Mark Garnier

Public inquiries are an important mechanism to learn lessons for the future. The Government will carefully consider all of the findings and recommendations of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 report.

Parliament, and in particular its Select Committees, has an important role in scrutinising government policy, including the implementation of inquiries' recommendations.

The qualifying criteria that determine company size for the purposes of accounting and audit have not changed in over a decade. It is right that these thresholds are reviewed periodically so they are set at appropriate levels.

Company size thresholds are being considered as part of the Government's broader non-financial reporting review, intended to ensure that more companies are able to benefit from simpler reporting and accounting frameworks, as well as take advantage of the small company exemption from statutory audit.

This Government backs our wonderful construction industry and is working to ensure we have a high-quality and professional construction industry, with consumer protection at the heart of this. TrustMark, sponsored by the Department and licenced by the Government, is the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme that covers work a consumer chooses to have carried out in or around their home. In addition the Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced competence requirements for both individuals and businesses working in the built environment.

Any action that the Government takes forward more widely on licensing to protect customers and standards needs to be robust, proportionate and evidence based.

The annual UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) is a crucial opportunity to tackle climate change internationally. As a top Government priority, officials across HMG are involved in making these summits as successful as they can be, from negotiations, logistics and Ministerial support to policy and stakeholder engagement. They typically do this as part of a broader role.

No gifts were received by Ministers for travel to COP conferences in the last 12 months.

This data is not published by the Department, in line with Section 8.2 Transparency in the Crown Commercial Services’ Procurement Cards Pan-Government Policy.

The Department intends to publish the October and November data on Departmental spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card before the end of the financial year.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

The National Policy Statement for electricity networks (NPS EN-5) sets out that overhead lines should be the strong starting presumption for electricity networks developments in general, except in nationally designated landscapes where undergrounding is the starting presumption.

Active Debris Removal (ADR) is a core part of in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing capabilities to support safe, secure and sustainable access to space. The Government recently awarded £4.7 million to Astroscale and ClearSpace to understand the risks and costs of an ADR mission to rendezvous with and deorbit two UK-licenced satellites. The UK Space Agency is developing the business case for Phase 3 of the ADR programme which, if successful, will be published for tender in mid-2025 to prepare for mission launch in 2028. Any future phase will be subject to funding decisions which will be taken through the Spending Review.

Guidance already specifies that all spaceflight operator licences issued under the Space Industry Act 2018 limit an operator’s liability. This Government will look at opportunities to amend Section 12(2) of the Act to make this clear in legislation under Section 36 of the Act.

Teachers’ Pensions employs a wide range of communication methods to contact members of the scheme, including via member portal, website, telephone contact centre, webchat, text messaging, post, email and social media platforms.

The department regularly reviews contractual performance via an established management process to ensure the best possible service is provided to members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Teachers who are members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme who suffer ill-health such that they are assessed as being unable to continue working up until their Normal Pension Age, equal to State Pension Age, can access their accrued pension benefits without the usual actuarial adjustment being applied in view of early payment. In the most serious cases, an enhanced pension is payable, which is 50% of their projected accrual to their Normal Pension Age.

The department does not employ teachers, and it is the employer’s responsibility to offer any appropriate additional support to its employees.

The information held on the number of complaints is provided in the table below.

596,000 members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme require Remediable Service Statements (RSSs), setting out member choices as part of the Transitional Protection remedy, for the age discrimination that was identified as part of the public service pension scheme reforms implemented under the previous government in 2015. Approximately 532,000 have been issued by the end of March 2025.

Departmental officials continue to work closely with the scheme administrator on plans to issue the remaining RSSs, as soon as is practical.

Where RSSs are taking longer to issue, affected members can be assured that any difference to pension in payment as a result of their remedy period choice is backdated to when the pension began, with interest applied.

The information held on the number of complaints is provided in the table below.

596,000 members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme require Remediable Service Statements (RSSs), setting out member choices as part of the Transitional Protection remedy, for the age discrimination that was identified as part of the public service pension scheme reforms implemented under the previous government in 2015. Approximately 532,000 have been issued by the end of March 2025.

Departmental officials continue to work closely with the scheme administrator on plans to issue the remaining RSSs, as soon as is practical.

Where RSSs are taking longer to issue, affected members can be assured that any difference to pension in payment as a result of their remedy period choice is backdated to when the pension began, with interest applied.

Recovering nature is a key priority for this Government and wetland habitats are an important component of that.

Under the Restoring Sustainable Abstraction Programme, the impact of Public Water Supply groundwater abstraction on river flows and wetlands has been investigated in a number of areas across Worcestershire. Through this programme the Environment Agency have worked with Severn Trent Water to look at their impact on water levels and flow and have taken steps to address this. Natural England are also working closely with the Environment Agency and Severn Trent on the Water Industry National Environment Programme to deliver improvements to protected sites across Worcestershire.

Identifying priorities for nature is a key objective of Local Nature Recovery Strategies. Defra looks forward to seeing the finished Worcestershire Local Nature Recovery Strategy which is being prepared by Worcestershire County Council as the responsible authority.

The Environment Agency works closely with Severn Trent Water on the current condition of aquifers and the action needed to achieve a sustainable level of abstraction.

Some aquifers in the Severn Trent Water supply area are over-abstracted and it is a challenge to get the right balance between protecting the environment while maintaining security of supply. To meet this challenge Severn Trent Water has one of the largest investment plans in the water industry to manage abstraction licences and groundwater quality.

A detailed assessment on the condition of the aquifers that Severn Trent abstracts may be found in the Severn river basin district river basin management plan: updated 2022 - GOV.UK.

The expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer published in May 2024 includes capital grants to plant cider apple trees as part of an Agro-forestry system, and ongoing payments for actions which could be used in or around cider orchards such as flower rich grass margins blocks or strips, Integrated Pest Management plans, or managing hedgerows. Looking ahead, we will optimise Environmental Land Management schemes including SFI in an orderly way, over time, ensuring they produce the right outcomes for all farmers, for food security and for nature’s recovery in a just and equitable way.

Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is defined as those facilities, systems, sites, information, people, networks and processes judged to be critical to the functioning and security of the UK. Loss or compromise of these could result in risk to life or have a significant impact on our national security, national defence, or the functioning of the state.

CNI designation within each sector, including transport, is assessed using a criticalities scale. While the rollout of public electric vehicle charging infrastructure continues at pace, it is currently not classed as CNI. The Government will continue to review this status, as the number of electric vehicle chargepoints increases.

Larger UK airports and many regional airports have Instrument Landing Systems in place and therefore a satellite-based augmentation system) such as European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), is primarily beneficial at smaller regional airports and General Aviation aerodromes during periods of poor weather resulting in restricted visibility. Flights that are taking place continue to do so safely, following alternative Civil Aviation Authority approved procedures.

Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) will, in the UK, be supported through a GNSS Point in Space ‘PinS’ approach to helicopter landing sites at trauma hospitals which will greatly assist in increasing the utility of air ambulance helicopters in poor visibility conditions.

Government is considering options for UK access to a satellite-based augmentation system, following our withdrawal from the EU's EGNOS system. This work is ongoing and no decision has yet been made.

The consultation was designed to gather up to date information primarily from local authorities to expand the evidence base. The questions for local authorities included asking about existing levels of motorcycle use in bus lanes on their networks and what factors had been taken into account in their decision making. However, the number of local authorities responding was too small to draw useful conclusions.

The Government is committed to the existing timetable in guidance for the connection of occupational pension schemes and personal and stakeholder providers to the pensions dashboards ecosystem, as well as the overall connection deadline of 31 October 2026.

We are aware of the risks associated with Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programmes as described in this question. They are a source of much needed development finance for several countries, but they can also pose challenges for both the host and third-party nations. As a result, the UK maintains ongoing dialogue with various stakeholders to address issues related to CBI and Ministers will seek to raise with their counterparts at events such as CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) and in dialogues in London.

On 18 March 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer launched the procurement process for the pilot Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuance.

Following the announcement, HMT and UK Debt Management Office published the first step in the process, which seeks views from industry to inform the development and delivery of the pilot DIGIT issuance. HMT issued a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice through the contract finder service. These publications provide further information on the scope of the pilot and seek views from potential suppliers and the financial services sector, to inform the development and delivery of DIGIT. This includes information on the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance.

The market engagement exercise is the first step in our process. A formal tendering process is expected to be launched in late Spring 2025, with DLT suppliers being appointed by late Summer 2025.

The government bought forward secondary legislation at the end of the last year that will enable changes to be made to existing regulations relevant to issuing Government debt within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). The current regulations may be unsuitable for a digital issuance and need to be temporarily modified to enable an issuance. Our market engagement is also intended to assist with understanding what elements of these laws need to be changed. Any necessary amendments will require HMT to lay a Statutory Instrument.

On 18 March 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer launched the procurement process for the pilot Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuance.

Following the announcement, HMT and UK Debt Management Office published the first step in the process, which seeks views from industry to inform the development and delivery of the pilot DIGIT issuance. HMT issued a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice through the contract finder service. These publications provide further information on the scope of the pilot and seek views from potential suppliers and the financial services sector, to inform the development and delivery of DIGIT. This includes information on the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance.

The market engagement exercise is the first step in our process. A formal tendering process is expected to be launched in late Spring 2025, with DLT suppliers being appointed by late Summer 2025.

The government bought forward secondary legislation at the end of the last year that will enable changes to be made to existing regulations relevant to issuing Government debt within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). The current regulations may be unsuitable for a digital issuance and need to be temporarily modified to enable an issuance. Our market engagement is also intended to assist with understanding what elements of these laws need to be changed. Any necessary amendments will require HMT to lay a Statutory Instrument.

The Treasury will examine whether the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), is delivering its role as a simple, impartial dispute resolution service which quickly and effectively deals with complaints against financial services firms, and which works in concert with our Financial Conduct Authority which regulates the sector.

The review will focus, in particular, on a range of points that have been raised through the recent Call for Evidence on the Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This will include addressing concerns around:

• The framework in which the FOS operates which has led to it acting, at times, as a quasi-regulator;
• Whether the FOS is applying today’s standards to actions that have taken place in the past; and
• The practices that have grown up over time on compensation.

The review builds on the announcements the Chancellor made at Mansion House, as well as modernising the FCA’s rules for dispute resolution. As part of the review, the government will consider whether any legislative changes are necessary to ensure that we have a dispute resolution system in the UK which is fit for a modern economy.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government will consult on the detail of this proposal in the summer and legislate as soon as possible.

The Payment Systems Regulator is funded by fees levied on industry.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government will consult on the detail of this proposal in the summer and legislate as soon as possible.

The Payment Systems Regulator is funded by fees levied on industry.