hold young people back, including gender stereotypes, the department are using T Level ambassadors to showcase a wide range of voices from those already studying T levels, including girls taking STEM-related T Levels.

The department is implementing several initiatives to increase the numbers of students pursuing STEM at higher levels. Institutes of Technology are unique employer-led institutions providing higher technical education and training in key STEM sectors such as digital, construction, advanced manufacturing, and engineering. These provide local people with the skills to pursue rewarding jobs and local business with the skilled workforce they need. They play a key role in widening local participation in technical education and training from disadvantages and under-represented groups (for example, women and ethnic minorities in STEM), which will help to increase the long-term pipeline of STEM skills.

In HE, the proportion of female full-time undergraduate entrants studying STEM courses has increased from 33.6% in 2011 to 42.2% in 2021.

To help address the shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers across the country, the government is investing up to £17 million to deliver new Skills Bootcamps to help up to 5,000 adults train in HGV drivers.

The department launched an invitation to tender on 8 October, inviting applications to deliver Skills Bootcamps for individuals who are new to HGV driving, for those that have left the industry and wish to return, and existing HGV drivers who need additional qualifications to work in high priority areas like driving fuel tankers. The tender closed on 22 October. The department is currently reviewing and evaluating the bids received, with providers awarded funding set to start delivery later this year.

I have met with key professional bodies and providers to discuss how we can ensure students can graduate with professional status and move into their chosen fields and will continue to do so.

Higher education (HE) providers are responsible for the administration of their own exams and assessments and will build on the experience of last year’s arrangements.

We expect providers to ensure that continuing and prospective students receive the clear, accurate and timely information needed to make informed decisions. This includes making students aware of any potential for changes to arrangements for the administration of exams and/or assessment at the earliest opportunity. Providers will make their own judgements based on the latest national and local public health guidance, taking account of the need to minimise risk to staff and students.

The Office for Students (OfS), the HE regulator in England, has produced information and guidance setting out expectations about provider approaches to teaching and assessment of both undergraduates and postgraduates during this time, further details are available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/guidance-on-quality-and-standards-during-coronavirus-pandemic/. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has also published resources for providers on practical ways in which students can complete their studies whilst ensuring quality and standards are upheld – further details can be found here: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/news-events/support-and-guidance-covid-19.

The government will continue to work closely with the QAA, professional bodies and the OfS to ensure students continue to leave university with qualifications that have real value, reflect their hard work and allow them to progress.

We understand that this is a very difficult and uncertain time for students, and we are working with universities, higher education (HE) institutions, mission groups, unions and professional Sector Bodies to make sure that all reasonable efforts are being made to enable all students to continue their studies and provide the support required for them to do so. Our expectation is that universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and the Office for Students (OfS) will continue to actively monitor universities to ensure that quality of provision is maintained and accessible for all.

Students undertaking courses that would normally require attendance on-site will qualify for loans for living costs in the 2020/21 academic year, even if universities are providing course lectures and/or tutorials online only due to COVID-19, provided students continue to engage with their HE provider.

Students who suspend their studies for a variety of reasons, including shielding, can apply to Student Finance England for their living costs support to be continued while they are absent from their course. Students who suspend their studies due to illness automatically receive living costs support for the first 60 days of their illness.

Students who have applied for a loan for living costs for 2020/21 and have been awarded a lower amount than the maximum and believe their household income for the current tax year (2020-21) will drop by at least 15% compared to the household income they provided when they were initially assessed, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.

In these exceptional circumstances, we recognise that some students may face financial hardship or experience mental health issues. We have asked universities to prioritise mental health support and ensure that students required to self-isolate receive the support they need. I have also set up a sub-group of the HE taskforce to ensure there is appropriate focus on this important matter. To support with this further, we have worked closely with the OfS to help clarify that providers can draw upon existing funding to increase hardship funds and support disadvantaged students impacted by COVID-19. Providers are able to use OfS Student Premium funding worth around £256 million for this academic year towards student hardship funds. We are also currently making available up to £20 million of additional hardship funding to support those that need it most, particularly disadvantaged students. In addition, the £3 million OfS funded mental health and well-being platform, Student Space, has been extended for the whole of the 2020/21 academic year to provide extra support during these unprecedented times. The platform is designed to work alongside existing services.

I continue to emphasise to Vice Chancellors at every opportunity that student welfare should remain a priority. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust sector guidance and support where necessary.

The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. We provide funding for all the places that are needed, based on local authorities’ own data. Local authorities can use this funding to provide places in new schools, or through expansions of existing schools, and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.

The Department does not collect information at parliamentary constituency level, only at local authority and at sub-local authority planning area level. Bosworth is within the local authority of Leicestershire. Leicestershire has been allocated £139.2 million to provide new school places from 2011-2022, and there are now 5,819 more places than there were in 2010. The next set of basic need allocations, for places needed in September 2023, will be determined as part of the Spending Review.

In addition, we have allocated £9.5 billion in condition funding since 2015 to maintain and improve the school estate, including an extra £560 million this financial year. This funding is provided through an annual school condition allocation to responsible bodies, such as local authorities, large academy trusts and voluntary aided bodies. Smaller academy trusts, sixth form colleges and other voluntary aided schools are able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund each year.

Capital allocations are published at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding. For the financial year 2020-21, Leicestershire local authority was allocated £3.4 million to invest in its maintained schools, including schools in Bosworth. Large academy trusts and voluntary aided bodies receive their own allocations, but as they typically cross local authority boundaries we cannot provide a figure for Leicestershire. Ten projects in Bosworth were successful in the Condition Improvement Fund this year. All schools are also allocated Devolved Formula Capital to spend on projects which meet their own priorities.

On top of capital allocations to the school system, the Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing school buildings in the worst condition in England, covering over 500 schools. In June, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced a new, transformative 10-year school rebuilding programme, which will replace poor condition and ageing buildings with modern, energy efficient facilities. Further details will be set out following the Spending Review.

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Bosworth, to the answer I gave on 9 September 2020 to 84361.

I have written directly to all Vice Chancellors and have set up a Higher Education Taskforce so that the government can work with the sector to build capacity, harness expert views and tackle challenges. Together, we have agreed that all students who achieved the required grades will be offered a place at their first-choice university, wherever possible.

We have taken a number to steps to support this commitment. We have announced that, subject to parliamentary approval, we will completely remove temporary student number controls to help ensure there are no additional barriers to students being able to progress to higher education.

We have announced that we will lift caps on domestic medicine and dentistry courses in the next academic year. We will support providers to offer places to as many students who have met the grades for their current offer as they have capacity for, and where there are clinical placements available, through additional grant funding to support the costs of this provision.

We will also provide additional teaching grant funding to increase capacity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and other high-cost subjects, which are vital to the country’s social needs and economy. The Office for Students (OfS) will consult the sector on the details of how the allocations are made.

Providers will also be eligible to bid for a share of up to £10 million in funding to support capital expenditure. This funding will be used to support the infrastructure required to accommodate additional students recruited as a result of the changes to policy on A level grades.

The fund will be administered by the OfS, and providers will be eligible to bid for projects that support expansion in 2020-21.

We will continue to monitor the situation and to consider the effects that deferrals will have on future years. Funding decisions for future years will be taken at the Spending Review.

The government has made a significant £2.5 billion (£3 billion when including Barnett funding for devolved administrations) funding commitment to the National Skills Fund. This is a substantial investment that provides a great opportunity to help workers and employers to have the skills they need to flourish and fulfil their potential.

We are continuing to develop detailed proposals for the fund at pace, including considering how it could link to wider government COVID-19 recovery work. We will continue to review how the National Skills Fund can best meet the needs of individuals and employers.

The National Skills Fund is just one part of a wider programme to reform the post-16 skills system that will ensure businesses and individuals are able to meet the challenges of the new economy.

Alongside the National Skills Fund, the department has been working to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. We have announced measures across a range of targeted work-based training offers to support people to build the skills they need to get into work. This includes:

• £17 million to triple the number of sector-based work academy programme placements;
• A new payment of £1,500 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over; and
• £32 million to help 269,000 more people receive advice from the National Careers Service.

We also launched The Skills Toolkit in April, a new online platform, giving access to free, high-quality digital and numeracy courses to help people build up their skills, progress in work and boost job prospects. We will shortly be announcing the expansion of this offer.

The government appreciates the importance of adult education to improving people’s life chances. We will continue to explore options within adult education to aid the post-COVID recovery.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers.

We are working to bring all children and young people back into education in September and engaging with stakeholders to achieve this.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.

As part of national social distancing measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, we have had to limit the numbers of children and young people attending schools to ensure that pupils and staff attending could do so safely. Scientific advice indicates that a phased return that limits the number of children in education settings and how much they mix with each other will help to control the rate of transmission.

Additionally, to reduce social contact, the Government has required by law certain businesses and venues to close to members of the public – with some legal exceptions. Details of these requirements are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close/further-businesses-and-premises-to-close-guidance.

Therefore, it is not possible at this time for schools to use these venues.

These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review.

We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers. We are working to bring all children and young people back into education from September.

As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.

Vulnerable children are encouraged to attend educational provision where it is appropriate for them do so. We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions.

Since 23 March, in line with the scientific advice, nurseries, schools and colleges have remained open to children of critical workers and vulnerable children. From week commencing 1 June 2020, primary schools have been welcoming back children in nursery, Reception, year 1 and Year 6. From 15 June, we are asking secondary schools to offer some face-to-face support to year 10 and year 12 students, and sixth form colleges and further education colleges to do the same for 16 to 19 students who are due to take key exams in 2021. For all providers, this is alongside provision they are already offering to vulnerable children and children of critical workers of all ages.

The Department is committed to ensuring that any children, including vulnerable pupils, who cannot yet return to school continue to learn at home. It is up to each school to determine how to deliver education to its pupils and we recognise that many schools have already shared resources for children who are at home. Our latest guidance on remote education during COVID-19 outbreak is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.

The Government has also committed over £100 million to boost remote education. This includes providing devices and internet access for vulnerable children who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology. Provision of internet access, and technical support, will continue to be available to schools during the phased return of children and young people. Devices will be owned by schools and organisations and will benefit children’s education long after schools have opened to all pupils.

The Department for Education continues to engage closely and constructively with unions, serving school leaders and other school stakeholder organisations to respond to sector concerns and support schools as they open for more pupils.

From Friday 20 March, all educational settings were closed to everyone except the children of critical workers and vulnerable children. Therefore, exams for summer 2020 have been cancelled. Year 11 and year 13 students who were due to sit A level, AS level or GCSE exams this summer will receive a calculated grade in August, and separate guidance from Ofqual on awarding GCSE, AS and A levels was published in April.

The guidance makes clear that there is no requirement for schools and colleges to set additional mock exams or remote education tasks for the purposes of determining a calculated grade, and no student should be disadvantaged if they are unable to complete any work set after schools and colleges were closed.

In relation to vocational or technical qualifications (VTQs), our priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses, apprenticeships in the autumn, getting a job or progressing in work. Ofqual published a consultation on its proposed measures for the assessment and awarding of VTQs on 24 April and this closed 8 May. A response will be published shortly.

In terms of support and materials for the next stage of their education, we have taken action to make sure students that can still access high quality careers information, advice and guidance.

In particular, the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) continues to support schools and colleges to provide young people and their parents with careers education and guidance, working with the network of local partners and providers across the country. The CEC is collating and disseminating existing ideas and resources that can be used by schools, colleges and students while pupils are working remotely. In the longer term, they are considering ways they can continue to deliver the CEC mission of (virtually) connecting schools, colleges, young people, employers and training providers.

The National Careers Service (NCS) is also continuing to provide careers information, advice and guidance to young people, their parents and adults through its helpline, website and web chat facility. The NCS is also supporting the delivery of the online Skills Toolkit. This is a new online platform which aims to give people easy access to free, high quality digital and numeracy courses to help them improve their skills, progress in work and raise their job prospects.

We are also investigating with colleges and other further education (FE) providers what further practical support might be offered to those students leaving FE, particularly regarding careers advice and employment.

From Friday 20 March, all educational settings were closed to everyone except the children of critical workers and vulnerable children. Therefore, exams for summer 2020 have been cancelled. Year 11 and year 13 students who were due to sit A level, AS level or GCSE exams this summer will receive a calculated grade in August, and separate guidance from Ofqual on awarding GCSE, AS and A levels was published in April.

The guidance makes clear that there is no requirement for schools and colleges to set additional mock exams or remote education tasks for the purposes of determining a calculated grade, and no student should be disadvantaged if they are unable to complete any work set after schools and colleges were closed.

In relation to vocational or technical qualifications (VTQs), our priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses, apprenticeships in the autumn, getting a job or progressing in work. Ofqual published a consultation on its proposed measures for the assessment and awarding of VTQs on 24 April and this closed 8 May. A response will be published shortly.

In terms of support and materials for the next stage of their education, we have taken action to make sure students that can still access high quality careers information, advice and guidance.

In particular, the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) continues to support schools and colleges to provide young people and their parents with careers education and guidance, working with the network of local partners and providers across the country. The CEC is collating and disseminating existing ideas and resources that can be used by schools, colleges and students while pupils are working remotely. In the longer term, they are considering ways they can continue to deliver the CEC mission of (virtually) connecting schools, colleges, young people, employers and training providers.

The National Careers Service (NCS) is also continuing to provide careers information, advice and guidance to young people, their parents and adults through its helpline, website and web chat facility. The NCS is also supporting the delivery of the online Skills Toolkit. This is a new online platform which aims to give people easy access to free, high quality digital and numeracy courses to help them improve their skills, progress in work and raise their job prospects.

We are also investigating with colleges and other further education (FE) providers what further practical support might be offered to those students leaving FE, particularly regarding careers advice and employment.

If some schools are experiencing high demand for places or severe staff shortages, local authorities will coordinate support from other schools in the area. Schools are expected to be flexible and work together where required.

If a school is unable to open, local authorities should try to coordinate provision for pupils in other schools in their area. If this is not possible, local authorities should consider working with neighbouring local authorities while keeping in mind the impact on children. Regional school commissioners can support conversations between local authorities where necessary.

The government has asked providers to continue to provide care for a limited number of children – those who are vulnerable and those whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home. Providers should try to be as flexible as possible for critical workers who work shifts or atypical hours.

We urge all childcare providers to be reasonable and balanced in their dealings with parents, given the great uncertainty they will be facing too. That is one of the reasons why we announced on 17 March that we will continue to pay funding to local authorities for the early years entitlements for 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds and that funding would not be clawed back from local authorities during closures, or where children are withdrawn, because of COVID-19.

The government has already introduced a range of measures to support businesses and workers during this period. Further details of support available for early years providers can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures/coronavirus-covid-19-early-years-and-childcare-closures#funding.

The government is working closely with the sector on a wide range of issues, and student wellbeing is at the heart of those discussions. It will be for universities to deal with individual students’ situations.

Universities know how best to provide support and maintain hardship funds, which can be deployed where necessary, which is especially important for students who are estranged from their families, disabled or have health vulnerabilities.

Students will continue to receive scheduled payments of loans towards their living costs for the remainder of the current, 2019/20, academic year. If they are employed or self-employed, they may also be able to benefit from the wider measures of support announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

If agreed with their employer, their employer might be able to keep them on the payroll if they’re unable to operate or have no work for them to do because of coronavirus (COVID-19). This is known as being ‘on furlough’.

They could get paid 80% of their wages, up to a monthly cap of £2,500. More information can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-guidance-for-employees.

As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced to the House on 18 March, the Government has taken the difficult decision to cancel all examinations due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer, as part of the fight to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Department’s priority is to ensure that students can move on as planned to the next stage of their lives, including starting university, college or sixth form courses, jobs or apprenticeships, in the autumn. For GCSE, AS and A-level students, we will ensure they are awarded a grade which reflects their work. Our intention is that a calculated grade will be awarded this summer based on the best available evidence, including any non-examination assessment that students have already completed. Ofqual, the qualifications regulator is working urgently with examination boards to set out proposals for how this process will work and more information will be provided as soon as possible.

The Department recognises that some students may nevertheless feel disappointed that they have not been able to sit their examinations. If they do not believe the correct process has been followed in their case, they will be able to appeal on that basis. In addition, if they do not feel their calculated grade reflects their performance, they will have the opportunity to sit an examination, as soon as is reasonably possible after the beginning of the new academic year. Students will also have the option to sit their examinations in summer 2021.

This information was published on GOV.UK and was communicated directly to all schools and colleges, and further information will be communicated via the same channels as it becomes available. We expect schools and colleges to ensure that all students and parents are aware of all relevant information.

We have allocated over £7.4 billion since 2015 to maintain and improve the school estate. On top of this, the Priority School Building Programme is rebuilding or refurbishing buildings in the worst condition at over 500 schools.

We are looking carefully at capital funding for education in preparation for the next Spending Review.

We meet regularly with stakeholders and welfare groups including the Canine and Fe-line Sector Group and the National Equine Welfare Council to monitor trends in the sector.

The Action Plan for Animal Welfare includes commitments to pursuing the licensing of animal sanctuaries, rescue and rehoming centres including for cats, dogs and horses. Defra has been engaging with relevant organisations to understand their views and the possible impacts of regulating the sector. Any proposals to bring forward licensing regulations will be subject to a consultation.

The Countryside Code was refreshed and relaunched in 2021 and a long term campaign to promote the messages of the code began. Over the last two years Natural England has worked with a variety of stakeholders and partners to promote the Code. A major focus of the campaign has been engaging with new audiences through the use of social media and other innovative communication techniques. Over the last year we have used social media influencers to engage with new audiences and built dedicated webpages (www.countrysidecode.org) which has allowed us to share campaign assets with the public. For 2023/24 we will continue to build on our partnership work including taking the Countryside Code to face to face events and we are in the process of setting up an exciting project that will provide branding and resources for our younger audience.

The UK harmonised recycling rate for local authority collected ‘waste from households’ was 44.4% in 2020. In 2020-21, the 'household' recycling rate for Leicestershire County Council was 43.3%, and for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council was 44.8%. However please note that as they are measured differently, the harmonised measure and local recycling rates are not directly comparable.

The UK Government's food and drink promotional activity overseas is led by the GREAT campaign team in Defra and delivered in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT). It is active in Japan, China, the USA and UAE.

While there has been a downturn in global exports due to the pandemic, the GREAT Food and Drink campaign has continued to support DIT export objectives through collaborative development of promotional initiatives that convert to export wins.

In the last year the GREAT Food and Drink campaign supported export wins of over £75 million, including dairy exports wins of £25million; a return on investment of 50:1.

Defra regularly engages with retailers and hosts a monthly Retailer Forum. This allows Government to maintain a full picture of the issues affecting the supply chain, discuss retailers' role in delivering Government objectives, introduce emerging policies and address sectoral concerns such as labour supply.

This Government is delivering on its Manifesto commitment for people at home and abroad to be lining up to buy British. British dairy has a great reputation for quality, built on high animal welfare standards, strong environmental protection, traceability and sustainability. These are strong selling points for consumers both at home and abroad. We welcome efforts from all parts of the food chain to promote and source local, British products and it is encouraging that many supermarkets are already taking steps to do so. We are engaging with retailers to identify opportunities to further strengthen their offer on locally sourced food.

The Government is committed to optimising food information so that consumers can make informed choices. Origin information is provided voluntarily for the majority of dairy products, and the Government is exploring ways in which we can strengthen existing origin regulations and provide clearer information to consumers. Industry assurance schemes such as Red Tractor can also help to build consumer confidence in producers who can comply with specific health, welfare or environmental standards. Other voluntary schemes, such as the front of pack traffic light scheme also play an important role in communicating information to shoppers in a way that is easy to understand.

The Government is committed to encouraging a thriving, innovative, and globally competitive dairy industry where farms can be profitable and environmentally sustainable without subsidy. We will always champion our dairy sectors, supporting them to produce, sell, and export more of our great British food.

The Government is supporting investment in productivity-boosting equipment, technology and infrastructure. The Farming Investment Fund, which opened in November 2021, provides grants to farmers, including dairy farmers, that will help their businesses to prosper.

Innovation in agriculture also ensures that British dairy farmers remain globally competitive. Through our £270 million Farming Innovation Programme, dairy farmers in England can apply for funding to develop new, innovative methods and technologies. Amongst others, we are funding projects to develop autonomous livestock monitoring systems and new ways to process slurry to convert it into fertiliser.

The Government are committed to phasing out confinement systems and supporting the industry to do so, not least to underpin UK food security. However, as reiterated by the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food at the ‘End the Cage Age’ debate held in June, we do need to work carefully and sensitively with the pig and poultry sectors as any transition must be done with, rather than against, these industries.

This is an extremely challenging time for Britain’s farmers, with enormously increased input costs — of food, fuel and fertiliser — affecting almost all production systems to a greater or lesser extent, and of course for the general public who are faced with significant challenges around the cost of living.

So, any decisions by Government on this issue, including timing of consultations, must be carefully considered in light of these wider, and clearly highly important, priorities. We have a course of action in play and will progress with our plans to transition away from use of cages in farming systems as soon as the time is right.

We commissioned WRAP to deliver a pilot fly-tipping intervention grant to help local authorities trial new approaches to tackle fly-tipping at hotspots. This includes a project trialling the use of AI enabled CCTV in conjunction with automatic number plate recognition to tackle fly-tipping at motorway laybys. If successful, this intervention could be replicated by others.

We understand that enforcement plays a key role in tackling fly-tipping. In a new trial, National Highways will be collecting evidence of littering and fly-tipping across the Strategic Road Network and will be working with relevant local authorities to support prosecution.

National Highways also supports local authorities in Leicestershire, as with other counties, to reduce the cost of removing waste on the trunk roads they are responsible for by providing opportunities for them to share their upcoming traffic management and road closures.

We work closely with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, whose members contribute on a voluntary basis, to promote and share best practice. The group has published various guides on tackling the issue, along with a range of case studies, and we use our influence to disseminate these as widely as possible. We are currently working with the group to produce a best practice fly-tipping toolkit and have recently published the first part on their website:

www.tacklingflytipping.com/Documents/NFTPG-Files/FlyTipping-Toolkit-Cases.pdf.

The Environment Act 2021 amends the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to introduce new requirements around waste collection in England. Our 2019 and 2021 'Consistency in Household and Business Recycling' consultations looked into the detail of these requirements.

We intend to publish statutory guidance to help local authorities, and other waste collectors, comply with the separate collection requirements and may also include best practice around collection. We will consult with the sector on the content of the guidance in 2022, following the outcome of our 2021 consultation on consistency in recycling.

The Environment Agency is the regulator of this system.

For business waste collections the onus is on company owners to check that the waste collection companies they are using are registered with the Environment Agency and have appropriate permits. If they are found to be using a company that is not registered, they could face criminal charges.

Alongside the statutory guidance, we will lay regulations which will include materials in scope of collection, timings for introduction and any exemptions to collection. Further details on this will be outlined in our Government response, which will be published in due course.

No assessment has been made. Every business that produces or deals with waste has a duty of care to make sure that their waste is dealt with properly and does not end up being treated or disposed of illegally. Legitimate waste sites play a critical role in managing commercial waste to achieve high levels of resource efficiency, and are responsible for operating within regulated limits to protect the environment and human health. Where pollution occurs, the regulator will take steps to ensure that those responsible are held to account, be they a waste producer or a site operator or owner.

There are shortcomings in the current registration system for carriers, brokers and dealers of waste, which is why we are currently consulting on its reform. We are also consulting on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking so we can know better where our waste ends up. Together, these measures will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and will reduce opportunities for waste crime.

Householders in England and Wales already have a duty to ensure they only transfer their household waste to an ‘authorised person’. Those who fail in this duty may be subject to prosecution or a fixed penalty notice.

Defra publishes statistics on fly-tipping incidents as reported by local authorities in England. The intention is to capture all fly tipping incidents on public land.

All local authorities have been issued with detailed guidance on how to report fly-tipping and training is also offered. The guidance sets out what should be recorded on the database. Recently, the guidance has been amended to reinforce to local authorities that incidents from all sources should be reported. In addition, data verification and quality assurance are carried out by Defra.

Defra collects information on the basis of reporting in order to improve transparency in the reported data. Further information can be found in the methodology section of the Statistical Notice.

Whilst we have not conducted formal assessment on the effectiveness of fixed penalty notices and court penalties at deterring fly tipping, we commissioned a research project in 2021 considering the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping. This research project, which considered the role of enforcement and sanctions among other things, is due to be completed in the spring and will inform policy making.

We will continue to monitor the available evidence regarding the effectiveness of the current enforcement regime.

Defra continues to chair the National Fly-tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG) which is made up a wide range of interested bodies including the National Police Chiefs Council, enforcement agencies, organisations representing private landowners and local authorities to explore ways to tackle fly-tipping and share best practice. We are currently working with the NFTPG to produce a fly-tipping toolkit. We intend to publish the first part of this toolkit, a guide on how councils and others can present robust prosecutions, shortly. Future elements of the toolkit will cover how local authorities can set up effective fly-tipping partnerships, the use of new technology to report fly-tipping and the sharing of intelligence between relevant stakeholders.

In addition, the Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC) was launched in 2020. The JUWC is a taskforce dedicated to tackling serious and organised criminality in the waste sector, including the most serious incidents of large-scale illegal dumping. The Unit brings together agencies across the UK including: the Environment Agency; Natural Resources Wales; the Scottish Environment Protection Agency; the Northern Ireland EA; the Police; HMRC; the British Transport Police; and the National Crime Agency.

(a) We publish annual monitoring and evaluation reports on our objectives set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy, which are available online via GOV.uk.[1]

(b) We have worked with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to develop the first part of the fly-tipping toolkit, a guide to help local authorities and others present robust cases to court as a means of securing tougher sentences. We intend to publish this shortly.

[1] Resources and waste strategy for England: monitoring and evaluation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We expect local authorities to investigate all incidents of fly-tipping, including those on private land, prosecute fly-tippers when there is sufficient evidence and recover investigation, enforcement and clearance costs where possible.

Investigations have consistently been the most common action taken against fly-tipping incidents over time, accounting for 69% of all actions in 2020/21, with 316,000 investigations in total. This is an increase of 7% from 2019/20, where 296,000 investigations were carried out.

In 2016 we legislated to introduce a fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping of up to £400.

In addition, vehicles of those suspected of committing a waste crime, including fly-tipping, can be searched and seized.

For more serious offences, prosecution allows for both an unlimited fine and up to five years imprisonment. While sentencing is a matter for courts, we have worked with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to develop a guide to help local authorities and others present robust cases to court as a means of securing tougher sentences. We intend to publish this shortly.

I was pleased to see that Aylesbury Crown Court recently sentenced a serial fly-tipper who dumped rubbish in multiple local authorities to 21 months in prison and ordered his van seized.

We expect local authorities to investigate all incidents of fly-tipping, including those on private land, prosecute fly-tippers when there is sufficient evidence and recover investigation, enforcement and clearance costs where possible.

Investigations have consistently been the most common action taken against fly-tipping incidents over time, accounting for 69% of all actions in 2020/21, with 316,000 investigations in total. This is an increase of 7% from 2019/20, where 296,000 investigations were carried out.

In 2016 we legislated to introduce a fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping of up to £400.

In addition, vehicles of those suspected of committing a waste crime, including fly-tipping, can be searched and seized.

For more serious offences, prosecution allows for both an unlimited fine and up to five years imprisonment. While sentencing is a matter for courts, we have worked with the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to develop a guide to help local authorities and others present robust cases to court as a means of securing tougher sentences. We intend to publish this shortly.

I was pleased to see that Aylesbury Crown Court recently sentenced a serial fly-tipper who dumped rubbish in multiple local authorities to 21 months in prison and ordered his van seized.

We have built strong partnerships with Farm Welfare charities & support groups to exchange information and aid understanding of the current issues and challenges around health and wellbeing. We recently collaborated with the RABI on their Big Farming Survey, the results of which were launched at an event on 14 October. The findings from that survey align with our wider understanding drawn from our evolving evidence base where we know that a complex mix of factors influence mental health and wellbeing in the farming community. The RABI report highlights both stress drivers and opportunities and all these points are similarly represented in our existing evidence. Personal wellbeing is linked to business reliance, as well as regulations and changes in policies and within our Future Farming and Countryside Programme we are committed to supporting business opportunities as well as deliver new schemes in a way that can strengthen wellbeing.

Reforms to the waste brokers and dealers licensing, alongside our electronic waste tracking reforms, offer the opportunity to take a huge step forward in the fight against fly-tipping and waste crime. We expect to consult on them shortly.

The development of the fly-tipping toolkit was delayed as a result of the department switching focus to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. It remains an important piece of work and we expect to complete the first element on ‘presenting robust cases to court’ early next year, following the conclusion of additional research we commissioned in this area.

We are taking further steps to clamp down on waste crime such as taking powers to introduce electronic waste tracking; consulting on reforms to the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime; and strengthening powers to detect and prosecute waste criminals through the Environment Bill.

The Government is investing to unlock innovation and translate our world leading research into practical farmer-led solutions that improve the productivity, sustainability and resilience of agriculture and move towards net zero emission farming systems.

Our £90 million investment in the ‘Transforming Food Production’ (TFP) challenge, launched in 2018, is supporting ground-breaking research and development so farmers will be able to harness the latest technology to produce high quality food, increase their productivity and move towards net zero emission farming systems by 2040. This will put the UK at the forefront of advanced sustainable agriculture and food production while reducing emissions, pollution, waste and soil erosion.

We have also recently launched a £14.5 million Defra-funded collaborative agricultural Research & Development competition ‘Farming Innovation Pathways’ targeting existing and new farm focused innovation, which will also be delivered through the TFP initiative.

In Autumn we are building on this momentum and launching a new R&D funding package for England as part of the proposed measures to stimulate innovation and boost sustainable productivity in agriculture and horticulture as we move away from the CAP system of farming subsidy payments. The Farming Innovation Programme will de-risk industry investment in innovation and pull-through R&D to deliver farmer-led solutions to common challenges and opportunities. Our ambitious proposals for future investment in R&D for England will enable more farmers and agri-food businesses to become involved in R&D, maximising the impact of investment and improving the take up of innovation on farms.

Later this year we will also be opening the new Farming Investment Fund which will provide grants to farmers, foresters and growers (including contractors to these sectors) so that they can invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure that will help their businesses to prosper, while improving their productivity and enhancing the environment. These grants will help producers to focus on more efficient production methods that will reduce resource costs, improve yields, and give them a better return.

We have a manifesto commitment to encourage the public sector to buy British. To help meet this commitment, we will be consulting on proposals to strengthen the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services early in 2022. The consultation will seek views on ways to promote greater take-up of local produce and make public procurement more accessible to SMEs.

We are also working across Government to identify and trial innovative approaches to public food procurement. This includes a pilot in the South West, in collaboration with Crown Commercial Services, aimed at simplifying the route into the public sector for local and sustainable SME businesses. If successful, the trial could be rolled out nationally, extending opportunities to food producers from all regions and nations of the UK.

Food supply is one of the UK's 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are joint Lead Government Departments (LGDs), Defra leading on supply and the FSA on food safety. As such we work closely with the Cabinet Office and other LGDs ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on access to a range of sources, including robust supply chains domestically, and from a diverse range of other stable countries. We produce 60% of our entire food supply need, and that increases to 74% for indigenous food that we can grow or rear here in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have been steady over the past 20 years. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Defra and the FSA have well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.

The Government has a duty to report triennially on food security in Section 19 of the Agriculture Act 2020. The reports will cover a range of current issues relevant to food security including the resilience of the food supply chain. The first such report is due to be published before 25th December 2021.

Food supply is one of the UK's 13 Critical National Infrastructure sectors. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are joint Lead Government Departments (LGDs), Defra leading on supply and the FSA on food safety. As such we work closely with the Cabinet Office and other LGDs ensuring food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness, including consideration of dependencies on other sectors.

The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built on access to a range of sources, including robust supply chains domestically, and from a diverse range of other stable countries. We produce 60% of our entire food supply need, and that increases to 74% for indigenous food that we can grow or rear here in the UK for all or part of the year. These figures have been steady over the past 20 years. UK consumers have access through international trade to food products that cannot be produced here, or at least not on a year-round basis. This supplements domestic production, and also ensures that any disruption from risks such as adverse weather or disease does not affect the UK's overall security of supply.

Defra and the FSA have well established ways of working with the industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.

The Government has a duty to report triennially on food security in Section 19 of the Agriculture Act 2020. The reports will cover a range of current issues relevant to food security including the resilience of the food supply chain. The first such report is due to be published before 25th December 2021.

The Government has a manifesto commitment that ‘we want people, both at home and abroad, to be lining up to buy British’.

We are working with the sector to raise domestic and international awareness of the UK’s growing reputation for high-quality food and drink produced to high standards of food safety, animal welfare and sustainability. This will provide a catalyst for growth for all regions of the UK and increase global recognition of the UK as an innovative food nation.

Defra works in tandem with the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Cabinet Office to deliver the food and drink pillar of the GREAT campaign, which helps businesses to succeed in overseas markets by building global recognition of UK excellence in food and drink. The campaign showcases exemplar food and drink products from all parts of the UK, including quality local and protected food and drink from our regions. For example, in recent activity we have highlighted traditional Melton Mowbray pork pies, Red Leicester cheese and craft gin from Leicestershire.

The GREAT food and drink campaign is focused on priority markets, including the USA, China, Japan and the UAE. Activity is being planned across all priority markets for the coming year, where we will work with UK businesses and UK overseas posts to promote the best of UK food and drink on the international stage.

In addition, the Government is appointing more dedicated ‘agri-food attachés’ to act as representatives on the ground to unlock key markets across the world. This will build on the excellent teams already working in our Embassies around the world.

We are also establishing a Food and Drink Exports Council to work collaboratively to expand our food and drink exports strategy. In tandem, we are strengthening our technical expertise as well as our farmers and producers’ understanding of export markets to ensure that food and drink exporters are able to benefit from market opportunities.

We are providing food and drink companies with advice and tools to build export capability. DIT recently launched its Open Doors campaign with a focus on the food and drink sector. This provides companies with access to online tutorials, webinars, mentoring and specialist advice to help them capitalise on export opportunities across the world.

Taken together, this range of initiatives will support food and drink businesses from across the UK to access growing opportunities to export.

Defra and the Devolved Administrations have carried out a comprehensive review of existing and new measures that will contribute to the achievement and maintenance of Good Environment Status. This review has been synthesised into a proposed update to the UK Marine Strategy Part Three, and we intend to launch a consultation for the Part Three Programme of Measures during September. The consultation period will last 12 weeks and will allow stakeholders the opportunity to review our proposals and shape the development of the Programme of Measures. We will carefully consider stakeholder feedback to guide the final iteration of the updated UK Marine Strategy Part Three.

The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan commits to a new Chemicals Strategy to tackle chemicals of national concern. Following the end of the Transition Period and our departure from the EU, the Government is developing an ambitious Chemicals Framework which will set out our immediate priorities, alongside any actions we will need to take to achieve safer and more environmentally sustainable management of chemicals for present and future generations. We are continuing to gather evidence and engage with stakeholders as an important part of developing our Framework, including reviewing the timeframe for a Call for Evidence with the aim of publishing the Framework in 2022.

Petfished was launched in March 2020 ahead of Lucy's Law coming into force. The campaign aims to encourage prospective owners to stop and question 'who's the person behind the pet?', and to research the seller before visiting the animal.

The campaign has been delivered in three phases. This included a launch in March 2020 followed by subsequent pushes around the traditional peak seasons for sales (summer and pre-Christmas). Alongside the media launch in March 2020 the campaign was promoted at Crufts where our campaign video "Hero" was played in the arena. In July 2020 the campaign was promoted by an open letter signed by pet-loving celebrities and charity and veterinary organisations, as well as in interviews given by the Chief Veterinary Officer with BBC Breakfast and Sky News to discuss campaign messaging. In November 2020 the Petfished campaign was promoted in the media through the '12 Days of Petfished' video which outlined the risks posed by deceitful sellers.

Defra has promoted Petfished through its social media channels, supported by key stakeholders including the charity and veterinary sectors. The campaign has also been supported by a number of commercial partners who have provided support through pro-bono activities such as social media support, blogs, email marketing and website advertising space. Petfished messages have been promoted on popular search engines and social media sites. All the communications led back to our Petfished website where prospective buyers can obtain further advice and resources.

Initial indications are that the Petfished campaign has successfully raised awareness of how to source a new pet in the right way. Overall our campaign has secured 106 pieces of coverage in the media, and content posted on social media by Defra and supportive stakeholders has received over 215,000 engagements. Campaign activity has led to over 270,000 visits to our campaign site.

Our latest YouGov polling of prospective pet owners reveals that Petfished has contributed to the doubling of awareness of low-welfare pet sellers and has generated an increase in confidence recognising the signs of a deceitful seller when looking to buy or adopt a cat, dog, puppy or kitten.

Defra’s study of 2013 Sky lanterns and helium balloons: an assessment of impacts on livestock and the environment suggested that, while anecdotal reports and media coverage could imply that there is widespread concern from farming groups and others over the impacts of sky lanterns and balloons on the health and welfare of livestock, the evidence presented indicated that the number of cases reported each year of animals affected through ingestion of sky lantern and balloon debris is very small in the context of the wider livestock population. While it is recognised that there may be a significant level of under-reporting, on the basis of the evidence presented, we have concluded that the overall impact is very limited. No further assessment has been done on this.

General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (SI 1803) make it an offence to place a product on the market that is not safe. In addition, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute has published a Code of Practice for sky lanterns, which aims to provide guidance for manufacturers, importers, and retailers.

Defra’s study of 2013 Sky lanterns and helium balloons: an assessment of impacts on livestock and the environment suggested that, while anecdotal reports and media coverage could imply that there is widespread concern from farming groups and others over the impacts of sky lanterns and balloons on the health and welfare of livestock, the evidence presented indicated that the number of cases reported each year of animals affected through ingestion of sky lantern and balloon debris is very small in the context of the wider livestock population. While it is recognised that there may be a significant level of under-reporting, on the basis of the evidence presented, we have concluded that the overall impact is very limited. No further assessment has been done on this.

General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (SI 1803) make it an offence to place a product on the market that is not safe. In addition, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute has published a Code of Practice for sky lanterns, which aims to provide guidance for manufacturers, importers, and retailers.

Work on the Chemicals strategy is underway. It will build on a robust statutory regime and our international obligations and set out direction of travel on important policies. The next key milestone is the Call for Evidence in 2021. It will help inform the development of a draft Strategy for consultation.

Defra has established the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group (UKAMMG) which is meeting on a trial basis during the transition period and will go ‘live’ on 01/01/21. It monitors UK agricultural markets, which includes barley and other grains, including price, supply, trade and recent developments, enabling it to provide forewarning of any atypical market movements. We engage regularly with arable stakeholders to understand and respond to concerns and issues raised by the farming community.

An extremely wet winter followed by a dry spring, have provided us with difficult harvest conditions this year. In March this year, the Government announced new measures to help farmers recover from recent flooding. The Government has supported farmers through relaxing crop diversification requirements, known as the "three crop rule", as farmers in flooded areas had suggested they would have difficulty complying with the rule this year.

We are actively supporting farmers in their planting decisions as the transition period ends and we head into 2021. The landmark Agriculture Act, which has just received Royal Assent, allows the Government to simplify the Basic Payment Scheme and cut red tape faced by farmers. With effect from the 2021 scheme year, farmers will no longer have to comply with the so-called greening requirements.

The Government has granted approximately 1,700 farmers and land managers financial support to build resilience in their business models ahead of the changes through the agricultural transition period between 2021-27.The projects cover a range of business and wellbeing support approaches and measures across different sectors and regions to improve the resilience and mental health of farmers. Defra will closely monitor and evaluate these projects to support decisions on how to provide stronger support throughout the beginning of the transition period.

The Environment Agency (EA) is not aware of any fluvial (river) flood event that impacted Bosworth in 2019. There is a flood storage area in the district of Bosworth that requires routine low key maintenance.

Looking ahead to autumn and winter 2020-21, the Environment Agency is continuing to deliver its annual routine maintenance programme to ensure any blockages or debris that may cause an increase in flood risk are managed and Leicestershire is ready should flooding occur.

Across England, the Environment Agency works with Councils and other partners to prepare for, manage, and recover from flood incidents. The Environment Agency shares information, forecasts and advice with partners via daily telephone conferences and email communications during flood events – with all partners working together collectively under the banner of a Local Resilience Forum (LRF) to respond.

The Environment Agency provides a Flood Warning Service, to help residents prepare for potential flooding. Residents can visit www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings or call 0345 988 1188 to sign up to get Flood Alerts and Warnings by phone, email and/or text message. This is a free service. Alternatively they can contact Flood Resilience Engagement Advisors Floodresilience@environment-agency.gov.uk

Operationally, the Environment Agency is the lead authority for managing the risk of flooding from main rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and the sea, as well as being a coastal erosion risk management authority. County Councils act as a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and have the 'lead' role in managing flood risk from surface water including from most highways and roads, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. Furthermore, the local water company may be able to provide information on local flood risk associated with the sewage network.

Kerbside residual and recycling collections are a high priority for the Government. There has not yet been a formal assessment made of the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on recycling rates in the UK or in Leicestershire. Publication of local authority waste data for England by Defra is on an annual basis and figures covering the period April 2020 to March 2021 are due to be published in November 2021.

However, a survey of local authorities by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Transport and Planning indicates that most local authorities were able to maintain recycling collections to a near normal level. Both recycling and residual waste from households were reported by many authorities to be significantly higher than normal, but the effect of COVID-19 on recycling rates at this time is unknown.

www.adeptnet.org.uk/covid-19-waste-survey-results

At the start of lockdown in March, Defra officials worked with local authorities to help them continue their waste collections, including collections of recycling. We published guidance to help local authorities prioritise waste collection services and to keep their household waste and recycling centres open while observing social distancing guidance.

Defra takes the issue of puppy smuggling and other illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to puppies and puts the health of pets and people in the UK at risk. We have legislation in place to ensure those guilty of offences are duly punished.

Defra is in regular contact with the companion animal welfare sector to discuss matters including dog breeding and sales activity. There has been a high level of demand for pets as more people have been staying at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. We recognise that there are risks of people unknowingly buying puppies which have been bred in poor welfare conditions whether at home or abroad.

Defra’s “Petfished” campaign was launched in March 2020 to support the third party sales ban by raising the public’s awareness of the consequences of buying from a low-welfare seller and challenging the assumption that it is easy to spot bad practice. The campaign also signposts to resources available to help them make a good decision.

By its very nature, robust data and evidence on the extent of illegal criminal puppy smuggling is not readily available. However, many countries applied restrictions to the movement of individuals in response to COVID-19, and these restrictions may also have impacted on the number of journeys to the UK involving illegal puppy smuggling.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Defra’s animal welfare team has been in regular contact with the sector to understand the impacts and what is needed from government. I am grateful for the work done by animal welfare charities to promote advice for pet owners and look after animals during this difficult time.

The Association of Dogs & Cats Homes and the National Equine Welfare Council undertook surveys in May 2020 of their members and wider rescue and rehoming organisations to establish the extent of the impact of Covid-19 on the sector. The surveys were carried out when many restrictions were still in place, many of which have now been lifted. In relation to unwanted pets, findings showed that:

• 30% of equine organisations reported that more horses were being abandoned compared to 5% reporting less.
• 15% of rescues reported that more cats are being abandoned. Only 15% of rescue organisations reported an increase in dogs being abandoned with 22% reporting fewer dogs being abandoned than normal. 20% of members reported taking in less strays. Only 22% reported that more people wish to hand over their dogs.
• 68% of rescues reported more people wish to foster equines, dogs or cats and 58% wish to rehome an equine, dog or cat.

We shall continue to engage with the sector to keep monitoring trends in the level of unwanted pets.

Defra has released a range of digital content over social media that explains what individuals can do to protect others and the environment. This includes advice on how to enjoy outdoor spaces responsibly, such as by taking rubbish home when there are no bins available, and how to dispose of personal protective equipment appropriately. This digital content is available at:

www.linkedin.com/posts/defra_coronavirus-stayalert-activity-6672424604566376449-R-Iy;

twitter.com/DefraGovUK/status/1272770631780700162; and

twitter.com/DefraGovUK/status/1276046970621173760.

I am very aware of the issues currently facing organisations who are on the frontline as regards tackling animal cruelty. My department is in regular contact with the main bodies representing the animal welfare sector, including the RSPCA, Canine and Feline Sector Group, the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes and the equine welfare charities to understand their position and offer advice.

The Government has supported the sector providing guidance which enables it to continue to operate within the current restrictions, available here: www.cfsg.org.uk/coronavirus/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/CFSG%20Guidance%20for%20Pet%20Rescues.pdf.

We have also encouraged the sector to consider all the various financial support already announced by the Chancellor, and issued guidance for the charity sector which provides further information, available here: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-the-charity-sector.

Social enterprises such as community interest companies can benefit from all of the measures set out by the Chancellor to benefit small businesses. We are also exploring options for and giving advice to the sector on the possibility of assistance from the additional specific fund recently announced by the Chancellor to support charities. We have also exempted veterinary practices from having to close so that they continue to treat animals in need of veterinary attention and to help provide for their good welfare.

Powers are available under existing legislation to tackle anyone who commits cruelty on an animal. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, local authorities and police have powers to investigate complaints about poor welfare or animal cruelty. In addition, the RSPCA can also investigate such complaints. Animal charities carry out valuable work to ensure that the health and welfare needs of sick, abandoned and stray animals in their care continue to be met.

I am very aware of the issues currently facing organisations in this sector with falls in income and pressure on staff. My department is in regular contact with the main bodies representing the sector, including the Canine and Feline Sector Group, the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes and the equine welfare charities to understand their position and offer advice.

The Government has supported the sector providing guidance which enables it to continue to operate within the current restrictions, available here: www.cfsg.org.uk/coronavirus/SiteAssets/SitePages/Home/CFSG%20Guidance%20for%20Pet%20Rescues.pdf.

We have also encouraged the sector to consider all the various financial support already announced by the Chancellor, and issued guidance for the charity sector which provides further information, available here:

www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-the-charity-sector.

Social enterprises such as community interest companies (CICs) and charitable zoos can benefit from the measures set out by the Chancellor to benefit small businesses. We are also exploring options for and giving advice to the sector on the possibility of assistance from the additional specific fund recently announced by the Chancellor to support charities. We have already announced, for zoos in severe financial distress, a Zoos Support Fund for licensed zoos in England. Zoos policy is devolved. Funding is being provided to the Devolved Administrations in line with the Barnett formula. Where a zoo is in severe financial distress and has fully explored and exhausted all other reasonable avenues to generate income and reduce costs, including the existing COVID-19 business support schemes, then they should approach Defra as quickly as possible. Defra has already written to all licensed zoos in England to make them aware of the COVID-19 support schemes available as well as the new Zoo Support Fund.

We have also exempted veterinary practices from having to close so that they continue to treat animals in need of veterinary attention and to help provide for their good welfare.

Fly-tipping is illegal, unacceptable wherever it occurs, and the Government is committed to tackling this crime.

We are aware of reports of an increase in fly-tipping, although this is not consistent across the country. Local authorities are maintaining the vast majority of household waste collections, with 99% of councils responding to a weekly survey by ADEPT reporting residual and recycling collections as operational. We have published guidance to help local authorities prioritise waste services. This recommends that the clearance of fly-tipped material should be given a high priority.

The Government is working with local authorities to explore ways in which household waste recycling centres that have been closed might be re-opened, whilst observing social distancing and other requirements. We will be publishing guidance for local authorities on the re-opening of household waste recycling centres shortly.

Through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, chaired by Defra, we have disseminated messaging promoting the secure storage of waste, use of registered waste carriers and reiterating that waste must not be fly-tipped.

Defra is working closely with the dairy industry to manage the impact of Covid-19. Demand for milk and some dairy products has increased in supermarkets and the vast majority of Britain’s dairy farmers continue to supply their contracts at the usual price. However, between 5 and 10 per cent of total milk production goes to the service trade, and these farmers have been impacted by the significantly reduced demand.

In order to support affected farmers, we have eased some elements of competition law to make it easier for processors to come together to maximise production and processing and storage efficiency until shops, restaurants and pubs are able to open again. This SI will be laid shortly and will apply retrospectively from the 1 April 2020. We have asked the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and Dairy UK to work with farmers and processors to help industry take advantage of these easements.

Public intervention for skimmed milk powder and butter also continues to be available. Industry can sell skimmed milk powder and butter into public intervention when the price they would receive on the open market falls below the intervention price. This provides a floor price for dairy products.

Furthermore, the dairy industry can access various Government backed loan schemes. The Covid-19 Business Interruption Loans scheme is available to farmers, milk buyers and milk processors. In addition, the new Bounce Back Loan scheme, which will apply to businesses operating in agriculture, will ensure that the smallest businesses can access up to £50,000 loans. The government will provide lenders of this latter scheme with a 100% guarantee on each loan, to provide them with the confidence they need to support the smallest businesses in the country. We will also cover the first 12 months of interest payments and fees charged to the business by the lender.

We will continue to engage closely with representatives from all parts of the dairy supply chain to support the sector throughout this challenging period.

The Government has well-established ways of working with the food industry during disruption to supply situations. Our retailers already have highly resilient supply chains and they are working around the clock to ensure people have the food and products they need. Industry is adapting quickly to these changes in demands, and food supply into and across the UK is resilient.

The Government has not had discussions with industry on introducing mobile supermarkets to enable key workers to shop for food. We welcome efforts by supermarkets to ensure that key workers can continue to get the food and groceries they need and will continue to work with industry to discuss any additional support Government can provide.

To help industry respond to this unprecedented demand we have introduced other measures to keep food supply flowing. We have issued guidance to local authorities to allow extended delivery hours to supermarkets so that shelves can be filled up more quickly, and we have implemented extensions to drivers’ hours. We are also temporarily relaxing certain elements of competition law to ensure retailers are able to collaborate effectively in the national interest.

Representatives of our leading supermarkets have asked customers to shop considerately and we echo their call.

We value the very important work undertaken by zoos in ensuring that the health and welfare needs of the diverse range of animals they care for are well met. Zoos support much appreciated conservation and educational activities which are highly valued by society.

The Government has published guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others/full-guidance-on-staying-at-home-and-away-from-others which clarifies that zoos are not on the list of businesses and venues that have been ordered to close. This guidance also confirms that people may travel for work purposes where they cannot work from home. Those caring for zoo animals are unable to do so from home.

The Government has published guidance at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision which indicates which workers may secure places in schools and nurseries to enable them to continue to work. This includes those essential to the running of charities and workers delivering key frontline services.

Defra is monitoring the situation and at the current time we do not consider there to be a need to relax restrictions on the transportation of pets for British nationals repatriating to the UK as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. We will continue to monitor this closely and will consider specific cases where individuals are not able to fulfil the requirements. Protecting biosecurity and the health of the UK pet population remains a high priority.

Defra has worked closely with the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that the regulatory regime for food safety remains robust now the UK has left the European Union, in order to protect public health and retain the confidence of consumers and international trading partners. We will continue to ensure that without exception all imports of food meet the stringent food safety standards required of our domestic producers and we will not compromise on this in trade negotiations. Our Food Standards Agency’s independent advice will ensure this will remain the case.

We will keep our existing UK legislation, and the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will carry over EU law into UK law. Now that we have left the EU the UK will take its own sovereign decisions on standards and regulations in line with the principles of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and other relevant internationally recognised guidance. The Government remains committed to promoting robust food standards nationally and internationally, to protect consumer interests and ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy.

I refer my Hon. Friend to the reply given to the Hon. Member for City of Chester, Christian Matheson, on 20 January 2020, PQ 3774.

Any necessary changes required to domestic law will be made in a rigorous and comprehensive way after the transition period.

The Environment Agency (EA) prioritises those activities which achieve the greatest benefit in terms of better protecting people and property from flooding. Dredging and clearing channels are important parts of the EA’s maintenance regime, when it improves the channel’s ability to carry increased river flows and manage flood risk.

In 2010, the EA carried out a comprehensive series of trials to review and update understanding of the benefits and effectiveness of dredging as one method for maintaining channel conveyance. The trials showed that dredging can reduce flood risk, but its effectiveness and value for money varies significantly depending on the location. Since then, further studies have been carried out, validating the results of this trial, including the Thames bathymetry review, which reached a similar conclusion. In many cases, rivers naturally return to their pre-dredged state very quickly, and therefore any flood risk benefits are so short lived that the work cannot be economically justified. The implications for downstream communities also need to be considered.

The Somerset Rivers Authority and internal drainage boards have trialled alternative methods for dredging. These included small-scale trials of both cutter suction and water injection dredging, and a full-scale 5km trial using water injection dredging on the River Parrett. The trials demonstrated some potential to reduce costs of dredging in tidal rivers.

In 2014, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management produced an independent report entitled ‘Floods and dredging, A reality check’. This explored the effectiveness of dredging and is available at:

https://www.ciwem.org/assets/pdf/Policy/Reports/Floods-and-Dredging-a-reality-check.pdf

The EA uses the results of such trials and studies to decide where and how dredging will be effective, on a case-by-case basis.

Typically over each of the past three years the EA has spent between £45 million and £55 million a year on channel maintenance of which between £5 million and £11 million is for dredging. Channel maintenance includes a range of activities to maintain conveyance such as dredging, weed cutting and removing blockages.

Fly-tipping is an unacceptable blight on local communities, wherever it occurs, and a crime that the Government is committed to tackling. In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping.

Local authorities, such as Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, have a range of powers available to tackle fly-tipping. This includes the power to take those accused of fly-tipping to court. If a fly-tipper is convicted in a Magistrates’ Court, the offence is punishable by a fine of up to £50,000 or 12 months’ imprisonment. If they are convicted in a Crown Court, the offence can attract an unlimited fine and up to five years’ imprisonment.

We have cracked down on offenders by working with the Sentencing Council to strengthen the guidance for environmental offences. We will keep this guidance under review as we deliver on our manifesto commitment to secure tougher penalties. We will continue to work with magistrates and the Judicial Office to ensure magistrates are effectively trained in the use of the guidance and are aware of the prevalence of waste crime and the significance of its impact on local communities. This will help to ensure that fly-tippers receive appropriate sentences for the offence they have committed.

Local authorities have powers to search and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, and the power to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for fly-tipping offences and for those who breach their duty of care by passing their waste to a fly-tipper. In August 2019 we published publicity materials aimed at helping householders better understand their responsibilities under the waste duty of care. The materials have been provided to the Local Government Association to circulate to local authorities and published on the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group’s website.

Powers to tackle fly-tipping are also being enhanced through the newly introduced Environment Bill, in particular through amendments to the powers to search for and seize evidence, as well as amendments to the powers of entry in the Environment Act 1995, to make it easier for enforcing authorities to use them. In addition to the measures in the Environment Bill, Defra is developing proposals to fundamentally reform the waste carrier, broker, dealer regime and introduce electronic waste tracking which will ensure those transporting waste can be better regulated, and that we are able to track waste through the system at all points.

Defra is also developing a fly-tipping toolkit, which will be a web-based tool to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle fly-tipping. It will cover the use of new technology to report fly-tipping, the presentation of cases to court, the sharing of intelligence within and between partnerships and will promote the duty of care to individuals and businesses.

In October 2018, The Animal Welfare (licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 came into force which updated and improved the laws on the breeding and selling of dogs in England.

The new regulations require dog breeders and sellers to adhere to strict statutory minimum welfare standards linked to the welfare needs set out in the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This includes prohibiting the sale of puppies below the age of 8 weeks; preventing licensed breeders from selling dogs not bred by them and preventing breeders from breeding dogs if it can be reasonably expected on the basis of their genotype, phenotype or health that this would lead to welfare problems for the mother or the puppies. In addition, licensed breeders must show puppies to purchasers in the presence of the mother and licensed pet sellers must complete the sale of a dog in the presence of the purchaser on the licensed premises. This prevents online sales of puppies.

Any licensed breeder advertising puppies for sale must include their licence number in the advert to improve traceability. In addition, from 6 April 2020, the regulations will prohibit the commercial third party sale of puppies and kittens to directly tackle low welfare, high volume breeding, known as puppy farms. In advance of this ban coming into force, the Government will launch a public awareness campaign on the responsible sourcing of puppies and kittens.

The Government’s 25-year bovine TB eradication strategy published in 2014 aims to secure officially bovine TB free status for England by 2038 and is the basis of all we are doing to combat the disease.

The cornerstone of our strategy is a policy of regular testing and removal of infected cattle from herds. We have also incrementally introduced tougher controls on cattle movements from herds at risk of infection and more sensitive tests. We have introduced measures to encourage greater risk management and more information for the keepers of cattle. We have also deployed wildlife controls in areas where infection in badgers is linked to cattle breakdowns, and we have deployed new biosecurity measures to try to break the cycle of infection between cattle and badgers.

In 2018, the Secretary of State commissioned Professor Sir Charles Godfray and a team of experts to conduct an independent review of the strategy and provide advice on how to take it to the next phase (‘the Godfray Review’). Sir Charles submitted his report to Ministers in October 2018. The Government’s formal response will be published in due course.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal or to fail to provide for its welfare needs. Under the Act, anyone can take forward a prosecution if they consider that they have the necessary evidence. Around 800 people are successfully prosecuted each year for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The maximum penalty for causing unnecessary suffering or failing to provide for an animal’s welfare needs is six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. However, the Government has committed to introducing tougher penalties for animal cruelty. This will increase the maximum custodial penalty for causing unnecessary suffering to five years’ imprisonment which will make it among the highest maximum penalties for such an offence in the world. This will be taken forward when Parliamentary time allows.

The Government is investing £2.6 billion to better protect the country from flooding between 2015 and 2021. This will deliver over 1,000 flood defence schemes, which will better protect 300,000 homes by 2021.

Of the £2.6 billion Defra funding, approximately £650 million will be allocated to local authorities for their defence improvement projects.

Local authorities have access to a range of information provided by the Environment Agency on flood risk from all sources. The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government provides funding to local government to carry out functions including managing flood risk and coastal erosion, through the local government finance settlement.

The UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) was signed on 9 December 2020 and completed Constitutional Reform and Governance (CRaG) in Parliament on 3 February 2021. Once ratified in Canada, the TCA will lock in preferential trade in goods and services worth £23 billion in 2019. We also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canada on 21 December 2020 ensuring continued preferential goods trade pending full ratification. The TCA sets out a clear path to begin negotiating a new, more ambitious trade deal, which will be tailored to the British economy and interests. The Department is currently preparing for these talks with a view to beginning negotiations later in the year.

Strengthening and enhancing our bilateral trading relationships with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, are key priorities for the Government’s trade negotiations programme.

The Department for International Trade is committed to negotiating and securing ambitious free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand as soon as possible, harnessing the opportunity to negotiate a high-quality agreement with like-minded, liberal trading nations. Officials have just closed the second round of negotiations with Australia, with the third expected to take place in November, and they will open the second round of negotiations with New Zealand on 19^th October.

Similarly, both the United Kingdom and Canada agree on the importance of protecting and strengthening our trading relationship, now that we have left the European Union. Our shared goal with the Government of Canada is a seamless transition of our trading relationship beyond 1st January 2020, so that British and Canadian businesses and consumers can continue to benefit. Officials have been in regular contact to discuss this since trade talks recommenced in August, with technical discussions taking place on a rolling basis.

This Government aims to agree Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with countries accounting for 80% of current UK trade within the next three years.

We have used digital platforms to launch our negotiation programme with the priority countries of the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. These negotiations are now proceeding at pace on a remote basis mirroring the long-established structures for engagement on trade.

Aviation accessibility is a priority for Government, and the Department are working alongside the CAA to ensure that disabled passengers and those with reduced mobility have the assistance they require to travel with ease.

Following the letter on 9 June 2022, the CAA published additional guidance to airports on providing assistance services. Due to the disruption seen during the summer, the CAA published an interim report on the performance of airports against its accessibility framework in December 2022. The report showed improvement or maintenance of good service across a number of the airports assessed, but also highlighted airports requiring further improvement. The CAA will continue to monitor and work with these airports on plans to implement improvements and publish its usual annual report later this year. The CAA will soon publish a consultation on development of an airline accessibility framework, similar to the existing airport framework.

Aviation accessibility is a priority for Government, and the Department are working alongside the CAA to ensure that disabled passengers and those with reduced mobility have the assistance they require to travel with ease.

Following the letter on 9 June 2022, the CAA published additional guidance to airports on providing assistance services. Due to the disruption seen during the summer, the CAA published an interim report on the performance of airports against its accessibility framework in December 2022. The report showed improvement or maintenance of good service across a number of the airports assessed, but also highlighted airports requiring further improvement. The CAA will continue to monitor and work with these airports on plans to implement improvements and publish its usual annual report later this year. The CAA will soon publish a consultation on development of an airline accessibility framework, similar to the existing airport framework.

Government is committed to level up transport infrastructure across the country, including the East Midlands. Whilst I cannot commit to including improvements to the A5 in Leicestershire and Bosworth at this stage, I can reassure my honourable friend that options for the A5 Hinckley to Tamworth scheme continue to be developed by National Highways as part of the pipeline of schemes being developed for the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3). Decisions on the overall balance of the Investment Plan for RIS3, and schemes included within it will not be confirmed until the final RIS is published in 2024.

The duties introduced by the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022 only came into force in June 2022, and it is too early to assess their impact.

We will monitor the effectiveness of the 2022 Act through engagement with stakeholders and the regular reviewing of relevant statistics.

Good progress has been made on the Inclusive Transport Strategy (ITS), and the majority of commitments have now been completed.

In the last year, the Department has delivered a number of commitments from the ITS, including:

• consulting on best practice guidance for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing and proposing updated guidance on disability awareness training;
• working with the aviation sector, consumer and disability groups to develop and publish the Aviation Passenger Charter, providing a single point of information for consumers on their rights and responsibilities;
• delivering a further round of our “It’s Everyone’s Journey” campaign, aiming to raise public awareness of the needs of disabled passengers when travelling.

We are committed to delivering the remaining ITS commitments. In January 2022, the Department published a baseline evaluation report, which provides a detailed picture of disabled people’s experience using the transport network as we work towards full implementation of the ITS. This will be used as a baseline for future evaluation, including the annual scorecard of disabled people’s experiences using the transport network. The next scorecard is due to be published this spring, and a final evaluation report will be published in 2024.

The National Bus Strategy emphasises the importance of addressing the needs of those in rural as well as urban areas, and the Government remains committed to ensuring that those in rural areas have decent transport services.

The Department has awarded Leicestershire County Council a total of £732,881 to help it develop and deliver measures to improve bus services across the county through its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and Enhanced Partnership with bus operators.

All Local Transport Authorities have also been asked, as part of the development of their BSIPs, to consider the potential role of demand-responsive transport (DRT) in improving access to bus services in rural areas. The Department is also funding 17 DRT pilot projects through the Rural Mobility Fund, worth £20 million, which will improve our understanding of the viability of this type of bookable service in rural and suburban settings. As part of this, Leicestershire County Council was awarded £1.3 million in 2021 to trial its FoxConnect DRT service.

The Highway Code was updated on 29 January 2022 to include changes to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, including guidance on safe passing distances and speeds. We support the aims of the Pass Wide and Slow campaign to improve road safety for horse riders through the communication of safe passing distances and speed. We would like to thank all of our campaign partners who have helped us to raise awareness of the changes and improve road safety for all road users.

The changes to The Highway Code, including safe passing of horse riders, were communicated via the THINK! campaign in two phases: an awareness raising campaign in February and March 2022 and a behaviour change campaign in July and August 2022, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the new guidance.

The Department for Transport received the Outline Business Case (OBC) for Midlands Rail Hub on 14^th November. We will now assess the contribution of the scheme to our objectives – including the benefits for the people of Bosworth and Leicestershire – alongside value for taxpayer money, and affordability.

I have met weekly with the aviation sector over the summer and have taken every opportunity to remind them of their responsibility to support passengers who require special assistance and have sought assurances throughout the summer of their plans to increase recruitment in this area.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the aviation regulator, wrote to airlines and airports on 9 June, to ensure industry is reaching standards expected for providing disabled and less mobile passengers with the assistance they require. In addition, the CAA published additional guidance to airports on providing assistance services. The CAA also continues to monitor airport performance on delivering special assistance, against legal obligations and publishes its findings annually.

We published the Aviation Passenger Charter in July, to provide consumers with the information they need on their rights and responsibilities for each stage of their journey, from booking to if things go wrong. This included specific information for disabled passengers and those with reduced mobility on accessibility and special assistance. We developed this alongside industry, consumer and disability groups.

Accessibility in aviation remains a key government priority, and we will continue to work closely with the CAA to ensure that air travel is accessible for all passengers.

In 2012, THINK! won a prestigious IPA Effectiveness award for its work in demonstrating how 30 years of drink drive communications saved nearly 2,000 lives. This analysis highlights the impact and effectiveness of communications in changing behaviour. The award paper is here: THINK! IPA Award paper

Campaign performance and impact is continually assessed with each burst of activity supported by pre and post campaign research. Campaign effectiveness is measured across each behaviour through monitoring attitudinal measures including risk, acceptability and normalcy. Campaign metrics including reach and engagement as well as awareness and outcome measures, including claimed action taken as a result of the campaign, are also monitored and reported.

Following its launch in 2017, the THINK! Mates Matter strategy led to a ten percentage point increase in the number of young men agreeing that it is unacceptable to let a friend drive after drinking (56% to 66%). This increase followed the first burst of activity and is the biggest shift in young men’s attitudes towards drink driving in more than a decade.

The THINK! brand is recognised by more than three quarters (77%) of the general public, and the vast majority (87%) continue to view the brand positively. 73% of males 17-30 recognise the brand (88% positive).

When carrying out the review of The Highway Code to improve road safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, the Department for Transport worked closely with an expert stakeholder group from the outset representing different users of the road.

We agree that for the changes to have the desired impact it will be important that these are supported by effective communications. We will communicate the changes in two phases, the first being an awareness raising campaign alerting road users to the changes as they come into effect. A broader behaviour change campaign is then planned later in the year, to align with seasonal increases in active travel, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the new guidance. We are also developing a toolkit for stakeholders to use to promote the changes in their area.

The hierarchy of road users is one of a number of proposed changes to The Highway Code to improve road safety for cyclists, pedestrians and horse rider. The plan is to communicate the changes in two phases:

- A factual awareness raising campaign in early February, alerting road users to the changes as they come into effect.

- A broader behaviour change campaign later in the year, to align with seasonal increases in active travel, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the new guidance.

We are working with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure we develop communications that are fit for purpose and meet the needs of all road users.

Rule 59 of The Highway Code already says that cyclists should wear a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened. It also recommends they should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing to help other road users see them in daylight and poor light, as well as reflective clothing and/or accessories in the dark. Rule 66 says that cyclists should use their bell when necessary to signal to other road users that they are nearby.

Changes to The Highway Code are due to come into effect later this month which will clarify and strengthen this advice. The proposed changes are summarised at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/review-of-the-highway-code-to-improve-road-safety-for-cyclists-pedestrians-and-horse-riders.

The Department has established a working group of key organisations to ensure that these changes are disseminated as widely as possible and understood by all road users. Our well-established THINK! campaign will ensure that as many road users as possible are aware when the changes come into effect, and will also highlight the importance of cyclists following the strengthened advice.

The Government is investing over £1.3 billion in accelerating the roll out of charging infrastructure, targeting support on rapid chargepoints on motorways and major A roads to dash any anxiety around long journeys, and supporting the installation of chargepoints near homes and workplaces to make charging as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car.

The Government’s forthcoming Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy will define our vision for the continued roll-out of a world-leading charging infrastructure network across the UK. The strategy will focus on how we will unlock the chargepoint rollout needed to enable the transition from early adoption to mass market uptake of EVs. We will set out our next steps to address barriers to private investment, and level up charge point provision across all areas of the country, including rural and remote areas.

The Government already provides support for chargepoint installations at homes and workplaces across the UK. In 2022, the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme will be reformed to provide additional help for people living in rented and leasehold accommodation and the Workplace Charging Scheme will be opened to small accommodation business and the charity sector. This will help to accelerate electric vehicle uptake in rural areas and support the UK tourist industry.

To future proof homes, the Government has announced that it will require new homes and buildings undergoing major renovation with associated parking to have a charge point installed.

For those without access to off-street parking, the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, which is available to all UK local authorities will help to provide public chargepoints for their residents. This year, £20 million is available under the scheme to ensure more local authorities and residents can benefit.

In November 2020, the Prime Minister announced a 10 Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, making clear our ambition to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. To achieve these ambitions to accelerate the UK’s transition to zero emission vehicles, it is vital that we develop our capacity to manufacture key components for these vehicles, including batteries. The Automotive Transformation Fund has been set up to support the creation of a localised, internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain right here in the UK.

As part of the Net Zero Strategy, a further £350m of funding was announced for the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF). This is additional to the £500m of funding previously announced. The ATF supports R&D and capital investments across strategically important parts of the electric vehicle supply chain. The fund is open to applications from large, medium and small companies, provided they can demonstrate how their proposed project meets the ATF’s key objective of supporting the key elements of the electrification of the automotive sector. These technologies developed with HMG support, will be of benefit in the production of a range of types of vehicles including off-road vehicles as well as passenger cars and vans.

Government regularly engages with manufacturers, including supply chain businesses and automotive trade associations on opportunities to support the growth and competitiveness of the sector in the UK

The Government remains committed to confirming the status of UK issued Blue Badges for visiting motorists, and continues to engage in discussions with a number of countries, including Spain. We cannot comment in detail on these discussions at this stage. The list of countries who have confirmed their position is available on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-using-it-in-the-eu/using-a-blue-badge-in-the-european-union

We are running e-scooter trials in 32 areas to assess their safety and wider impacts.

E-scooter trials will run until 31 March 2022. This is an extension to the original deadline of 30 November 2021. It takes into account the slower start to trials as a result of the pandemic and will allow us more time to gather evidence as restrictions ease.

We have put in place a national monitoring and evaluation programme and data continues to be collected from the e-scooter trials. An interim report summarizing findings from the data collected so far will be published in autumn 2021, with a final report due in spring 2022.

The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.

However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and social distancing measures coupled with industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union and the current increased demand for DVLA services has led to delays for customers.

The DVLA is currently prioritising applications for HGV driving licences as these cannot currently be made online.

The DVLA continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times for paper applications and has introduced additional online services and recruited additional staff. The DVLA is exploring the possibility of securing extra office space to house more staff. This will be surge capacity accommodation and resource to help reduce backlogs while providing future resilience and business continuity.

Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.

The DVLA has a number of channels of communication in order for applicants to seek updates on their driving licence applications. As well as the contact centre, email and webchat services are available. The DVLA also uses a Notify service for customers applying for an HGV driving licence which sends an email confirming receipt of their application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.

However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and social distancing measures coupled with industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union and the current increased demand for DVLA services has led to delays for customers.

The DVLA is currently prioritising applications for HGV driving licences as these cannot currently be made online.

The DVLA continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times for paper applications and has introduced additional online services and recruited additional staff. The DVLA is exploring the possibility of securing extra office space to house more staff. This will be surge capacity accommodation and resource to help reduce backlogs while providing future resilience and business continuity.

Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.

The DVLA has a number of channels of communication in order for applicants to seek updates on their driving licence applications. As well as the contact centre, email and webchat services are available. The DVLA also uses a Notify service for customers applying for an HGV driving licence which sends an email confirming receipt of their application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

The quickest and easiest way to make an application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.

However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day and social distancing measures coupled with industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union and the current increased demand for DVLA services has led to delays for customers.

The DVLA is currently prioritising applications for HGV driving licences as these cannot currently be made online.

The DVLA continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times for paper applications and has introduced additional online services and recruited additional staff. The DVLA is exploring the possibility of securing extra office space to house more staff. This will be surge capacity accommodation and resource to help reduce backlogs while providing future resilience and business continuity.

Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.

The DVLA has a number of channels of communication in order for applicants to seek updates on their driving licence applications. As well as the contact centre, email and webchat services are available. The DVLA also uses a Notify service for customers applying for an HGV driving licence which sends an email confirming receipt of their application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

The rail industry has launched the “Get back on track” advertising campaign to attract passengers back to the railway. CrossCountry also has its own advertising campaign. Passenger demand is increasing across the network which is to be welcomed.

In May 2021, all contractual train services were reinstated on the CrossCountry Class 170 routes including between Birmingham and Leicester and Nottingham. Investment by the DfT has provided six additional carriages for these routes. As a result there are more services on the Birmingham - Leicester – Stansted and the Nottingham – Cardiff routes, which are now formed of three rather than two carriages.

By 2023, the Government expects to see six high-powered chargers at every motorway service area in England, installed by the private sector. The Government has regular engagement with motorway service area operators to ensure that this charging provision is in place ahead of customer demand. This includes a quarterly questionnaire to monitor progress against this target, and ad hoc bilateral engagement to discuss plans to help support early adoption of electric vehicles and remove range anxiety concerns for drivers on long journeys. Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Rachel Maclean held a roundtable on 20^th July 2021 with motorway service area operators from across England to discuss their participation of Ofgem’s Green Recovery Scheme, under which funding is released to allow distribution network operators to upgrade network capacity in order to facilitate electric vehicle charging.

In May 2020, the Government published an ambitious vision for rapid charging infrastructure along strategic roads in England over the next decade. This vision includes targets for the number of high-powered (150kW+) chargepoints that will be located across motorways and major A roads to meet the future demand from electric vehicles (EVs). In the short term, the Government expects to see six high-powered chargers at every motorway service area in England by 2023, installed by the private sector. The Government regularly engages with motorway service area operators to monitor progress against this charging provision. In the longer term, to ensure the private sector can continue to expand the charging network at pace in the 2020s, the Government will invest £950 million through the Rapid Charging Fund to future-proof grid capacity along England’s motorways and major A roads to prepare for 100% uptake of zero emission cars and vans ahead of need. Since the management of motorways and major roads is a devolved matter, equivalent funding for the Devolved Administrations will be made available through the Barnett Formula. We also recently consulted on improving the consumer experience at public chargepoints. This includes opening public chargepoint data; improving the reliability of the network; streamlining the payment methods offered to drivers; and increasing pricing transparency. We will publish an EV Infrastructure Strategy to set out the vision and action plan for charging infrastructure rollout needed to achieve the 2030/35 phase out successfully. This will set expected roles for different stakeholders and how government will intervene to address the gaps between the current market status and our vision.

On the 24 July 2018, the Government issued a revised version of the National Planning Policy Framework that now indicates that the need for sufficient overnight lorry parking should be considered in planning policies and decisions. My Department continues to work with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to enhance this further with Local Authorities and to highlight the criteria and consideration for HGV lorry parking applications.

I recognise that there are long standing issues around driver welfare, including adequate safe and secure HGV parking with acceptable facilities for drivers. We are committed to progressing work to support the strategic and long-term development of lorry parking provisions and are looking at both established and new approaches to increase the provision for improved overnight lorry parking in England. We are also keen to explore with the industry innovative alternative approaches to provide more parking capacity and better facilities to improve HGV driver welfare

Only a court can disqualify an individual from driving under the “totting up” provisions where a driver has accrued 12 or more penalty points. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s role is to maintain a record of the endorsement information received from the courts on the individual’s driver record.

If the DVLA receives a notification from a court for a driver with 12 or more penalty points who has not been disqualified, the DVLA will alert the court to this. This enables the court to consider whether to re-open the case and disqualify the driver where appropriate. The DVLA cannot overturn a court’s decision not to disqualify a driver where more than 12 penalty points have been accrued.

The Passenger COVID-19 charter provides a central point of information and guidance to help consumers understand their rights, responsibilities and reasonable expectations, when booking and travelling internationally whilst COVID-19 restrictions remain in place. We are monitoring through existing frameworks.

The Smart Motorway Safety Evidence Stocktake and Action Plan, published in March 2020, committed to a new standard for spacing of places to stop in an emergency. For future All Lane Running (ALR) Motorway schemes, places to stop in an emergency will be ¾ of a mile apart where feasible, with a maximum spacing of 1 mile apart. Highways England published the new design standard – GD 301 – in October 2020.

The Stocktake Action Plan also made a commitment to consider a national programme of retrofitting on ALR motorways where places to stop in an emergency are more than one mile apart, drawing on evidence from the programme to deliver additional areas on the M25. That review will be completed by April 2022.

The Government’s priority is to protect public health. That is why we introduced the Traffic Light System on 17 May as a cautious approach to reopening international travel.

The government will review the travel measures in place through the Global Travel Taskforce at a series of checkpoints, no later than 28 June, 31 July and 1 October, taking into account the latest domestic and international data.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online services have been available and unaffected throughout the pandemic and are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. However, many people still choose or have to apply for their driving licence using a paper application. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person.

The DVLA has had a reduced number of operational staff on site to allow for social distancing, in line with Welsh Government requirements. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff and has extended the opening hours of its contact centre.

The number of applications awaiting processing fluctuates on a daily basis as driving licences are issued and new applications received. The DVLA is currently processing paper applications for both HGV and car driving licences within around six weeks of receipt. However, drivers with a medical condition may experience further delays because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information or test results from medical professionals before a licence can be issued, to ensure drivers can meet the required medical standards.

The Department has been working closely with maritime operators throughout the pandemic, and in particular major shipping lines and ports regarding the unprecedented global surge in container freight that was experienced at the end of 2020 and early 2021. The lessons learned from that meant that there was a swift response across Government Departments to assess impacts on supply chains following the Suez incident. The Department will continue to engage with shipping lines and container ports. It is clear that whilst some disruption is hard to avoid, industry has established operational plans and flexibility to enable them to respond to crisis and maintain continuity of trade, as evidenced by the re-routing of vessels around the Cape of Good Hope

Under the Planning Act 2008, prospective developers of Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SRFIs) must submit a Development Consent Order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate. If the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, accepts the application they must carry out an examination of the proposed SRFI and produce a report and recommendation. The Secretary of State must then make a decision on the proposal.

Both the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State use the framework of the National Networks – National Policy Statement (NN-NPS) as the primary basis for making decisions on DCO applications for SRFIs, including taking into account the potential benefits and adverse impacts of the scheme.

Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) proposals should meet market requirements and the National Networks – National Policy Statement (NN-NPS) states that they should be located near the business markets they will serve. The NN-NPS states that at a minimum SRFIs should be capable of handling four trains per day.

The Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State use the policy framework of the NN-NPS as the primary basis for making decisions on Development Consent Order (DCO) applications for SRFIs, including considering the potential benefits and adverse impacts of the scheme. Currently, it is for the private sector operators of SRFIs to ensure market conditions remain favourable to ensure SRFI operation is sustained and viable once operational.

The Union Connectivity Review is an independent review led by Sir Peter Hendy. The Interim Report will be published shortly with final recommendations expected in summer 2021.

The focus of the Review is on improving connectivity between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and Sir Peter will be prioritising transport links that help to achieve that objective. The Review published a Call for Evidence in November 2020 to which several stakeholders with an interest in the A5 have responded.

These will be part of Sir Peter’s deliberations and will inform the development of his final recommendations. Highways England’s work to update its Route Strategies, starting this year, will also consider the needs of the trunked A5 and inform future road investment decisions.

The Department’s initial trials of a prototype acoustic camera have concluded. The Government anticipates the results will be published in the spring following a re-phasing of the work due to pressures arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Options for future work are still under consideration and so the Government cannot commit to trials with any local authorities at this point. Nonetheless, if future research involves road trials, then we would welcome involvement of local authorities to help ensure that any new system is robust.

The Government’s support for Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SRFIs) is set out in the National Networks National Policy Statement which provides a clear framework for SRFI developers, local authorities and the Planning Inspectorate. The Secretary of State for Transport uses the framework as a primary basis for making decisions on development consent applications for SRFIs.

The National Policy Statement does not, however, specify where SRFIs should be located. Instead, it provides a framework for private sector developers to bring forward proposals through the planning system if they are deemed to be operationally and commercially viable.

While the Government believes the majority of electric vehicle (EV) charging will take place at home, we understand that many consumers want to see sufficient charging infrastructure in place across destinations, workplaces and the Strategic Road Network, before they will make the leap to purchasing an EV.

The roll out of rapid charging is an opportunity to remove range anxiety for electric vehicle drivers across the roads network. To ensure the private sector can continue to expand the charging network at pace in the 2020s, the Government will invest £950 million in future proofing grid capacity along the Strategic Road Network to prepare for 100% uptake of zero emission cars and vans ahead of need. In May, we published an ambitious vision for rapid charging infrastructure along strategic roads in England over the next decade. This vision sets out the number of rapid chargepoints that will be located across motorways and major A roads to meet the future demand for electric vehicles.

Through our Workplace Charging Scheme, businesses, charities and the wider public sector can get grants of up to £350 per socket for installing up to 40 charging sockets for their employees and fleets. Over?11,000 installations have been?funded?using the scheme, including 21 in the Bosworth constituency, as of 1 October 2020. Local authorities across the country are able to take advantage of the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), which assists them with the cost of installing chargepoints on residential streets.

To increase confidence in the charging network and reduce range anxiety the Government is working with industry to make?chargepoint?data available, helping drivers easily locate and access available?chargepoints. Government will consult on using its powers under the Automated Electric Vehicles Act to mandate minimum standards, such as requiring contactless payment for rapid chargepoints, to improve the consumer experience of charging.

Network Rail revealed the most-struck bridges in the country (including Hinckley bridge) to remind drivers and operators of their obligations to prevent costly and dangerous bridge strikes. It has worked with industry bodies - including Highways England and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) - and hauliers as part of a Bridge Strike Prevention Group to help companies and their employees to avoid striking bridges, resulting in an 11% decrease in incidents in the last financial year (April 1 2019 - March 31 2020).

Highways England has undertaken many studies in the past and has installed extra signage on the approach to, and on the bridge, in an effort to raise drivers’ awareness of the risks. Highways England are currently in discussions with a developer about the possibility of lowering the carriageway in the vicinity of the low bridge, as part of the developer’s scheme proposal.

A new campaign ‘Wise Up, Size Up’ will feature on petrol pumps at motorway service stations across Britain along with posters, reminding drivers to check their routes before setting off and the Senior Traffic Commissioner, Richard Turfitt, issued a letter last month to all goods vehicle and Public Service Vehicle (PSV) licence holders, warning that regulatory action, which could result in the loss of their operator’s licence, could follow should they fail to take appropriate measures to prevent bridge strikes.

The Global Travel Taskforce has been considering a range of testing options and non-testing measures to ensure passenger safety and give travellers confidence once current restrictions ease. The Taskforce has also undertaken extensive consultation with the transport industry, international partners, tourism sector, business leaders and the private testing sector and will submit its recommendations to the Prime Minister in November.

Last year Leicestershire County Council received £534,721 from the £43m Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) grant to subsidise socially necessary bus services. In addition, Leicestershire has this year been provided with additional allocation of £556,627 as part of ‘Better Deal for Bus Users’ package. Bus operators running services in the area have also benefitted from the Government’s Covid Bus Services Support Grant.

The new operator of East Midlands Railway, Abellio, is bringing a package of more than £600 million investment in improvements to rail services across their area. Leicestershire will also benefit from the Midland Main Line upgrade, which will increase rail capacity and shorten journey times into London as well as and the introduction of new Bi-Mode Trains on the Midland Main Line.

Like all government departments, DfT is engaging with HM Treasury’s Comprehensive Spending Review process to agree a financial settlement which will enable the department to deliver on the Government’s priorities over the coming years.

As set out in the Inclusive Transport Strategy, the Department wants to see well maintained pavements, appropriately placed dropped kerbs and navigable and legible routes in our public realm.

Local authorities are responsible for the design of their streets and public realm. It is for them to ensure their streets, including pavements and crossings, are designed to be inclusive and meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.

To help deliver this, we are updating Inclusive Mobility, the key piece of design guidance covering the pedestrian environment as a whole. This will also include advice covering the much greater knowledge and understanding now available of the needs of those with hidden disabilities, including autism, dementia and mental health conditions.

On the 29^th May, indicative allocations to local authorities from the Emergency Active Travel Fund were published on gov.uk. Leicestershire County Council has been allocated £335,164 from tranche 1 of the Emergency Active Travel Fund and indicatively allocated £1,451,000 from tranche 2. The Department will invite bids from authorities for tranche 2 of the fund shortly. Before receiving any funding, authorities must submit satisfactory plans to the Department, and the amount each authority receives will depend on it satisfying the Department that it has ambitious plans in place to reallocate road space to cyclists and pedestrians.

As the health and safety of staff and customers is key, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has produced detailed standard operating procedures and is working closely with the Department for Transport to prepare for a safe return to testing.

At present, the DVSA’s testing services are under review and it will announce details of resumption in due course.

Our guidance is clear that regional transport providers and national operators have the same obligations to support visually impaired passengers as they did before the Covid-19 pandemic. As a Department we are working closely with stakeholders, to understand the experiences of disabled passengers and identify the correct support needed as lockdown restrictions are eased.

All local transport and highway authorities across England are ensuring the needs of disabled transport users are included as part of their Restart plans.

As the health and safety of staff and customers is key, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency is currently working closely with the Department for Transport to prepare for a safe return to testing.

At present, its testing services are under review and it will announce details of resumption in due course.

On 15 April 2020 the Government provided the construction sector with certainty by confirming ‘Notice to Proceed’ for the first phase of High Speed 2. This marks formal approval for main construction works to begin on the route between London and Birmingham.

An estimated 400,000 supply chain contract opportunities for UK businesses will be created during phase one of HS2, supporting thousands of jobs on site and many more around the country. It is estimated that around 95% of those contract opportunities will be won by UK based businesses and around two thirds of those will be small and medium sized businesses.

To support UK suppliers since 2013, HS2 Ltd has undertaken an unprecedented level of supplier engagement. This has been achieved through publishing a contract opportunities table on its website, targeted ‘meet the contractor’ events as well as regular engagement with UK businesses, industry and supply chain groups including Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Chambers of Commerce and Trade Associations. To date, this approach has ensured that over 98% of contracts on the HS2 programme have been awarded to UK based organisations, over 70% of which are Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). HS2 Ltd has mandated the use of the subcontracts opportunity portal CompeteFor in its Tier1 contracts to ensure visibility of subcontract opportunities arising from the HS2 programme.

The Department for Transport is making £225 million available to local authorities this financial year for urgent measures to make it easier for people to walk and cycle for all short journeys, including to school. The Department for Education has produced guidance on implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings. This guidance sets out that schools should ‘ensure parents and young people are aware of recommendations on transport to and from education or childcare settings’ and encourage parents and children and young people ‘to walk or cycle to their education setting where possible’.

The Government has no current plans to introduce new penalties for cyclists and horse riders using mobile phones while riding. All road users are required to comply with road traffic law in the interests of their own safety and that of other road users. For those who do not adopt a responsible attitude, there are already laws in place that can make them liable for prosecution. The Official Highway Code explains the law and gives advice for cyclists and horse riders on how to safely use our roads.

On the 9^th May the Government announced a £2bn package of funding for cycling and walking over the next five years. This includes £250m to be spent this financial year on measures to enable increased cycling and walking. Local authorities will be responsible for ensuring that they have considered the impact of these measures on other road users.

Officials are continuing to engage with the aviation sector to ensure they are supported in implementing new operational practices. This includes facilitating a weekly phone call with Public Health England to enable the aviation industry to raise operational questions directly wherever necessary.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency's requirement that aircraft be disinfected after every flight also applies to London Heathrow Airport; this will further mitigate health risks to staff and passengers.

Public Health England has developed specific guidance for flight crews on keeping themselves and their passengers safe, including guidance on safe principles of working and on the use of personal protective equipment.

A General Aircraft Declaration (GAD) process will now be required for all flights coming to the UK requiring crew to identify symptomatic passengers before arrival, with a similar process being implemented for maritime and international rail.

On the 12 May, the Government published guidance for passengers and transport operators to help them keep themselves and their staff safe, including how social distancing rules should be interpreted to do this. This guidance will be kept up-to-date as restrictions on travel change.

The Government recognises that walking and cycling have great potential as a means of enabling people to move around safely while maintaining social distancing, thus helping to relieve pressures on public transport as well as delivering other health benefits. We are already continually gathering evidence in order to monitor changes in cycling and walking levels.

The Government continues to keep its sustainable transport response under review. We recognise that reallocating road space to give pedestrians and cyclists more room can be a good way of enabling more people to use these modes safely. We support the steps many local authorities are taking to deliver this, but decisions on where and how to do it are a matter for local authorities who are responsible for managing their roads, and who already have the necessary powers. The Transport Secretary announced on 9 May a £250 million emergency active travel fund, to create new bike lanes, wider pavements and safer junctions in England.

The ‘Rail to Refuge’ initiative is a scheme that complements our wider safeguarding activity to protect vulnerable children and adults at risk.

Since the start of the lock down on 23 March 2020, 40 bookings for travel have been made using the system. This has resulted in more than 50 adults and children in a vulnerable position being helped. Critically these are individuals who would not have been able to travel to a place of safety without the assistance of the scheme.

From 21 March 2020, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) suspended most practical driver testing for up to three months to support the Government’s efforts to limit the spread of coronavirus.

As a matter of priority, the DVSA is supporting the NHS and key workers by making practical driving tests available for those whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response, or who work in critical sectors such as health and social care.

Critical workers can apply for an emergency driving test by emailing: critical.worker.driving.test@dvsa.gov.uk

The Department is working to support the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who are leading the efforts to ensure that British tourists can return home from across the Globe.

The Government is working closely with the aviation sector, and we welcome continued efforts by airlines to ensure that passengers can return to the UK.

Whilst ticket pricing remains a commercial matter for the airlines, we are monitoring the situation closely.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has suspended most driver testing for up to three months to support government’s efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19. The DVSA will continue, as a major priority, to make tests available for those whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response or who work in critical sectors.

The department is considering the issues around the renewal of driving entitlement for HGV drivers and will take into account the developing situation and the need to balance the risks to road safety.

The department is considering the issues around the renewal of driving entitlement for HGV drivers and will take into account the developing situation and the need to balance the risks to road safety.

A key part of delivering a successful Commonwealth Games is about making sure transport works effectively, both for those living and working around Games locations and for those involved in or who wish to watch the Games. Local Games transport partners, such as the West Midlands Combined Authority, Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham 2022 Organising Committee, are working together leading on transport preparations and planning for the Birmingham Games.

Government is supporting the preparations by bringing forward the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Bill. The Bill includes a small number of temporary measures which are essential to the successful operation of the Games, including on transport. The measures set a statutory basis for a Games Transport Plan - to minimise the risk of relying on voluntary arrangements to coordinate Games transport planning- and provide bespoke traffic regulatory powers, allowing short term changes of road use - where needed - to ensure minimal disruption to those travelling to and from the Games.

The Government has supported industry initiatives for reform in both simplifying fares and improving the ticket buying process. To improve the ticket buying process, we supported the Rail Delivery Group’s mobile barcode ticketing programme and made an additional £80m available to operators so that smart tickets are accepted at stations across almost all the network. We are now working with the industry to maximise the benefits of this investment.

In addition, we welcome the Rail Delivery Group’s contribution to the Williams Rail Review through its publication of the Easier Fares Consultation. The Williams Review is the first root and branch review of the rail industry in a generation and will set out ambitious proposals early this year. On 2 January a trial of simpler, single-leg fares was launched on some London North Eastern Railway routes, and we announced our intention to establish a new ‘fares trials fund’ to explore the benefits and costs of a clearer, more flexible and fairer fares system.

Officials meet regularly with Highways England and local authorities to discuss conditions on the road network. They are well appraised of the work of the A5 partnership, of which the local authorities of Bosworth are committed members, as well as the advocacy of Midlands Connect for this corridor’s potential.

The department is continually impacting and assessing the service being offered to customers and we continue to keep staff numbers under review as part of our response to the impact of Covid-19 on the labour market. Work Coach recruitment campaigns have been launched across the country, including Bosworth constituency, as the department doubles the number of Work Coaches from 13,500 to 27,000.

The precise updated data on the effectiveness of the spring 2020 campaign is not yet able to be provided.

The purpose of the campaign was to raise Pension Credit awareness and test impact.

There was a 20% increase in telephone calls to the Pension Credit claim line (during the course of the campaign the weekly average was 2,493 phone calls compared to a weekly average in 2019 of 2,079 phone calls).

There was also significant engagement with social media and a spike of activity on viewing the Pension Credit website pages with more than 5,000 sessions on the launch day, 10 February (compared to 1,000 on 3 February).

However, it should be stressed that other factors may affect these numbers, including the BBC TV licensing decision and the effect of the Pandemic.

Across Government we are developing policies to support people to pivot to high demand, growth sectors, including low-carbon and climate resilient jobs. There are already over 460,000 people working in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country and by 2030 the UK could support up to 2 million green jobs.

DWP’s Jobcentre Plus network supports thousands of jobseekers each year to move into the labour market, including jobs in the Green Economy. The Government’s pledge to double the number of Work Coaches to 27,000 by March 2021 will ensure that jobseekers continue to have access this expert and tailored support. As announced on 8^th July, we are continuing to support jobseekers by increasing participation in our sector-based work academy programmes (SWAP). We will continue to establish bespoke opportunities, including those within the Green Economy, working with employers and training providers to support jobseekers to fill job vacancies and pivot into new careers.

We are pleased to confirm that the department is now processing many applications from across the UK, this is currently a clerical process, so reliable management information, particularly on geographical areas, is not yet available.

As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that everyone should be supported to do the right thing.

The Department has held no discussions with NHS England on increasing access to diabetes healthcare teams specifically in Leicestershire, Bosworth and the rest of the UK.

On 17 May 2023, the Government launched a call for evidence to inform the Major Conditions Strategy on how best to prevent, diagnose and manage six groups of major conditions, including diabetes.

In November 2022, many of the dental system reforms announced in July 2022 and reiterated in ‘Our plan for patients’ came into force. These included splitting Band 2 payments to ensure dentists were more fairly remunerated for more complex dental treatment and allowing dentists to deliver up to 110% of their contracted dental activity to further improve access.

NHS England also reissued guidance on using dental care practitioners to the full extent of their professional skills and reiterated the guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence that adults with good oral health do not need to see a dentist more often than every two years and a child every one year. There is also now a contractual requirement for all practices to keep their availability and whether or not they are accepting new National Health Service patients up to date on the NHS website which will help patients in accessing care. However, we know we need to do more and that is why we are working on additional reforms which we plan to announce shortly.

There are 399 operational Mental Health Support Teams now in place, supporting over 3 million children and young people. That means we have already achieved our 35% coverage target, 8 months ahead of schedule.

I am planning to deliver an additional 101 teams by spring 2024 taking us to 500. The NIHR – who undertook a review of the programme – found that 77% of children and young people surveyed saw positive improvements in their mental health and wellbeing. We have also set an ambition for all state schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead by 2025-26 in 10 state-funded secondary schools in England now have a dedicated mental health lead.

I am thankful to the support of the Department for Education in supporting this rollout.

No such discussions with NHS England have taken place or are planned at present. Should the evidence base develop further, clinical policy may be updated by relevant organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England would then consider the development of care pathways for those living with PANS and PANDAS. In the meantime, integrated care systems are responsible for planning care for their populations.

The New Hospital Programme was allocated £3.7 billion for the first four years of the programme in 2020. With any multi-year investment, further funding will be set out at future Spending Reviews. Individual funding allocations for schemes are only confirmed once the respective Full Business Cases have been reviewed and agreed, including by HM Treasury.

We are working closely with all schemes in the programme, including the cohort three schemes on progressing their new hospital aligned with the national programme approach. The national approach will enable cost and time savings and transform the way we deliver healthcare infrastructure for the National Health Service through standardised and repeatable hospital designs and modern methods of construction to ensure value for money.