Marcus Fysh

We are committed to tackling hate crime in any form. The cross Government Hate Crime Action Plan, published in July 2016, focuses on reducing hate crime, increasing reporting and ensuring that all criminal justice partners and key stakeholders deliver the appropriate outcomes for victims.

His Majesty’s Government operates on the principle of collective responsibility, and the Government would not normally comment on the internal processes of how advice may be determined. Ministers must be able to speak to officials and take advice from a position of absolute trust. Naming which individuals may or may not have provided advice on a particular topic may inhibit the ability of civil servants to provide free and frank advice and inhibit the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation.

Moreover, the Civil Service Code makes clear that civil servants are accountable to Ministers who in turn are accountable to Parliament.

Notwithstanding, as Ministers set out in the response of 7 March 2023, Official Report, Columns 689, it is exceptional and unprecedented for a serving Permanent Secretary to resign to seek to take up a senior position working for the leader of the Opposition. The Cabinet Office has publicly stated it is looking into the circumstances leading up to the Second Permanent Secretary's resignation.

In that exceptional context, I believe it is appropriate to confirm to the Hon. Member that the former Second Permanent Secretary neither advised on, nor participated in, negotiations on the Windsor Framework.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Improving the efficiency and productivity of the public sector is central to the work of the Cabinet Office and other government Departments. By 2014/15 the Government had saved £18.6 billion through efficiency and reform.

The government is continuing this work. For example, we are working to improve how the government operates across functional areas such as commercial, property, infrastructure and projects, and by tackling fraud, error and debt. We will continue to make government more effective throughout this parliament.

Progress is being made at an extraordinary pace to secure a safe and effective vaccine. We monitor trial results on a continuous basis and the trials look to establish different things depending on how they are designed and what they specifically look at. The outcomes of the clinical trials will not be fully known until phase 3 trials have concluded.

The Government is working at pace to secure a safe and effective vaccine for all. To date, we have secured 350 million doses through six different vaccine developers.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are helping to fund and/or deliver a range of 'rapid response' research to better understand and tackle COVID-19, including research into vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests. The government has also invested over £230 million in manufacturing facilities, to manufacture a vaccine quickly, if and when a candidate becomes successful. Manufacturers and wholesalers of COVID-19 vaccine candidates must meet the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) standards of good manufacturing practice (GMP) and good distribution practice (GDP). MHRA carries out inspections to check if manufacturing and distribution sites comply with GMP or GDP.

The National Institute for Health Research provides support and critical infrastructure for clinical trials – making the UK well-suited to facilitate clinical trials that are essential to the development of any vaccine.

All vaccines are tested through three phases of clinical trials, to ensure they meet the usual rigorous standards, data must include the results of clinical trials, animal studies, manufacturing and in-process quality controls, consistency in batches production, and testing data. Clinical trials of any vaccine must follow a predefined development pathway, with regulatory oversight provided by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The MHRA will seek advice from the independent expert advisors on the Commission on Human Medicines and its Expert Advisory Group on the risks and benefits of any vaccine. A vaccine will only be deployed once it has been proved to be safe and effective.

Schools play a very important part in identifying pupils who are young carers and in offering them appropriate support.

During school inspection, Ofsted inspectors consider how schools are meeting the needs of their pupils, including young carers. It is for schools to demonstrate to inspectors that they know all of their pupils, including those with caring responsibilities, and have strategies in place to support these pupils and ensure that they are making expected progress.

This Department has funded the Carers Trust and The Children’s Society, in partnership with Suffolk Family Carers, to work with local authorities to develop models of assessment and support that specifically address the needs of young carers. We have also trained school nurses to be champions for young carers, to speak up on behalf of young carers and help head teachers and governors decide how best to support them at school.

The UK is fully committed to upholding the global moratorium on Commercial Whaling adopted by the International Whaling Commission in 1986. The moratorium is enforced by the appropriate authorities. We are not aware of any illegal whaling activity that takes place in British-administered waters.

Farmers and other land managers make a vital contribution to supporting pollinators through management and creation of beneficial habitat features. This is reflected in Defra’s National Pollinator Strategy implementation plan.

Well over one thousand applications for the new Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which funds environmentally beneficial land management, contained the Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package. As part of our monitoring and evaluation programme, we will assess the effectiveness of the Scheme in supporting bees and other pollinators.

Following intense negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol in the preceding weeks and months, the Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, including all of the annexes in question, was published on 14 November and the final version was agreed at a special European Council on 25 November 2018.

DFID’s SME Action Plan sets out a range of measures to promote access. These include increased use of social media, a specific email address and forums for SMEs, and breaking up suitable contracts into smaller lots for delivery by SMEs.

Highways England is currently designing safety schemes to improve safety at both roundabouts at either end of the Ilminster By-pass. The Road Investment Strategy also announced, in addition to the schemes on the A303 to be taken forward in the period up to 2020/21, the Government’s intention to up-grade the A303 in subsequent road investment periods, post-2020, which will include the up-grade of the Ilminster By-pass to a dual carriageway, which will aim to further improve safety.

I do however offer my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the people who lost their lives or were seriously injured in the collisions on the Ilminster By-pass in July 2015.

These collisions are still under Police investigation and until concluded it would be inappropriate to speculate on causes and subsequent improvements to that stretch of road. It is important to base decisions on evidence and Highways England will work with partner agencies to further reduce casualties on our roads in light of the evidence as it emerges.

We are investing significant resources in this area including increasing the coverage of the Talking Therapy services by 600,000 people per year to 1.5million by 2020. We are also investing in trials and initiatives with a view to taking forward those that work best for individuals.

Mental Health is a key feature of our Green Paper Improving Lives published on 31 October 2016.

The focus in March 2020 was on the required National Health Service capacity to respond to the first wave of COVID-19 cases, rather than a potential second wave.

Guidance issued by the NHS in March had set out an operational aim to expand critical care capacity to the maximum and free up 30,000 or more general and acute beds.

Our mass testing pilot in Liverpool continues and will help inform any future rollout of large-scale population testing. We are now rolling out this localised approach to other areas. Eighty three local authorities have now signed up to receive regular batches of these new lateral flow tests, which can allow for results in minutes.

Individual modelling groups use a range of data to estimate growth rates and ‘R’ values, including:

- epidemiological data such as testing data, hospital admissions, intensive care unit admissions and deaths;

- contact pattern surveys that gather information on behaviour; and

- household infection surveys where swabs are performed on individuals.

Different modelling groups use different data sources to estimate these values using mathematical models that simulate the spread of infections. Some may even use all these sources of information to adjust their models to better reflect the real-world situation. Estimates can vary between different models, so evidence from several models is considered, discussed, combined and the growth rate and ‘R’ is then presented as ranges.

Rounding and differences between the data streams used in these individual model outputs that are combined account for differences between estimates of ‘R’ and estimated growth rates. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies calculates ‘R’ at United Kingdom, devolved administration and at NHS England regional levels. It does not produce estimates for local authority areas.

Based on data from 15 March 2020 to week ending 1 November 2020 submitted to Public Health England’s Severe Acute Respiratory Infection-Watch, 30% of new admissions for acute respiratory infection (ARI) to any ward, including intensive care units, (ICU) and high dependency units (HDU), in hospitals in England had a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 test.

Over the same time period, 42% of new admissions to ICU/HDU for ARI had a laboratory confirmed COVID-19 test.

Further information on ICU/HDU admission rates by region and by trust in the weekly surveillance reports is available at the following link:

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

Decisions on tiers are made by Ministers based on public health recommendations from senior clinical and scientific advisors, guided by five key indicators - the case detection rate in all age groups, case detection rates among the over 60 year olds, the rate at which case rates are rising or falling, positivity rate and pressures on the National Health Service.  Final decisions on tiering are made by the COVID-19 Operations Committee.

As of 6 January, all areas have moved into tier 4 and the Government will review the tiering allocations every 14 days.

The UK has a long tradition of collaborative working with European partners on joint defence programmes and maintains regular dialogue with European Union member states, including Italy, to discuss existing and future cooperative programmes. All EU nations are subject to EU procurement directives, which helps maintain a culture of open, transparent and fair competition on public procurement projects. Open competitive markets and more efficient cross-border cooperation are key methods of sustaining our defence industrial capabilities against a backdrop of wider economic instability.

The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for defence industrial relations and, as such, has engaged in detail on these specific areas. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon.Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and I also regularly discuss defence industry matters with European partners, most recently at the May 2015 Foreign Affairs Council, as part of wider defence discussions held at the June 2015 European Council. Our aim is to encourage a globally competitive European defence industry that delivers the capabilities our armed forces need at best value for money, whilst responding to an increasingly diverse range of threats and supporting wider economic growth.

The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), the Chancellor of the Exchequer, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tatton (Mr Osborne), the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and I are focussed on successfully reforming and renegotiating our relationship with the EU. The June European Council saw the successful launch of a process of technical discussions on EU reform. Leaders have agreed to return to the issue at the December European Council.

The Government’s preferred approach to customs, the facilitated customs arrangement (FCA), would avoid any need for customs declarations on cross-border trade and would ensure there are no stops or checks at the land border. The FCA will therefore fully deliver on the Government’s commitments to avoid a hard land border.

The UK is also seeking to be at the cutting edge of global customs policy. As the Government outlined in the “future customs arrangements” paper in August 2017, it has been exploring possible ways in which to use future advancements in technology to streamline the trading process; including by simplifying existing procedures to reduce burdens on business, or speeding up some authorisation processes through increased automation. The UK will look to implement such innovations, bilaterally or unilaterally, to promote the greatest possible trade with the rest of the world.

The deadline for responses to the business rates review was 12 June 2015. We have been undertaking analysis and considering the wide variety of views put forward in stakeholder responses.

The Summer Budget confirmed that the review will be fiscally neutral and will conclude by the end of the year.

We plan to retain Puma in service until at least 2025. Work to investigate delivery of this capability beyond the mid-2020s is under way but it would be premature to provide a formal decision date.

The UK has a long tradition of collaborative working with European partners on joint defence programmes and maintains regular dialogue with European Union member states, including Italy, to discuss existing and future cooperative programmes. All EU nations are subject to EU procurement directives, which ensures a culture of open, transparent and fair competition is maintained on public procurement projects. Open competitive markets and more efficient cross-border cooperation are key methods of sustaining our defence industrial capabilities against a backdrop of wider economic instability.

We regularly review the financial and business robustness of our supply chain, covering both UK-based and foreign-owned suppliers. Any risks or concerns are addressed as part of normal commercial activity and through regular meetings with our suppliers.

The Chancellor has announced a review of business rates. The Government is currently considering responses to the review’s call for evidence and has committed to publish a response in Spring 2021. Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors have benefitted from rates reliefs worth approximately £10 billion in the current financial year.

Mediation for family law cases is already available under Part I of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).

The department recently conducted an extensive review of LASPO and has announced several changes as part of the Legal Support Action Plan. These included expanding the scope of legal aid in family law to cover representation for special guardianship orders and placement orders.

Data is not held on successful cases, but the Legal Aid Agency does hold data on cases that have started (and are funded by legal aid). These statistics are included below for both family law mediation and immigration cases for the last three years:

Mediation for family law cases is already available under Part I of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).

The department recently conducted an extensive review of LASPO and has announced several changes as part of the Legal Support Action Plan. These included expanding the scope of legal aid in family law to cover representation for special guardianship orders and placement orders.

Data is not held on successful cases, but the Legal Aid Agency does hold data on cases that have started (and are funded by legal aid). These statistics are included below for both family law mediation and immigration cases for the last three years: