Marie Goldman

We have no current plans to introduce country-of-origin marking requirements on non-food products and it is a commercial matter for business to decide where they source their products and to assess to what extent the origin might affect the potential market for those products.

More broadly, the government encourages traders to include helpful information on goods on a voluntary basis, particularly where this may be in the best interests of the consumer or represents a unique selling point for a business, as long as the additional information is true and not misleading in any way.

It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards, and to decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action. In December 2024, following its investigation of Royal Mail’s performance in the 2023-24 financial year, Ofcom fined the company £10.5m because of its failure to significantly improve service levels.

Ofcom is currently considering the future of the universal postal service and published a consultation in January proposing a package of reforms to better reflect people’s usage of postal services and support financial sustainability.

The Government has no current plans to change the approach to Daylight Savings.

We know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. We are committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and have worked constructively with the regulator, Ofgem, on this issue.

On 20 February, Ofgem launched a consultation ‘Introducing a zero standing charge energy price cap variant’ - https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consultation/introducing-zero-standing-charge-energy-price-cap-variant.

The consultation seeks views on the introduction of an option - within the price cap – for a tariff that does not have a standing charge, providing households with more choice over how they pay for their energy.

It also explores different ways a zero standing charge tariff could work, with options on a single unit rate, as well as block tariff options where the unit rates go up or down once a certain amount of energy is consumed.

The consultation closed on 20 March and we stand ready to continue work with Ofgem on this matter.

Copying protected material in the UK will infringe copyright unless it is licensed, or an exception to copyright applies.

The Government published a consultation on Copyright and AI in December 2024 seeking views on proposals for a new regulatory model for text and data mining.

An initial assessment of the options under consideration and their impacts can be found in the summary assessment published alongside the consultation. The Government intends to update its assessment in light of evidence received through the consultation process.

The consultation closed on 25 February and the Government will respond in due course.

Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to begin, or progress in, a successful career in hairdressing. Employers in the sector have developed a level 2 Hairdressing Professional apprenticeship and a level 2 Barbering Professional apprenticeship to help them develop their workforces.

The department continues to promote the benefits that apprenticeships offer, to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme, as part of the Skills for Life campaign.

Employers who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, that are usually small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are important to the economy and to apprenticeships. SMEs are more likely to employ younger apprentices and apprentices from disadvantaged areas.

To support non-levy paying employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care. Employers of all sizes, including SMEs, can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care.

Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week, or £50,270 a year.

The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.

The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.

The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.

The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.

The government is committed to ensuring that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.

The department regularly consults with various experts, stakeholders and stakeholder groups, including the Royal College of Occupational Therapists. We will continue to work with the sector as essential and valued partners to deliver our shared mission.

The department is working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services, including occupational therapy, for children and young people with SEND. NHS England continues to monitor community services waiting lists to assess the number of people on them and the length of time they wait for services, and continues to look at actions to reduce waiting times for these services.

The Department of Health and Social Care have launched a 10 Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of this will be workforce and how they ensure they train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.

The government has agreed that the department will be compensated for the increase in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) paid by state-funding schools. Work is underway to determine how much the department will receive for those employers within its remit.

Compensation for special education providers funded from local authorities’ high needs budgets will be additional to the £1 billion increase to high needs funding announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Due to timing constraints, NICs funding will need to be provided as a separate grant, alongside the dedicated schools grant, in 2025/26.

The government does not set or recommend pay in further education (FE), including in sixth form colleges and other FE institutions. The pay and conditions of FE staff remains the responsibility of individual colleges and providers who are free to implement pay arrangements in line with their local needs.

The department recognises the vital role that teachers in sixth form colleges, as well as other FE colleges, play in developing the skills needed to drive our missions to improve opportunity and economic growth. The department is investing around an additional £600 million to support FE across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. This includes extending retention payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas, including in sixth form colleges. The department also continues to support recruitment and retention with teacher training bursaries worth up to £30,000 tax-free in certain key subject areas, and with support for industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through the Taking Teaching Further programme.

My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a budget on 30 October to be followed by a multi-year spending review in the spring of next year. Decisions about future post-16 funding and capital programmes will be subject to the outcomes of these fiscal events.

Defra and PackUK have engaged extensively with waste management experts and the packaging industry across all materials, to ensure that the modelling of local authority costs underpinning the pEPR scheme fairly reflects the on-the-ground reality of waste management operations. As a result, even though packaging weight is generally a key driver of waste management costs in the model, estimated packaging volume, rather than packaging weight, is used to calculate kerbside dry recycling collections costs, to best reflect practical limitations with waste collection systems. This is especially important for heavier materials, which would otherwise incur higher base fees under a modelling of costs solely based on weight. The introduction of base fees from 2025 is designed to incentivise a reduction in the weight of packaging placed on the market in the UK.

Defra and PackUK also engaged extensively across the waste and packaging sectors to agree modulation rates that will be introduce from 2026 to incentivise the use of most recyclable materials by reducing their fees when compared to unrecyclable alternatives.

PackUK will continue monitor the impact of these financial incentives, to ensure they deliver the intended outcomes.

The Government is working together with the devolved Governments to understand the issue, with a view to legislate to ban wet wipes containing plastic across the UK.

I recognise the importance of aligning rural transport with housing and wider spatial planning ambitions. I am working closely with my counterparts in the Ministry for Housing, Communities on Local Government on this important issue. As part of our commitment to deliver 1.5 million homes, and under the revised National Planning Policy Framework, local planning authorities must take a vision-led approach and consider transport issues, particularly public and active transport, at the earliest stages of plan-making.

The review of the role of statutory consultee system is a further opportunity to focus on swifter provision of expert advice to inform development, including in rural areas.

The government has committed to reforming bus funding and moving away from competitive allocations processes. Every Local Transport Authority in England outside of London, will receive an allocation from the Local Authority Bus Grant without having to apply to the Department. Local leaders will decide how to use this funding to improve bus services and ensure services meet the needs of local communities. The allocation system used in 2025/26 marks the first step towards a reformed allocation process.

The aviation sector, including Gliding, offers many unique opportunities and experiences for young people, supporting their development and helping to provide pathways to exciting new careers.

We continue to work with industry, associations and other partners to encourage young people to explore what the sector has to offer.

Whilst it is a commercial decision for Eurostar to make on the reinstatement of these services, I recognise the continued disappointment felt by local communities and businesses and I too am keen to see the reinstatement of these services. Officials regularly engage with Kent stakeholders, including MPs, councillors and representatives to discuss this and are committed to continue explore potential solutions.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) believes that most people want to be safe, law-abiding drivers and any post-test intervention needs to be focused where it will achieve most benefit and, where appropriate, should be targeted against irresponsible drivers.

The courts already have the powers to require drivers to retake the driving test in certain circumstances, and the police can also offer remedial education courses to those who would otherwise be prosecuted for some driving offences.

There are no plans to introduce mandatory vehicle driving re-tests.

If drivers do not drive for a period of time, DVSA recommends they receive a form of refresher training.

The first payment of Universal Credit is usually made around five weeks after the claim is made.

The first calendar month is the initial assessment period, during which information is verified to ensure accurate payments. At the end of that period, entitlement for that month is calculated and paid seven days later. Payments thereafter are made monthly in arrears. Assessment Periods, once made, are set and cannot be changed.

Universal Credit is designed to top-up earnings from employment, adapting to changes in the amount of earnings received each month. Assessing UC monthly ensures that we receive at least one update of earnings information for each working member of a household, meaning that the benefit calculated accurately reflects the needs of the household.

There are currently no plans to change Universal Credit assessment periods.

The PPF and FAS rules on indexation have been the subject of much discussion. I am aware of the concerns surrounding the matter and understand the problems experienced by Defined Benefit pension scheme members adjusting to an income in retirement which may be less than they were expecting. I will continue to consider this issue over the coming months.

The Government is considering the Select Committee’s valuable report and will respond fully to the report and recommendations later this year.

Officials from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for Equality and Opportunity met with Endometriosis UK to discuss the development of Equality Action Plans on 13th November 2024.

On 18^th October 2024 the Government appointed Mariella Frostrup as the new Menopause Employment Ambassador. The Menopause Employment Ambassador will work closely with employers across the country to improve workplace support for women experiencing menopause and wider women’s health issues including menstrual health conditions.

This appointment comes as the government has proposed a wide-ranging set of generational reforms to boost protections for workers. The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivering the Government’s plan to Make Work Pay, supporting workers through strengthening statutory sick pay, making flexible working the default, and requiring large employers to produce equality action plans.

The Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more early interventions, and getting waiting lists down so children can have the best possible start in life. We are delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 staff across children and adult mental health services by the end of the Parliament, with 6,700 of these extra workers having been recruited since July 2024.

We also want to intervene much earlier to support better outcomes for children and young people. That is why the 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will work with schools and colleges to better identify and meet children's mental health needs by expanding mental health support teams in schools to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30, and by embedding mental health support in the new Young Futures hubs, to ensure there is no 'wrong front door' for people seeking help.

Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to 24 existing early support hubs to expand their services and to take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services in 2025/26. This funding will enable the supported hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.

Our aim is to ensure that children and young people are only detained under the Mental Health Act for involuntary mental health interventions when it is absolutely necessary.

The Mental Health Bill, currently being considered by the House of Commons, will strengthen the rights of children and young people detained under the act so they are involved in decisions about their care and so they can challenge these decisions. This includes statutory care and treatment plans, the right to choose a ‘Nominated Person’ to look after their interests, and expanded access to independent mental health advocates.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we are focussing treatment away from hospital and inpatient care and improving community and crisis services, so that fewer children and young people need to be detained in hospital.

We will also take action to ensure that young people in mental health inpatient settings are supported through a safe and effective transition to adult mental health services, to ensure they are treated with more dignity, given a greater say in their care, and that their health, education, and social needs are appropriately met.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs introduced a ban on single use vapes on 1 June, which ensures that all products must be designed and intended to be reused. To be refillable, a product should have a replaceable pod or a tank that a user can add liquid to.

To compliment this and tackle youth vaping, the Department for Health and Social Care is also taking powers through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to enable regulation of many features of the design of a vape. This may include regulations on the size of a tank or refill container, the amount of liquid that can be included, as well as powers to standardise the size and shape of vapes, and to further restrict liquid availability.

The Government will consider this issue further as part of its secondary legislation programme following Royal Assent of the bill.

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework funding settlement for 2024/25 and 2025/26 provides the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service representing a 19.7% increase, with the total of £3.073 billion committed to community pharmacies.

The individual financial positions of pharmacy contractors are not visible to the Government. It is therefore not possible for the impact on pharmacy closures to be quantified. However, we expect that this significant increase in funding will support contractors and begin to stabilise a sector that has been neglected for too long. This settlement was agreed with Community Pharmacy England as the representatives for the community pharmacy sector.

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The Government is clear that it wants to make full use of the skill sets of both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to help patients, which is why the Government has laid legislation that enables all pharmacies to use hub and spoke dispensing and will shortly lay legislation to enable the better use of people with mixed skills. This builds on the legislation to allow pharmacies to dispense in original packs and for pharmacy technicians to supply medicines. All of these measures support pharmacists to provide more care in the communities they serve and supports the Government’s ambition to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting close to home.

We have also improved and continue to work on the digital transfer of information between settings, allowing pharmacies to have access to patient records and to record the outcomes of the care they provide, supporting another of our ambitions to move from analogue to digital. The 10 year plan will build on these foundations and set out how we will build a health service fit for the future.

At the recent Budget, the Chancellor announced that she would uprate alcohol duty in line with RPI inflation on 1 February 2025, except on qualifying draught products. This decision weighed the impacts on businesses, cost-of-living pressures on people who drink moderately and responsibly, and the public health case for higher duties to tackle increasing alcohol-related deaths, as well as economic inactivity.

A Tax Information and Impact Note was published alongside this Budget announcement. This is available here: Alcohol Duty uprating - GOV.UK

The Budget also confirmed that the current temporary wine easement will end as planned from 1 February 2025. By this time, the wine industry will have had over two years to adapt to the strength-based alcohol duty system. The summary of impacts from the alcohol duty reforms announced at Spring Budget 2023, including the wine easement, can be found here: Alcohol Duty Reforms - GOV.UK

I refer the hon. Member for Chelmsford to the answer I gave on 16 October 2024 to Question UIN 7747.

In 2025-26, overall funding for policing will total up to £19.6 billion in 2025-26, an increase of up to £1.2 billion when compared to the 2024-25 police settlement. Essex Police will receive up to £434.1 million in funding in 2025-26, an increase of up to £27.9 million when compared to the 2024-25 police settlement, equating to a 6.9% cash increase.

The 2025-26 police settlement ensures that every local policing body in England and Wales will receive the same percentage increase in their Core Grant, offering funding certainty for forces in setting a balanced budget.

Funding for policing in future years beyond 2025-26 will be set out in phase 2 of the Spending Review.

This Government is determined to drive down vehicle crime and we are working with the automotive industry and police – taking a national approach - to ensure our response is as strong as it can be, including working closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for vehicle crime.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we have introduced measures to ban electronic devices used to steal vehicles, empowering the police and courts to target the criminals using, manufacturing and supplying them. This will support the changes manufacturers continue to make to prevent thefts.

We also provided £250,000 funding in financial year 24/25 to help support enforcement work at the ports to prevent stolen vehicles and vehicle parts being shipped abroad.

Via the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the police-led National Vehicle Crime Working Group, we are focusing on prevention and deterrence of theft of and from vehicles. This includes training police officers on the methods used to steal vehicles, encouraging vehicle owners to secure their vehicles, and working with industry to address vulnerabilities in vehicles.

In recent weeks, the Security Minister and I have each met vehicle manufacturers to discuss these issues. Officials also regularly engage and work with industry to discuss workable solutions to help prevent vehicle theft.

The health and safety of firefighters is of paramount importance.

We will continue to engage with the Department of Health and Social Care, the Health and Safety Executive and the National Fire Chiefs Council on the development of policy in this area, including examining the potential benefits of health screening programmes for current and retired firefighters.

Fire and rescue authorities, as the employers, are responsible for the health and wellbeing of firefighters, and so it is for those authorities to take the appropriate action to protect their workforces.

This government is determined to put right the appalling injustices caused by the Home Office’s treatment of members of the Windrush community, making sure that those affected receive the compensation they rightly deserve, and ensuring cultural change is embedded permanently into the fabric of the Home Office.

We have established a new Windrush Unit in the Home Office with a remit dedicated to driving systemic and cultural change across the whole organisation. The new Windrush Unit will be undertaking a review of the Home Office’s response to the Windrush Lessons Learned Review to assess how far the department has come and what more needs to be done.

We will be appointing a Windrush Commissioner to act as an independent advocate for all those affected. This independent advocate will ensure the voices of Windrush victims and communities are heard throughout government and will help ensure lasting change is delivered and lessons of the past are truly learned.

We believe that these measures will be the quickest and most effective way to learn lessons and ensure victims get the support they deserve.

The Government regularly assesses potential threats to the UK, and takes the protection of individuals' rights, freedoms, and safety in the UK very seriously.

As you would expect, Home Office officials work closely with the FCDO and MHCLG as well as other Government departments to ensure that the UK is a safe and welcoming place.

The Home Secretary regularly discusses issues regarding national security with her counterparts, including the Foreign Secretary.

On 3 February, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published the 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement which sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue.

These allocations, which include the National Insurance Contribution Grant, will see standalone fire and rescue authorities including Essex receiving an increase in core spending power of £69.1 million in 2025/26. This is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.

In 2025/26, Essex Fire Authority will have core spending power of £95.7 million; an increase of 4 per cent on 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each fire and rescue authority.

This Spending Review provides £3.4 billion of new grant funding which will be delivered through the Local Government Finance Settlement within financial years 2026-27 to 2028-29.

Decisions on how this funding is allocated are a matter for the upcoming multi-year Settlement and further detail will be published at the provisional Settlement later this year. The provisional Settlement will be subject to consultation, as in previous years.

The Government has recently published The Fair Funding Review 2.0 consultation document setting out detailed proposals to update and reform the local government funding system through the 2026–27 Local Government Finance Settlement. As part of this, the Government is proposing to update the Fire and Rescue Relative Needs Formula using the most up-to-date data in the fire and rescue relative needs formula.

As of 1 April 2025, Ministerial responsibility for Fire transferred from the Home Office to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Home Office retains Ministerial responsibility for policing.

Council tax levels are a local decision. Local authorities and their local elected representatives will consider the appropriate level, taking into account the views of the local community.

Council tax referendum thresholds are determined annually and are subject to the approval of the House of Commons alongside the Local Government Finance Settlement.

For 2025/26, the referendum limit for standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities in England was set at £5 on a band D bill.

For 2025/26, the referendum limit for police precept was set at £14 for English Police and Crime Commissioners. Council tax policy is devolved in Wales, and therefore, Welsh Police and Crime Commissioners are not bound by referendum limits.

The government remains firmly committed to its manifesto commitment to tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and we will deliver this in legislation.

The 2025/26 Local Government Finance Settlement, published on 3 February by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government, sets out funding allocations for all local authorities, including Fire and Rescue Authorities. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25. Decisions on how their resources are best deployed to meet their core functions are a matter for each Fire and Rescue Authority.

Local authorities in England, including Combined Fire Authorities, can apply for financial support through the Bellwin Scheme for their immediate eligible response costs in respect of emergencies and disasters in their area including for severe weather events.

Link to the Bellwin guidance:

Bellwin scheme of emergency financial assistance to local authorities: guidance notes for claims - GOV.UK