Mark Hendrick

Automatic enrolment has hugely increased women’s pension participation, participation across all ethnic groups, and among lower earners. Among eligible women in the private sector, participation has increased from 40% in 2012 to 86% in 2019, equal to men.

Automatic enrolment requires an employer to enrol eligible workers into a qualifying pension scheme when they start work or at the point they become eligible to be automatically enrolled due to a change in their circumstances, for example, by moving from part-time to full-time work. This ensures that workplace pension contributions would resume, in respect of women who increase their hours or re-join the labour market, if they meet the relevant earnings and other eligibility rules.

The level of earnings at which workers are automatically enrolled into workplace pensions (the earnings trigger) is subject to an annual statutory review. An analysis of the equalities impact always forms part of the review, as does an assessment of reducing the trigger to the NI threshold. This review has concluded that the earnings trigger be frozen at £10,000 for every year since 2014-15; this has proportionately benefited women. Analysis for the 2020/21 thresholds showed that 75% of those made eligible by freezing the trigger were women, compared to 37% of the eligible group under the baseline proposals.

No such assessment has been made and no-one has to wait 5 weeks for a payment.

New Claims Advances are available which allow claimants to receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront so that new claimants will receive their annual award over 13 payments during their first year, instead of 12. They are paid quickly and these can be applied for online or over the phone. The upfront payment phasing can be spread over a two-year cycle from October 2021, as was announced in the Budget 2020.

People who are required to self-isolate on their return from travelling abroad may be eligible for Universal Credit. This can be applied for online and includes extra money for housing and children.

If a British resident has paid and/or been credited with sufficient National Insurance contributions in the last 2 to 3 tax years, they may also be eligible for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). This can also be applied for on-line. It can be claimed on its own or as well as Universal Credit.

An application can also be made to New Style Employment and Support Allowance if the claimant has a disability or health condition that affects how much they can work.

We have made changes to ESA in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. These includes removing waiting days for ESA for claimants affected by Covid-19, so it will be payable from day one of the claim, subject to the claimant satisfying the normal conditions of entitlement. In addition we are treating all ESA claimants who satisfy the conditions of entitlement and are required to self-isolate in line with government guidance, including those required to quarantine on returning from abroad, as having limited capability for work, without the requirement to provide a fit note or to undergo a Work Capability Assessment.

It is wrong to say that workers on zero-hour contracts, who are not working as a result of the covid-19 outbreak, are unable to qualify for Universal Credit because they are considered to have employment.

Universal Credit is payable in and out of work including for those working zero-hour contracts, part-time or temporary jobs.

The amount of Universal Credit paid to claimants reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household during each monthly assessment period. Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid and also allows Universal Credit to be adjusted each month. This means that if a claimant’s income falls, they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit.

The Chancellor has also confirmed that, depending on their status, workers on zero hour contracts may be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and we would urge people to explore this avenue too.

DWP is committed to providing the best possible support for all our claimants, including the most vulnerable in society. This includes those who are, or have been, victims of domestic abuse and economic abuse.

DWP has a number of employment schemes that claimants, including victims of abuse, can access to improve their employability and skills. The Work and Health Programme gives ‘priority’ early access to victims of abuse. This programme supports people to enter and stay in work, and involves referrals to public, private and voluntary providers.

Alongside the landmark Domestic Abuse Bill, the Government is providing £35 million to combat domestic abuse. This is on top of the £2 million we have already made available since the Covid-19 crisis, to support domestic abuse charities and raise awareness of the support available. We are also providing £3 million that will go to specialist services for children who have both been directly and indirectly affected by domestic abuse.

Government Departments are working together to look at the overall support we provide for victims and to ensure that it is holistic and effectively fulfils their needs, so that victims can rebuild their lives.

The available statistics for Universal Credit claims by postcode area, and starts by postcode area and Jobcentre Plus office are published quarterly at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

The available statistics for outcomes of Work Capability Assessments (WCA) for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) by various geographies are published quarterly at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

The available statistics for registrations and clearances for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) by various geographies are published quarterly at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk

Guidance for users is available at:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

The information for all other benefits is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Most full-time students in education do not qualify for Universal Credit. Students are able to access funding to support their education courses through various loans and grants, which are the responsibility of the Department for Education. It is important that Universal Credit does not duplicate this support, which is designed for their needs unlike the social security system. Exceptions are made only where students have additional needs that are not met through the student support system.

The full year’s award of student’s maintenance loan/grant is averaged out over the academic year. This average usually covers 10 monthly Assessment Periods as no student income is taken into account during the summer break. The amount taken into account is subject to a £110 disregard in each of these Assessment Periods, which is equivalent to that provided under Legacy Benefits, which includes an amount to cover the cost of books, travel and equipment.

I estimate that providing the information you request would incur disproportionate costs.

However, let me assure you that the Department takes this issue very seriously. We have set up a dedicated team to investigate this type of fraud and are proactively addressing it by using messaging on social media to remind people of the importance of safeguarding their identity, as well as shutting down social media sites that promote this fraud.

We have also made changes to the Universal Credit advance application process. Universal Credit claimants who wish to apply for a new claim advance are now required to attend a face to face interview. This change will help protect claimants from identity fraud and becoming victims of third party scams.

If a claimant has been the victim of a scam, and has not benefited from an advance in any way, they will not be asked to repay it. In these cases, we will seek recovery from the perpetrator of the scam. The Department considers all cases on their own merits and decisions are made on the strength of the evidence provided.

The Department has made no specific estimate. However, a review is being conducted to understand the nature of issues, inaccuracies and risk in existing devices, determine whether actions are necessary and analyse evidence on potential issues in oximeters. This will include an independent review to start next year.

The information is not available in the format requested. The National Institute for Health Research does not routinely collect data on the sex, age and ethnicity of participants in clinical research studies. However, data on ethnicity was collected at a national level for a subset of COVID-19 vaccine studies between July 2020 and May 2021. During this time, 2,416 people from ethnic minority groups took part in studies for the development of COVID-19 vaccines. There were also three paediatric and adolescent studies into COVID-19 vaccines which recruited 425 participants.

Work is underway to gather more data on the characteristics of research participants, including their ethnicity, as part of the National Institute for Health Research’s strategy ‘Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter’.

The Department regularly engages a range of stakeholder organisations, individuals and people with lived experiences, to understand the needs of specific groups. The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on the Department to consider equality and disadvantaged groups when designing policies and delivering services. This includes age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and motherhood, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Since March 2020, we have provided over £10.2 million to mental health charities, including those offering bereavement support. We continue to assess how to ensure grieving families and friends who have lost loved ones can receive the support they need.

We have not made a specific assessment as the data on rates of diagnoses in this period is not yet available.

No specific assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working in partnership with St John Ambulance to increase the awareness of the importance of CPR. St John Ambulance’s Community Advocates currently offer free face to face and virtual training for the general public.

The National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database (NCCID) was created by the NHSX Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to support a better understanding of the COVID-19 virus and enable the best care for patients hospitalised with a severe infection. The NCCID has enabled National Health Service trusts such as Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge to develop AI technologies, facilitate research studies and early detection and diagnosis of the disease.

Public Health England is monitoring intelligence on drug use from stakeholder and service user networks since the start of the pandemic. However, there is no official data on trends in opioid use over this period.

The ban on smoking in enclosed public places is based on strong evidence of harm from exposure to second-hand smoke, and the health benefits of preventing that exposure. No evidence of comparable harm from exposure or benefit from protection exists in relation to exposure to electronic cigarette aerosol in public or indoor spaces.

The Department published guidelines on clinical management on drug misuse and dependence in 2017. The guidelines provide recommendations and best practice for social care and health professionals to treat pregnant women misusing illicit drugs, including opioids. The guidelines are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673978/clinical_guidelines_2017.pdf

To improve diagnosis and care of those affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, we have asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard in England, which is expected to be published later this year.

The Department published guidelines on clinical management on drug misuse and dependence in 2017. The guidelines provide recommendations and best practice for social care and health professionals to treat pregnant women misusing illicit drugs, including opioids. The guidelines are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673978/clinical_guidelines_2017.pdf

To improve diagnosis and care of those affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, we have asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to produce a Quality Standard in England, which is expected to be published later this year.

No specific assessment has been made.

In 2021/2022 we are investing £7 million to help local systems improve their diagnostic pathways and address any backlogs. In addition, we are providing £3.5 million to support children while they await diagnostic assessments.

The NHS COVID-19 App uses the minimum possible personal data and all data that could directly identify a person is not stored centrally. Expertise from across the Government and industry, including the National Cyber Security Centre, has been utilised to review the design and the App. Details of the data protection measures are set out in the Privacy Notice and Data Protection Impact Assessment which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-covid-19-app-privacy-information/nhs-covid-19-app-privacy-notice

There is an ongoing programme of monitoring and assessment to ensure that the App continues to comply with data protection law.

The NHS COVID-19 App uses the minimum possible personal data and all data that could directly identify a person is not stored centrally. Expertise from across the Government and industry, including the National Cyber Security Centre, has been utilised to review the design and the App. Details of the data protection measures are set out in the Privacy Notice and Data Protection Impact Assessment which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-covid-19-app-privacy-information/nhs-covid-19-app-privacy-notice

There is an ongoing programme of monitoring and assessment to ensure that the App continues to comply with data protection law.

The Department is currently carrying out a consultation to review the effectiveness of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, which regulates tobacco and e-cigarettes in the United Kingdom. We are analysing the feedback to the consultation and will publish a response in due course.

We are continuing to launch our suicide reduction programme across England, funded by £57 million by 2023/24, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. This will see investment in every area of the country to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services.

In March 2021 we published our mental health and wellbeing recovery action plan alongside the latest progress report against the National Suicide Prevention Strategy. Many of the actions in the plan will support people at risk of self-harm or suicide. An additional £500 million has been allocated to the plan in 2021/22, £5 million of which will be made available to support voluntary sector organisations who work to prevent suicide. A further £1 million will be used to bolster NHS England and NHS Improvement’s suicide prevention programme.

We have committed to delivering 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament. The latest NHS Digital statistics show the number of nurses has increased by 10,800 between March 2020 to March 2021, excluding health visitors and midwives. This commitment will be achieved through increased domestic and international recruitment and improved retention.

Health Education England is working with universities, the Medical Schools Council, Council of Deans of Health and the Royal Colleges to examine how COVID-19 may have impacted undergraduate cohorts and individuals in postgraduate medicine, including the impact on long-term recruitment.

We have committed to delivering 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament. The latest NHS Digital statistics show the number of nurses has increased by 10,800 between March 2020 to March 2021, excluding health visitors and midwives. This commitment will be achieved through increased domestic and international recruitment and improved retention.

Health Education England is working with universities, the Medical Schools Council, Council of Deans of Health and the Royal Colleges to examine how COVID-19 may have impacted undergraduate cohorts and individuals in postgraduate medicine, including the impact on long-term recruitment.

The collection of customer, visitor and staff information became a legal requirement for designated venues on 18 September 2020. The Government’s guidance to support these organisations to maintain records of staff, customers and visitors is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/maintaining-records-of-staff-customers-and-visitors-to-support-nhs-test-and-trace

In addition, the Information Commissioner’s Office has produced guidance on collecting, storing, sharing and deleting the personal data venues have been asked to obtain. This is available at the following link:

https://ico.org.uk/global/data-protection-and-coronavirus-information-hub/coronavirus-recovery-data-protection-advice-for-organisations/maintaining-records-of-staff-customers-and-visitors-for-contact-tracing-purposes/#cs3

We also regularly engage with the sectors in scope of the regulations to explain the actions required, including how to ensure effective data protection.

We continue to work with NHS England and NHS Improvement to assess the impacts of missed appointments and the use of remote consultations. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned an independent evaluation to understand the impact for staff, patients and the wider health and care system of using digital tools in primary care to inform its long-term strategy.

Appointment numbers have risen to over 31.5 million in April 2021, with over half, or 54.8% of all appointments face to face and 40.7% telephone appointments.

The Department is clear that learning disability should never be a reason for a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decision and that blanket DNACPR decisions for whole groups of people are completely inappropriate.

The Department does not hold data centrally on the numbers or basis for DNACPR decisions. In October 2020, the Department asked the Care Quality Commission to review how DNACPR decisions were made during the COVID-19 pandemic, including for people with a learning disability. The report, published on the 18 March, looked at how DNACPR decisions were made in the earlier stages of the pandemic. The 2020/21 General Medical Services contract Quality and Outcomes Framework now includes a requirement for all DNACPR decisions for people with a learning disability to be reviewed. The fifth annual report of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme published on 10 June 2021, reported that in 2020, of the people with a learning disability who were reported as dying from COVID-19, 81% had a DNACPR decision.

The Department is clear that learning disability should never be a reason for a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decision and that blanket DNACPR decisions for whole groups of people are completely inappropriate.

The Department does not hold data centrally on the numbers or basis for DNACPR decisions. In October 2020, the Department asked the Care Quality Commission to review how DNACPR decisions were made during the COVID-19 pandemic, including for people with a learning disability. The report, published on the 18 March, looked at how DNACPR decisions were made in the earlier stages of the pandemic. The 2020/21 General Medical Services contract Quality and Outcomes Framework now includes a requirement for all DNACPR decisions for people with a learning disability to be reviewed. The fifth annual report of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme published on 10 June 2021, reported that in 2020, of the people with a learning disability who were reported as dying from COVID-19, 81% had a DNACPR decision.

The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch MP) has been leading work on the response to tackle COVID-19 disparities experienced by individuals from an ethnic minority background. The ‘Third quarterly report on progress to address COVID-19 health inequalities’ was published in May 2021 and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/third-quarterly-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities/third-quarterly-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities

The focus over the last quarter has been on those ethnic minority groups worst affected by the second wave of the pandemic.

Widespread vaccination could potentially combat inequalities in the impact of COVID-19 between ethnic groups. The Community Champions scheme announced in the first quarterly report has continued to engage with a wide variety of communities to help dispel myths around vaccines. Funding was also provided to Strengthening Faith Institutions and Near Neighbours in order to utilise their networks with at-risk communities. Both organisations are partnering with a host of community organisations as well as Community Champions across England to increase vaccine uptake. Broader health inequalities work will be led by the Office for Health Promotion under the direction of the Chief Medical Officer.

The Department is clear that learning disability should never be a reason for a Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decision and that blanket DNACPR decisions for whole groups of people are completely inappropriate.

The Department does not hold data centrally on the numbers or basis for DNACPR decisions. In October 2020, the Department asked the Care Quality Commission to review how DNACPR decisions were made during the COVID-19 pandemic, including for people with a learning disability. The report, published on the 18 March, looked at how DNACPR decisions were made in the earlier stages of the pandemic. The 2020/21 General Medical Services contract Quality and Outcomes Framework now includes a requirement for all DNACPR decisions for people with a learning disability to be reviewed. The fifth annual report of the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review programme published on 10 June 2021, reported that in 2020, of the people with a learning disability who were reported as dying from COVID-19, 81% had a DNACPR decision.

The National Health Service has established a network of mental health hubs to support staff. These will provide a proactive outreach and assessment service and ensure staff receive rapid access to evidence based mental health services where needed. There will be 40 hubs in England, with 31 already operational and a further nine available soon. We invested £15 million in the hubs last autumn and a further £37 million has been made available for 2021/22 to enable the continuation of this offer. This funding will also support nurse advocacy training to critical care nurses to enable the implementation of restorative clinical supervision in all critical care settings. It will be invested in a national support service for staff with more complex needs, such as trauma or addictions, delivered by NHS Practitioner Health.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

From the onset of the pandemic, staff in the National Health Service have been able to access for free a range of mental health and wellbeing apps, which have included mindfulness and meditation.

The following table shows the percentage uptake of Healthy Start vouchers by those who were eligible for each four-week cycle period over the last 12 months for which data is available.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

We are on target to deliver 50,000 more nurses by the end of this Parliament.

The commitment is underpinned by a robust delivery programme which will be achieved through increased domestic recruitment, increased international recruitment and improved retention.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.

Health visitors are ideally placed to identify and provide early intervention support to children aged 0 to five years old who experience long-term health problems through social isolation. School nurses, in partnership with other health and education professionals, can help identify and support children aged five to 19 years old with long-term conditions or complex needs arising from social isolation. As a first point of contact, general practitioners (GPs) have a crucial role to play in identifying long-term conditions when children attend GP appointments.

The Government’s £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme has supported education staff to respond to the emotional and mental health pressures some children and young people may be feeling as a result of COVID-19.

In the longer term, mental health support teams are being deployed in schools and colleges to support the mental health needs of children and young people in primary, secondary and further education and provide early intervention on some mental health and emotional wellbeing issues, such as mild to moderate anxiety.

Public Health England has no plans to do so.

The NHS Business Services Authority are leading work to digitise the Healthy Start scheme.

There will be several benefits achieved with the move to a fully digitised system which include greater flexibility to individual families by removing the requirement for the full value to be spent in a single transaction, which is currently the case with paper vouchers and a reduction in the stigma associated with paper vouchers.

This information is not currently collated and held centrally and to obtain it would involve disproportionate cost.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The digitisation of the Healthy Start Scheme is part of the Government’s wider agenda for digital by default.

NHS England published ‘Supporting pregnant women using maternity services during the coronavirus pandemic: Actions for NHS providers’ in which neonatal critical care providers are asked to adopt three action points on undertaking risk assessments, changing the configuration of space and using available testing capacity to maximize opportunities for parents to be with their babies and to identify how to facilitate parental presence at all times of day. This guidance states that parents of babies in neonatal critical care need to be involved in their baby’s care as much as possible. Parents are partners in care and should not be considered to be visitors. Guidance for visiting children in hospital is set out by NHS England in ‘Visiting healthcare inpatient settings during the COVID-19 pandemic: principles’.

‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection and Pregnancy’ produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives sets out that postnatal care should be individualised according to the woman and newborn’s needs and should follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance for postnatal care as far as possible.

Women and their healthy babies should remain together in the immediate postpartum period, if they do not otherwise require maternal critical care or neonatal care. Women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should remain with their baby and be supported to practice skin-to-skin/kangaroo care, if the newborn does not require additional medical care at this time.

Guidance on caring for pregnant and postnatal women with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and their babies is published and available from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The guidance sets out that families should be guided on how to identify signs of illness in their new-born or worsening of the woman’s symptoms and provided with appropriate details on who to contact if they have concerns or questions. Women who have recently given birth and test positive for COVID-19 should receive all recommended advice, guidance and support in relation to their postnatal physical and mental health and wellbeing and care of their new-born baby.

Local authority public health teams have access to NHS England systems where they can view vaccination event data for the sustainability and transformation partnerships (STP) within their boundaries. This is presented in the Validated Vaccination Events Dashboard and the COVID Vaccination Equalities Tool. The Dashboard provides views of all vaccination activity at all sites within a STP by delivery model, site, dose, vaccine type and vaccination uptake across ethnicity, age and other key Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation cohorts at STP level.

The COVID Vaccination Equalities Tool allows local authorities to track vaccinations by age cohort, ethnicity and Index of Multiple Deprivation compared to the national average and an adjustable uptake target. It also identifies gaps between targets and current vaccination levels in these groups.

National Health Service staff are working to ensure that, wherever possible, cancer treatment can continue safely. Any decision to reschedule cancer surgery will be a last resort and patients will be given the dates for their new treatment at the earliest opportunity. Doctors will always have the safety of patients at the centre of any decisions they make. NHS England’s guidance for clinical staff on prioritising cancer patients is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/Media/Default/About/COVID-19/Specialty-guides/cancer-and-COVID-19.pdf

The flow of European Union workers into the sector annually is small comparable to the size of the workforce. Fewer than 5% of all workers joining the sector in a direct care role in 2019/20 had arrived from the EU in the previous 12 months. Therefore, we do not anticipate that the end-of-transition will have an immediate impact on workforce supply. However, we will monitor its impact closely as more data becomes available over the coming months.

No such assessment yet been made. However, Public Health England continues to update its ‘COVID-19: mental health and wellbeing surveillance report’, which is a routinely updated report on mental health and wellbeing in England during the COVID-19 pandemic.

No decisions have yet been taken on prioritisation for phase two of the vaccination deployment programme but interim advice has been published by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommending an age-based approach which the Government has accepted in principle.

Their advice can be found online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-phase-2-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-programme-advice-from-the-jcvi/jcvi-interim-statement-on-phase-2-of-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme

Each year the Department put in plans to ensure those who are eligible get vaccinated for flu. These plans are set out in the annual flu letter published jointly by the Department, Public Health England, NHS England and NHS Improvement each spring.

It is too early to say if the COVID-19 vaccine will become an annual programme. Vaccine effectiveness will be monitored in different population groups to understand how the effectiveness varies by age, presence of other medical conditions and other factors. Our surveillance systems will remain in place for the long term to monitor how long protection lasts to inform the need for booster doses.

In order to attract more people into the sector we have been running a national recruitment campaign across broadcast, digital and social media. The latest phase of the campaign, Care for Others, Make a Difference, was launched in early February. We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to provide resources to work coaches to help them promote adult social care careers to jobseekers.

As part of the Spending Review 2020, we announced that the National Health Service will receive around an additional £500 million in 2021/22 to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need and invest in the workforce. We are committed to the ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan to expand and transform mental health services in England and to investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24.

One of the key priorities outlined in the third phase of the National Health Service response to COVID-19 is to reduce the number of patients who have waited longer than 62 days from urgent referral to starting cancer treatment.

Action to reduce long waits includes expanding the capacity of COVID-19 secure cancer hubs, prioritising people for surgery centrally on the basis of clinical need and drawing on the independent sector to increase capacity.

While the Department has not made a formal assessment, NHS England’s Cancer Recovery Plan sets out the aims and actions needed to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

Latest official cancer waiting times data for December 2020 shows activity against the 62-day general practitioner urgent referral to first treatment for cancer was 6.7% higher than last December. The most recent data shows that recent activity is higher than the same time last year. The National Health Service continues to prioritise cancer diagnosis, treatments and surgeries throughout the pandemic to ensure that, wherever possible, cancer treatment can continue safely.

The discretionary funding is determined according to the COVID-19 Relative Needs Formula (RNF). The RNF is used to allocate funding for each local authority based on population size and levels of deprivation. It also takes account of allocations to authorities across previous tranches of funding.

For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of the managed quarantine charge, there will be an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking. This is available for individuals who already receive income-related benefits and they will be required to pay in 12 monthly instalments.

Those entering the country internationally are required to quarantine in a hotel or at home. Further research and vigilance is needed to understand how effectively the current range of vaccines stop transmission of the virus and we must also monitor the potential emergence of further new variants. We will continue to keep options under review as more evidence emerges on the impact vaccines have on case rates, transmissions, hospitalisations and deaths.

The majority of contracts awarded by the Department have break clauses, along with clauses to manage product and service quality and delivery, meaning if the company supplies faulty products or services or misses delivery dates or key outputs, we are able to review the contracts and reclaim any money. Department only pays for goods and services received as standard.

There are no plans to assess the mental wellbeing of this specific group.

However, Public Health England has developed a mental health and wellbeing surveillance tracker to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 on the population’s mental health. This is a proactive step which will help ensure that our response to the effects of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing is shaped by emerging data. Its report is regularly updated with the most recent information and is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report

We recognise the effect that being furloughed and living alone may have mental wellbeing. We have published guidance on mental health and wellbeing on GOV.UK and the ‘Every Mind Matters’ portal. The Government has also invested £5 million in national loneliness charities, raising awareness and providing advice through the Let’s Talk Loneliness campaign.

The Ministry of Defence was involved in the exercise at both the national and local level. At the national level, the Ministry provided policy advice to the participating Minister from that Department and responded to requests for military assistance which formed part of the exercise scenario. Standing Joint Command (UK) participated at the local level, with Joint Regional Liaison Officers providing advice to local authorities participating in the exercise.

The Ministry of Defence was further involved along with other Government departments in supporting the exercise development.

PHE has made no recent assessment of the effect on health and wellbeing of long-term isolation.

In their ‘Births in England and Wales: 2019’ report, the Office for National Statistics suggests that possible reasons for decreases in both the annual birth rate and the annual total fertility rate in recent years include improved access to contraception; the reduction in mortality rates of children aged under five years old, resulting in women having fewer babies; and lower levels of fertility or difficulties conceiving because of postponement in childbearing.

The Government’s overarching policy is that all women should receive safe, personalised care. Local Maternity Systems bring together providers, commissioners, women and their families to work in partnership to ensure services reflect the needs of their local populations.

More evidence is needed to understand whether a seasonal vaccination or booster dose might be needed. While further evidence is gathered, the Government is planning for a re-vaccination campaign which is likely to run later this year in autumn or winter. Over the longer term, re-vaccination is likely to become a regular part of managing COVID-19.

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a range of important commitments to improve care and prevention to help control the growth in demand associated with an ageing population. This means treating people at the right time, in the right place, so that conditions are treated before they become serious and place greater pressure on the National Health Service.

The Government is supporting delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan through a historic long-term settlement, which will see NHS funding increase by £33.9 billion by 2023-24.

Department continues to deliver actions set out in the childhood obesity plan including our ambition to halve the number of children living with obesity and significantly reduce the gap in obesity between children from the most and least deprived areas by 2030. We have also confirmed that schools in England will benefit from £320 million from the PE and sport premium during the academic year 2020-21.

The aim of Exercise Cygnus was to assess the United Kingdom’s preparedness and response to a pandemic influenza as reflected in the UK’s worst-case planning scenario. Arrangements to access a pandemic vaccine is one aspect of our ‘defence in depth’ approach, as set out in the UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011. The exercise was set in week seven of the UK’s response to a pandemic influenza. At this point, pandemic vaccine had been ordered but was not yet available.

The United Kingdom operates a system of informed consent for vaccinations. There are no current plans to make the COVID-19 vaccine compulsory.

Marriages should only take place in exceptional circumstances - for example, where one of those getting married is seriously ill and not expected to recover or is to undergo debilitating treatment or life-changing surgery.

We understand these rules are difficult but reducing social contact is paramount to protecting the National Health Service and saving lives. The Government keeps its restrictions under continual review and will make changes if the data and science support it.

Marriages should only take place in exceptional circumstances - for example, where one of those getting married is seriously ill and not expected to recover or is to undergo debilitating treatment or life-changing surgery.

We understand these rules are difficult but reducing social contact is paramount to protecting the National Health Service and saving lives. The Government keeps its restrictions under continual review and will make changes if the data and science support it.

Public Health England (PHE), through its surveillance strategy, is actively monitoring the effect of the COVID-19 vaccine on the population. This includes measuring the long-term effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines. The surveillance strategy at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-strategy

PHE’s reports on vaccine effectiveness are available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/phe-monitoring-of-the-effectiveness-of-covid-19-vaccination

The wearing of face coverings is already mandatory in most indoor, public settings in England. However, the legal requirement for wearing a face covering has not been extended to outdoor public spaces. The Regulations and guidance currently apply to indoor settings as there is stronger scientific evidence about the risk of transmission being greater in enclosed, indoor spaces where social distancing cannot necessarily be maintained. It is this risk that wearing a face covering will help reduce.

The data is not published in the format requested.

In England the supply chain has significant capacity to meet large surges in demand and delivery of oxygen to hospital tanks is not a limiting factor. There is no national shortage of oxygen.

National Health Service hospitals are carefully managing their oxygen flow and infrastructure to manage the current need and have deployed a number of contingency measures such as improved monitoring and maintenance of their oxygen systems to ensure they are operating at maximum efficiency. Before the winter, over 30 upgrade projects were completed to improve the long term oxygen and medical supply infrastructure within hospitals. The NHS has invested £15 million to date and further improvements continue to be carried out.

Since September 2020, the Government has provided an initial £50 million to local authorities, including £15 million for discretionary payments. The Government provided a further £10 million for discretionary payments in January 2021 and a further £10 million in February.

The Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme will continue into the summer and will be expanded to cover parents who are unable to work because they are caring for a child who is self-isolating. The funding made available for local authorities as part of this to make discretionary support payments will be increased to £20 million per month, to ensure local authorities can continue to make payments and support people on low incomes to stay at home and self-isolate when required to do so.

Several steps have been taken to support people with physical and mental health issues that have arisen from lockdown or remote working and prevent long-term complications.

NHS England and NHS Improvement launched ‘Your Covid Recovery’, a platform dedicated to helping people conquer the after-effects of COVID-19. The platform includes a range of information on how COVID-19 can affect someone’s mind and body – including possible interactions with cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, and diabetes, and information for friends, families, and carers. It offers advice on how people can make sure they continue eating well, sleeping well, and exercising after having the disease.

Steps have been taken to increase access to health services at home and increase awareness across a wide range of physical health issues during the pandemic. This includes providing blood pressure monitors to people with high blood pressure who are shielding across England and free vitamin D supplements to those deemed to be high risk. In addition to this, guidance has been produced across several areas to increase awareness and provide digital resources for maintaining physical health. This includes the Health and Safety Executive guidance on home working and NHS England and NHS Improvement leading stakeholder guidance on maintaining musculoskeletal health, as well as digital weight management resources.

On mental health, the National Health Service has worked hard to keep mental health services going during the pandemic, utilising technology where needed but also face to face appointments where appropriate. All mental health trusts have established 24 hours a day, seven days a week urgent mental health helplines where people experiencing a mental health crisis can access support and advice.

To further support people’s mental health in the context of COVID-19, and the winter months, we have published our Wellbeing and Mental Health Support Plan for COVID-19 setting out the steps we have taken to strengthen the support available for people who are struggling, our commitments to ensure services are there to support those who need it, and the provision in place to keep our frontline workers well.

The Government considers impacts on different groups of protected characteristics, including religious observance when making decisions on COVID-19 restrictions. The analysis and evidence is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-health-economic-and-social-effects-of-covid-19-and-the-tiered-approach

The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should prioritise individuals most at risk of mortality and protect health and social care staff and systems. As a result, vaccines are currently being given to care home residents and staff, followed by people over 80 years old and health and social workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk.

To ensure the public can receive the vaccine, the National Health Service, alongside local health and social care partners, has developed three different delivery models appropriate to the varying infrastructure, population, and logistical requirements in place. This will allow the vaccine to become available to a wider population through hospital hubs, vaccination centres, and local vaccination services.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. In phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the JCVI has advised that prioritisation is specifically targeted to protect health and social care staff and systems, as well as to protect those individuals most at risk of mortality from COVID-19.

Healthcare workers have therefore been included in one of the top priority cohorts, as well as care home residents and staff and those over 80 years old.

Whilst vaccinations are one of the most effective methods to protect the public from illness and possible death caused by viruses and disease, there are no plans to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory. The United Kingdom operates a system of informed consent.

The Department, together with the National Health Service (NHS) and Public Health England, is providing advice and information at every opportunity to support those getting the vaccine and to anyone who might have questions about the vaccination process.

The Department, alongside the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and NHS England are holding regular meetings with local authorities, faith leaders and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) organisations to provide advice and information about COVID-19 vaccines and how they will be made available.

The communications plan includes targeted information and advice via TV, radio, and social media, translated into 13 languages. Print and online material, including interviews and practical advice, will also appear in 600 national, regional, local, and specialist titles, including BAME media, to maximise reach.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people have access to accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines. The Department is leading extensive communications activity to reassure the public, providing advice for anyone who has questions about the vaccination process.

The Government’s Counter Disinformation Unit looks for trends on social media platforms to respond to misleading content rapidly. This can be a range of actions from labelling, to ‘downranking’, to removal where there is significant risk of harm, in line with the platform’s terms and conditions.

We have developed the SHARE checklist which aims to educate and empower those who see, inadvertently share and are affected by false and misleading information.

Facebook, Twitter and Google agreed to the principle that no company should profit from or promote COVID-19 anti-vaccine misinformation and disinformation and to respond to flagged content more swiftly.

The major platforms have updated their terms of service and taken positive steps to reduce the spread of harmful and misleading narratives and to promote Government and National Health Service messaging, including around anti vaccination content.

The Government’s response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation includes details of new laws to deal with harmful content and behaviour online, such as misinformation and disinformation that could cause significant physical or psychological harm to an individual.

Talking therapies delivered by Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services will continue to be made available remotely so people can access help safely from home with face-to-face support provided to people, where appropriate, from within COVID-19 secure settings. Children and young people’s community mental health services will also continue to offer digital and remote access to maintain support and accept new referrals over the winter.

Through Public Health England’s Beyond the Data review, stakeholders said that some black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities felt that they receive different treatment when compared with white patients and that this has further exacerbated fear within BAME communities and reluctance to seek medical care.

We are concerned that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on people from BAME backgrounds. The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch MP) has been tasked to lead the Government's work tackling this issue. With the support of the Race Disparity Unit, the Minister is also reviewing the effectiveness and impact of current actions being undertaken by relevant Government departments and their agencies to directly lessen disparities in infection and death rates of COVID-19.

There are no plans to make such an estimate.

The NHS COVID-19 app has been designed to use the minimum possible personal data or information. Expertise from across the United Kingdom Government and industry, including the National Cyber Security Centre, has been utilised to review our design and to help test and improve the app.

The app uses Bluetooth Low Energy to measure the distance between phones with the app downloaded, but it will never access location, contacts, or any other personal data saved in a phone.

There is an ongoing programme of monitoring and assessment to make sure that user data is safe and secure and to ensure that the app complies with protective measures established by data protection law.

In October 2020, the National Health Service issued £150 million in capital funding to regions to invest in diagnostic equipment. The recent spending review included an additional £325 million for the NHS to invest in new diagnostic machines to improve clinical outcomes, replacing over two thirds of imaging equipment that is over 10 years old.

The Government issued a public call to action to support the increased requirements of personal protective equipment (PPE). The aim was to reach suppliers who had experience of supplying PPE and also those who had no prior experience but who had access to sources of PPE through their business contacts. To date this has resulted in 15,000 suppliers offering their help and support. All offers were prioritised based on volume, price, clinical acceptability and lead time – this is the time from an offer being accepted by the Department to the supplier delivering those items.

Contracting authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 using a direct award of a contract without a competitive tender process. The great majority of PPE contracts let by the Department were direct awards.

No private companies were invited to participate in Exercise Cygnus.

The contracts awarded to Serco and Sitel to provide non-National Health Service call handling services for the contact tracing initiative were direct awards under Lot 2 of Crown Commercial Service’s Contact Centre Services framework. Serco and Sitel are approved suppliers on this framework contract having gained their places through fair and open competition via an Official Journal of the European Union procurement.

All suppliers on Lot 2 were engaged in order to ascertain capabilities to meet the contract output specifications. The contracts were awarded based on consideration of available capacity; mobilisation and set up time; the ability to work jointly with other suppliers to provide a solution of this scale; and ensuring value for money.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic. Data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.

Unfortunately, we know that the virus spreads readily in indoor environments. These restrictions are difficult in the first instance, including for those who want to use gyms and places of worship, but that we have to find a balance to make sure we reduce the transmission rates and save lives.

We realise the impacts that these regulations have on people’s health and wellbeing and we aim to minimise the impact wherever possible and noting that these restrictions are time limited. The Government have published guidance on mental health and wellbeing which includes guidance on looking after physical wellbeing and this is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-public-on-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-the-public-on-the-mental-health-and-wellbeing-aspects-of-coronavirus-covid-19#what-can-help-your-mental-health-and-wellbeing

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic. Data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.

Unfortunately, we know that the virus spreads readily in indoor environments. These restrictions are difficult in the first instance, including for those who want to use gyms and places of worship, but that we have to find a balance to make sure we reduce the transmission rates and save lives.

We realise the impacts that these regulations have on people’s health and wellbeing and we aim to minimise the impact wherever possible and noting that these restrictions are time limited. The Government have published guidance on mental health and wellbeing which includes guidance on looking after physical wellbeing and this is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-the-public-on-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-the-public-on-the-mental-health-and-wellbeing-aspects-of-coronavirus-covid-19#what-can-help-your-mental-health-and-wellbeing

We are incredibly proud of all National Health Service staff and value their extraordinary commitment to providing world class care during these unprecedented times.

Over one million of ‘non-medical’ NHS staff, including nurses, continue to benefit from the three-year Agenda for Change (AfC) pay and contract reform deal, agreed in partnership with NHS trade unions and employer representatives. This is the final year of the deal and has seen year on year pay increases for all AfC staff including 16% increases for the lowest paid since 2017/18. For NHS medical staff not in existing multi-year pay and contract reform deals we accepted in full the Review Body for Doctors and Dentists Remuneration’s (DDRB) recommendation for a uniform 2.8% pay uplift in July 2020.

For recommendations on pay for NHS staff for 2021/22, we intend to look to the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRB) and we expect to issue a remit letter to the PRBs in the coming weeks. The Government will carefully consider the NHS PRB and DDRB’s recommendations when we receive them.

Using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 Ayanda Capital was evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product, service and technical specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts are awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with Departmental terms and conditions.

Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19

Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The Department assesses the market conditions for procuring supplies related to any procurement, including those relating to COVID-19, in accordance with procurement guidance and regulations. The Department has to demonstrate on a case by case basis that it is satisfied the tests set out in the guidance permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication have been met. These are summarized as follows:

- you need to respond to the COVID-19 consequences immediately because of public health risks, loss of existing provision at short notice, etc;

- you are reacting to a current situation that is a genuine emergency - not planning for one;

- the COVID-19 situation is so novel that the consequences are not something you should have predicted;

- there is no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation;

- there is no time to place a call off contract under an existing commercial agreement such as a framework or dynamic purchasing system; and

- you have not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.

Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19

Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The Department assesses the market conditions for procuring supplies related to any procurement, including those relating to COVID-19, in accordance with procurement guidance and regulations. The Department has to demonstrate on a case by case basis that it is satisfied the tests set out in the guidance permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication have been met. These are summarized as follows:

- you need to respond to the COVID-19 consequences immediately because of public health risks, loss of existing provision at short notice, etc;

- you are reacting to a current situation that is a genuine emergency - not planning for one;

- the COVID-19 situation is so novel that the consequences are not something you should have predicted;

- there is no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation;

- there is no time to place a call off contract under an existing commercial agreement such as a framework or dynamic purchasing system; and

- you have not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.

As of the beginning of November 2020, 937 contracts worth an estimated £17.8 billion have been awarded by the Department and its executive agencies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic for a wide range of products and services including personal protective equipment, the Test and Trace initiative, ventilators, IT, logistics, medicines.

The great majority of these contracts have been let using a direct award. Contract Award Notices are published for each contract which contain information on the value of the contract, its duration and the name and address of the supplier.

As of the beginning of November 2020, 937 contracts worth an estimated £17.8 billion have been awarded by the Department and its executive agencies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic for a wide range of products and services including personal protective equipment, the Test and Trace initiative, ventilators, IT, logistics, medicines.

The great majority of these contracts have been let using a direct award. Contract Award Notices are published for each contract which contain information on the value of the contract, its duration and the name and address of the supplier.

As of the beginning of November 2020, 937 contracts worth an estimated £17.8 billion have been awarded by the Department and its executive agencies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic for a wide range of products and services including personal protective equipment, the Test and Trace initiative, ventilators, IT, logistics, medicines.

The great majority of these contracts have been let using a direct award. Contract Award Notices are published for each contract which contain information on the value of the contract, its duration and the name and address of the supplier.

The Government recognises the significance of life events, particularly funerals and treat them with sufficient sensitivity, which is why there are different exemptions to the rule of six for weddings and funerals. Allowing attendance at weddings of up to 15, and at funerals of up to 30, goes some way towards meeting the participants’ understandable wishes, while at the same time minimising the spread of the virus.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, in particular the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic. Although gathering in larger groups does increase the risk of transmission, but we have been clear that people should follow social distancing rules when gathering with people they do not live with. We continue to keep these restrictions under constant review and will ensure they remain proportionate to the threat to public health posed by COVID-19.

No estimate has been made.

Everyone is currently advised to work from home where possible. We do however recognise this is not possible for all, and some workers must continue to commute between different local alert levels.

In COVID-19 level alert medium and high areas, no restrictions will apply to travel or transport. We advise people to keep travel to a minimum in local COVID alert level high and people should not travel in or out of local COVID alert level very high areas, though travel for work can continue. People will be advised to walk and cycle where possible, or to plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes if using public transport.

Local and mobile testing is locally coordinated by Local Resilience Forums and Recovery Coordinating Groups and decisions are centrally executed at their direction. Local testing sites are run under the control of Directors of Public Health who are best placed to direct testing capacity to local groups with the greatest needs. Regional test sites are centrally controlled and coordinated. We work with local authorities wherever possible on-site selection, particularly when a site needs to be relocated. However, we are actively exploring ways of enabling increased local control. The co-design approach between local and national teams has been key in achieving the pace at which these sites have been set up.

The Department uses data published on a monthly basis to monitor compliance against performance standards. There are robust processes in place to hold NHS England and NHS Improvement to account and action to ensure compliance with different performance standards is discussed in the course of this process.

Guidance issued by NHS England and NHS Improvement at the end of July set the ambition for providers to recover elective services in October to 90% of last year’s levels for admissions, and 100% for outpatients. The Department continues to monitor performance against these ambitions.

It is not possible to systematically identify where infection occurs in individual positive cases of COVID-19.

The Adult Social Care Winter Plan published on 18 September sets out the actions we are taking at a national level to support those who provide and receive care. It also outlines the actions every local area (local authorities and National Health Service partners) and every care provider must be taking right now to protect residents and staff in care homes.

Our commitments in The Adult Social Care Winter Plan includes:

- Continuing to engage with local authorities, care providers, people with care and support needs, and their families and carers to understand their needs and provide support;

- Provide £546 million through the Infection Control Fund, set up in May, which has now been extended until March 2021, to help the care sector restrict the movement of staff between care homes to stop the spread of the virus;

- We will support care homes and domiciliary care providers by providing free PPE for their Covid-19 needs until March 2021;

- Making the flu vaccine available for free to all health and care staff, personal assistants, and unpaid carers; and

- Introducing tightened measures which will enable residents and their loved ones to have safe visits to care homes.

Working together will ensure that high-quality, safe and timely care is provided to everyone who needs it, whilst protecting people who need care especially those who are older or living with underlying health conditions who may be more vulnerable to the virus, their carers and the social care workforce from COVID-19.

We are preparing for the delivery of any potential COVID-19 vaccination programme as quickly as possible. The scale of what is rolled out and when will depend on a safe, effective vaccine being available. Plans include ensuring there is adequate of provision of transport, storage, personal protective equipment, and the consideration of the settings and workforce required to vaccinate against COVID-19.

National decision-making takes place through the Government’s Local Action Committee command structure. It can escalate concerns and issues to the COVID Operations Committee to engage ministers across Government. The command structure is as follows:

- The Local Action Committee (gold) meets weekly. However, additional meetings are held if the data indicates they are needed;

- The Weekly Containment Group (silver) meets weekly. However, they can be convened rapidly as required; and

- The Daily Containment Group (bronze) meets daily and provides situational awareness on the latest outbreaks and epidemiological picture. This group also reviews and evaluates local outbreak response and action extra support.

Using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 suppliers will be evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing, compliance with minimum product, service and technical specifications and ability to perform the contract. Contracts are awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with Departmental terms and conditions.

Over 1,000 purchase orders have been raised with suppliers for COVID-19 related work under regulation 32(2)(c), the majority through a direct award. Contracts are awarded by the appropriate Departmental accounting officer in line with Departmental terms and conditions which contract management clauses to assess performance and value for money throughout the lifetime of the contract.

The Department assesses the market conditions for procuring supplies related to any procurement, including those relating to COVID-19, in accordance with procurement guidance and regulations. Where any procurement meets the tests for the use of Regulation 32 then that approached will be used; where it does not, other approaches will be considered.

Guidance on how contracting authorities should respond to COVID-19 was published on 18 March at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19

Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. These include a direct award due to extreme urgency or the absence of competition. Under the regulation contracting authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement.

Over 1,000 purchase orders have been raised with suppliers for COVID-19 related work, the majority through a direct award, this includes the contracts for the contact tracing system.

We are working with the National Health Service, Public Health England and other key partners to take an expert look at what we might anticipate by way of need and plan for how to support mental health and wellbeing throughout the next few weeks and months.

Our NHS Long Term Plan commitment to investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year to mental health services by 2023-24 remains. We have provided £5 million of additional funding for mental health charities to support adults and children struggling with their mental wellbeing during this time.

In order to attract more people into social care, in April to July we rapidly increased the national recruitment campaign – with sustained activity across broadcast, digital and social media. The campaign highlighted the vital role that the social care workforce has played during the pandemic, along with the longer-term opportunity of working in case.

We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to provide job centre work coaches with resources to promote adult social care careers to jobseekers, including those who may have recently lost their jobs working in hard hit sectors such as hospitality, tourism and retail.

The National Health Service and the wider scientific community are currently working to better understand the disease course of COVID-19 infection, including the prevalence, severity and duration of symptoms, and how best to support recovery. The National Institute for Health Research and UK Research and Innovation have invested £8.4 million in the Post-HOSPitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID), led by Christopher Brightling at the University of Leicester. This study is one of the world’s largest comprehensive research studies into the long-term health impacts of COVID-19 on hospitalised patients.

The NHS is working to expand access to COVID-19 rehabilitation treatments for those who have survived the virus but still have problems with breathing, mental health problems or other longer-term complications. As part of this, in July the NHS launched ‘Your COVID Recovery’ service, a personalised programme to support the recovery of people who have been in hospital or suffered at home with the virus.

The research currently underway will inform future NHS service design and provision.

We have not made such an assessment. We do not yet have robust data to say what effect, if any, the COVID-19 pandemic has had on suicide rates.

We are nevertheless taking action to support people’s mental health and prevent suicides and self-harm. All National Health Service mental health providers have established 24 hours a day, seven days a week mental health crisis lines, and we have announced £9.2 million of additional funding to support mental health charities, including Samaritans and CALM.

Every local authority has a multi-agency suicide prevention plan in place. The expectation is that agencies will work together to ensure plans address the impacts of COVID-19 on specific groups.

We are working with the NHS and others to gather evidence and assess the potential longer-term mental health impacts of COVID-19 and plan for how to support the public’s mental health and wellbeing throughout the ‘recovery’ phase.

We have not yet made such an assessment. We do not at this time have robust data to say what effect, if any, the COVID-19 pandemic has had on suicide rates.

Public Health England is currently piloting the development of a national surveillance system to monitor suspected suicide and self-harm, by collecting in near real time data from local systems which can be used to identify patterns of risk and causal factors, to inform national and local responses.

The Department has made no such estimate.

The Department does not currently hold this level of data.

No such assessment has been made.

There are elements of the Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Level 1 session, which deal with the concept of unconscious bias. This session is part of the e-Learning for Healthcare Statutory and Mandatory Training Programme and is aimed at all staff, including unpaid and voluntary staff.

Individual National Health Service organisations have responsibility for training their own staff and will provide further relevant training where appropriate.

The Department does not collect this information.

We are conducting over 300,000 tests a day and we are working with cutting-edge technology to increase the volume of tests and improve turnaround time. By November we will be able to conduct half a million tests a day and the vast majority of in-person test results are being returned the next day. We are increasing capacity through a combination of expanding our network of testing sites and laboratories, as well as investing in new technologies. We are also increasing our testing capacity which will allow us to expand asymptomatic testing to groups and areas at greatest risk, including in areas with local outbreaks.

We have rapidly processed over 24,000 offers of personal protective equipment (PPE) from over 15,000 suppliers who approached the National PPE Sourcing team, to ensure they meet the safety and quality standards that National Health Service staff need, as well as prioritising offers of larger volumes.

The company ownership and nature of business for each supplier cannot be readily identified from the available data held by the Department, therefore whether suppliers are British manufacturers is not verifiable.

We have contracted with over 175 new suppliers to deliver PPE at the scale and pace the United Kingdom requires. This includes signed contracts with 27 UK-based manufacturers for facemasks, visors, gowns and aprons, ensuring we build and maintain a domestic base for the future.

Serco are an approved supplier on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS). The CCS undertook a pre-procurement exercise engaging with all suppliers under the Framework to understand which suppliers could establish the contact centre in the volumes required and the timescales needed. The Department has put in place arrangements to ensure robust contract management in line with relevant guidance.

Any personal protective equipment (PPE) provided by suppliers must meet strict safety standards as per the published technical specification for PPE at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/technical-specifications-for-personal-protective-equipment-ppe

When offers are being evaluated, the technical suitability of the products on offer are confirmed with separate teams at NHS Supply Chain.

On 17 March the Government advised against all non-essential international travel. The scientific advice was clear at that time that additional measures would not have had a significant impact while there was significant community transmission within the country. Information about the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and the scientific and technical advice that they provide is available on GOV.uk.

We have not made such an assessment. However, we recognise the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing and self-isolation measures will impact the mental health and wellbeing of the population. This impact may be greater for some vulnerable people, particularly for those with pre-existing mental health conditions such as eating disorders.

Since March, we have announced over £9 million of funding support for mental health charities supporting vulnerable people through the COVID-19 pandemic. We are delighted that the eating disorder charity Beat has been awarded grant funding through this process to continue the valuable work it does in supporting people with eating disorders.

Mental health services are open and working to support people with mental health issues through the coronavirus pandemic and NHS England has instructed all National Health Service mental health trusts to establish 24 hours a day, seven days a week mental health crisis lines for urgent NHS mental health support, including for people with eating disorders.

The National Health Service staff support helpline was launched on 8 April 2020 and provides confidential listening, signposting, and support. It is operated by Samaritans from 7am – 11pm, seven days a week.

From 8 April 2020 until 12 June 2020 there have been 3,120 calls to the helpline. This information was collected by Samaritans.

Whilst the scope of Exercise Cygnus did not cover the effect of a pandemic on the mental health of health and social care workers specifically, staff wellbeing is a core part of United Kingdom pandemic preparedness planning. This includes strengthening the health and social care sector to surge and flex beyond normal operations, as demonstrated by the considerable increase in capacity and capabilities to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The wellbeing of health and social care staff has been central to the COVID-19 response, and the Government has implemented several measures to support staff, including a dedicated helpline and free access to several wellbeing apps for National Health Service and social care workers, and a CARE app which provides advice and wellbeing support to social care staff.

The lessons identified as a result of Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and a range of stakeholders, including expert advisory groups and local emergency planners.

Taking the recommendations from Exercise Cygnus, the Department commissioned further work on pandemic influenza preparedness from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. This was completed in the spring of 2018 and included advice and guidance on planning for a pandemic, which was circulated to Directors of Adult Social Services.

The Government has been extremely proactive in implementing lessons learnt around pandemic preparedness, including from Exercise Cygnus, to ensure that the United Kingdom remains well-prepared for infectious disease outbreaks. This includes being ready with legislative proposals and improving health sector plans to flex and expand systems beyond normal capacity levels.

The lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus continue to be considered by the Government and have been shared with a range of stakeholders, including local emergency planners, in reviewing response plans. Local planners are responsible for identifying and implementing specific lessons which most affect their areas (such as the North West).

The Government takes the health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff very seriously. At the beginning of the COVID-19 response, the Department commissioned NHS England and NHS Improvement to develop a comprehensive package of emotional, psychological, and practical support for all NHS staff. NHS England and NHS Improvement launched the support package on 8 April 2020 which can be accessed via the following link:

people.nhs.uk/help/

Development of the support package has been informed by both the experiences of NHS staff contacting the national telephone and text service, as well as expert advice and research into mental health needs following major incidents. The support package will continue to be updated by listening to feedback from NHS staff who use the services, including how COVID-19 response has affected them.

Since the start of this outbreak we have been working closely with the sector and public health experts to put in place guidance and support for adult social care, including for people with learning disabilities.

We have commissioned Public Health England to undertake a thorough analysis of the numbers of deaths of people with a learning disability. This will draw on data published by NHS England and the Care Quality Commission to give as complete a picture of the impact of COVID-19 on this group of people as possible.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Edmonton (Kate Osamor MP) on 1 July 2020 to Question 59534.

We have all been struck by the conclusions of Public Health England’s report and will continue to help protect those most vulnerable to COVID-19 based on the best possible analysis available to us.

We are determined to get to the bottom of the report’s findings in a proper and scientific way and have already asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities, (Kemi Badenoch MP), to take forward work to fill the gaps in our understanding, review existing policies and guidance and amend or develop new policies where needed and where the evidence supports us doing so. The Terms of Reference for that work can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-for-work-on-covid-19-disparities-announced

Upper tier local authorities are leading local outbreak planning within a national framework, and with the support of NHS Test and Trace, Public Health England and other Government departments. In tier 2 areas, county councils are working closely with district councils who have responsibility for environmental health.

Each upper tier local authority has a local outbreak plan developed in line with the Association of Directors of Public Health guiding principles setting out how partners should work together to implement the plans and take a preventative approach.

All upper tier local authorities have access to record level (including sex, age, occupation and postcode) test and case data. Directors of Public Health are also receiving fully identifiable test, case and contact tracing data where the case data includes, address, postcode, sex, age, NHS Number, occupation, test date, and additional data describing progress through the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing process. Public Health England (PHE) provides access to this data via a secure platform to Directors of Public Health to support them to carry out their outbreak management responsibilities. This data is currently updated on a daily basis.

PHE began providing record level positive test data, including postcodes, to local authorities (including Directors of Public Health) on 24 June.

Veteran mental health needs are very often no different to those of the general population. Data has shown that most patients suffer from common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety and readily make use of the mainstream mental health services provided throughout the United Kingdom.

In England, bespoke veteran mental health services receive £10.2 million funding each year. This will increase by an extra £5 million which will go towards developing a High Intense Service to help veterans nearing crisis.

Every local authority has a multi-agency suicide prevention plan in place and we are investing almost £600,000 in 2019/20 to support local authorities to strengthen their plans. From 2019/20, we are also investing £57 million in suicide prevention through the NHS Long-Term Plan. This will see investment in all areas of the country by 2023/24 to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services.

All National Health Service organisations should have in place a bullying and harassment policy that is easily accessible to staff – such as junior doctors - and is monitored regularly by senior managers.

The NHS Social Partnership Forum, chaired by Departmental ministers, has led a collective call to action to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS. Working with NHS system leaders, NHS employers, staff and their trades unions, it encourages and supports the leadership and culture change required to eradicate bullying and harassment.

A ‘new offer’ will be published later this year alongside the final NHS People Plan and will detail the support that all NHS staff can expect to receive from their employer – including how the NHS will tackle bullying and harassment.

The 2019 NHS Staff Survey published on 18 February 2020 shows that 14.6% of medical and dental staff in the National Health Service have personally experienced an instance of bullying, harassment or abuse from a manager; 21.3% from a colleague. These figures have decreased by 1.2% and 0.3% from the 2018 NHS Staff survey, respectively. This follows work that is being done by the NHS Social Partnership Forum working with NHS system leaders, NHS employers, staff and their trade unions to support the leadership and culture change required to eradicate all forms of bullying and of harassment.

However, this level of bullying and harassment is still unacceptably high. The final NHS People Plan, to be published later this year, will set out further action to tackle bullying and harassment as part of making the NHS the best place to work.

While experimentation with e-cigarettes is not uncommon among young people, current and regular use remains low. E-cigarettes in the United Kingdom are tightly regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (NIP). These regulations aim to reduce the risk of harm to children; to protect against any risk of renormalisation of tobacco use; and to provide assurance on relative safety for users. The regulations include restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising; prevent sale to under 18s; and limit both tank sizes and nicotine content.

We are monitoring youth use closely and will take action, if necessary, to ensure that regular use among children and young people does not increase, and that e-cigarettes do not become a gateway to tobacco use. The Government has a statutory obligation to conduct post implementation reviews of TRPR by May 2021 and NIP later this spring. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review is due to be published later this month.

To improve patient record accuracy, the National Health Service is developing a platform that will enable immunisation information to be shared across approved systems. Following this, work will be initiated to support the delivery of reminder functionality that is of use to both GP practices and to individuals. This is in addition to updates to the 2020/2021 general practitioner (GP) contract, published on 6 February, which aim to ensure that call/recall services are being delivered in line with published standards and to move towards text-based reminders.

The data on the number of patients that have failed to secure a general practice appointment is not collected or held centrally.

The data requested is not available in the format requested. NHS Digital publishes vacancy data for England only. Only a small proportion of practices in England provide data to NHS Digital on the vacancies they hold. The published data is therefore of limited use and cannot be disaggregated into vacancies by region or local area.

We recognise general practice is under pressure nationally and that is why we have committed to growing the workforce by 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals. This is in addition to the 20,000 primary care professionals NHS England will provide funding towards through Primary Care Networks. The full People Plan, published later this year, will set out a broader strategy for a sustainable general practice workforce and how we will meet our commitments through both recruitment and retention programmes.

Growing the workforce will mean larger teams of staff providing a wide range of care options for patients and will free up more time for doctors to focus on those with more complex needs. This, alongside additional support and increasing the use of technology in general practice, will create an extra 50 million appointments a year by 2024/25 and improve patient access to primary care services.

Guidance on opioid dependence is published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and was refreshed in July 2019. NICE is leading the development of new guidelines for safe prescribing of drugs associated with dependence. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) reviews how healthcare providers are using NICE guidelines and quality standards to prescribe safely.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care introduced prominent addiction warnings for all opioid medicines in 2019. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is seeking voluntary compliance from industry and, if necessary, the changes will be mandated. Packs including the warnings on product labelling began to be seen by patients in late 2019.

In September 2019 Public Health England published an evidence review of medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal. Alongside ongoing improvements to medicines safety and the use of prescribed drugs, NHS England and national partners are developing actions to reduce prescription medicine dependency.

A national review of overprescribing in the National Health Service is being led by Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Dr Keith Ridge and will be published in 2020. The review is looking at patients taking multiple medicines unnecessarily, the role of digital technologies in reducing overprescribing, and the increased role for alternatives to prescribing and other forms of care.

The UK Commission on Human Medicines Opioid expert working group is a comprehensive independent scientific review that will make recommendations this year about further regulatory action and information for clinicians and patients.

A total of 358 alcohol-related deaths in Preston, 3,075 alcohol-related deaths in Lancashire and 18,757 alcohol related-deaths in the North West occurred in the last five years for which data is available (2014 – 2018). This data is available on the Local Alcohol Profiles for England webpage published by Public Health England which can be viewed at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profiles

Drugs poisoning deaths are published by the Office for National Statistics for overlapping three-year periods and are shown in the following table. They cannot be summed to create figures for other time periods:

They can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/drugmisusedeathsbylocalauthority

We are taking action to prevent child suicide through continued increasing investment in mental health services. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, mental health services will continue to receive a growing share of the National Health Service budget, with funding to grow by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. Spending for children and young people’s mental health services will grow faster than the overall spend on mental health, which will itself be growing faster than the overall NHS budget.

This increased funding will ensure that by 2023/24, at least an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 will be able to access support via NHS-funded mental health services and school– or college-based mental health support teams.

We are also investing £57 million specifically in suicide prevention and bereavement services in all areas of the country by 2023/24.

The Department has committed to conduct a survey every seven years on the prevalence of mental health conditions in children and young people. The most recent survey is the ‘Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017’, published in November 2018.

All tobacco products imported into the United Kingdom are required to adhere to existing UK tobacco legislation. This is enforced by local authority trading standards officers.

On 5 October, Sir Simon Gass (the Prime Minister's Special Representative for the Afghan Transition) and Dr Martin Longden (Chargé d'Affaires of the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha) visited Kabul where they met senior members of the Taliban. Further, on 12 October a senior-level Taliban delegation met with Dr Longden and other international partners in Doha. During these conversations the UK underlined the importance of safe passage to the UK for British Nationals and eligible Afghans, as well as the UK's key interests on counterterrorism, humanitarian issues, and human rights (including girls' education). The UK remains committed to a pragmatic and exploratory dialogue with the Taliban, and will continue to engage the authorities in Kabul, and their representatives in Doha, in support of the Afghan people, including on freedom of movement. We have no immediate plans to visit Kabul at present.

The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have been clear that the death of George Floyd was appalling, inexcusable and deeply distressing and we understand the strength of feeling around this issue. Domestic security policy is a matter for the US.

Domestic security policy is a matter for the US. Our Embassy in the US has raised the issue of the protests with the US Administration. The violence we have seen is clearly very alarming. People must be allowed to protest peacefully - peaceful protest remains a vital part of a democratic society and we understand the strength of feeling around this issue.

The Foreign Secretary reiterated our opposition to the unilateral annexation of territory during a call with Alternate Israeli Prime Minister Gantz on 20 May and Israeli Foreign Minister Ashkenazi on 2 June. As we made clear at the UN Security Council remote meeting on the Middle East Peace Process on 20 May, we are concerned by reports that the new Israeli Government coalition has reached an agreement which may pave the way for annexation of parts of the West Bank. The UK position is clear: any unilateral moves toward annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel would be damaging to renewed efforts to restart peace negotiations, and contrary to international law.

We continue to work closely with international partners to advocate a two-state solution and encourage a return to meaningful negotiations between both parties. I reiterated, at the virtual meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee with Israel, the Palestinians, the EU, and the wider international community on 2 June, our concerns about reports that the new Israeli Government coalition has reached an agreement which may pave the way for annexation of parts of the West Bank. The UK position is clear: any unilateral moves towards annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel would be damaging to efforts to restart peace negotiations and contrary to international law.

The UK, along with a number of other European countries, opposed the creation of the UN Human Rights Office's database. Ultimately it is the decision of an individual or company whether to operate in settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The British Government neither encourages nor offers support to such activity.

In most circumstances, the provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the bank and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in account closures.

HM Treasury sometimes receives representations from consumers with questions or concerns about their banking. However, any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling processes. If customers are unable to resolve the issue with their bank, they will be eligible for further review by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers.

Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty following a bank account closure may wish to contact the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions. MaPS was established to support consumers with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for every stage of their financial lives. It offers free and impartial information on money matters, available to all online, face-to-face or via telephone. This includes an impartial Debt Advice Locator Tool for those needing debt advice immediately.

In most circumstances, the provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the bank and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in account closures.

HM Treasury sometimes receives representations from consumers with questions or concerns about their banking. However, any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling processes. If customers are unable to resolve the issue with their bank, they will be eligible for further review by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers.

Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty following a bank account closure may wish to contact the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions. MaPS was established to support consumers with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for every stage of their financial lives. It offers free and impartial information on money matters, available to all online, face-to-face or via telephone. This includes an impartial Debt Advice Locator Tool for those needing debt advice immediately.

In most circumstances, the provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the bank and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in account closures.

HM Treasury sometimes receives representations from consumers with questions or concerns about their banking. However, any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling processes. If customers are unable to resolve the issue with their bank, they will be eligible for further review by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers.

Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty following a bank account closure may wish to contact the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions. MaPS was established to support consumers with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for every stage of their financial lives. It offers free and impartial information on money matters, available to all online, face-to-face or via telephone. This includes an impartial Debt Advice Locator Tool for those needing debt advice immediately.

The Treasury monitors closely the impact of Covid-19 on the economy on an ongoing basis, although it does not prepare forecasts, which is the responsibility of the independent OBR. The OBR bases its forecasts on many factors and data, including labour market and population data, which will account for the impact of birth and retirement rates, among other factors.

The Treasury remains committed to ensuring we take the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the United Kingdom. We have already announced considerable and unprecedented support for businesses and individuals through the pandemic.

The Government recognises the importance of supporting older workers to remain active in the labour market and is committed to supporting older workers to find and retain employment. The Government has recently refreshed it Fuller Working Lives strategy to include 50 PLUS: Choices, recognising the different situations and challenges currently faced by the over 50s. We are continuing to work closely with employers, while ensuring early and targeted employment and skills support is available to help over 50s stay in or return back to work. The Plan for Jobs package provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged 50 and over, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work.

We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.

The Treasury monitors closely the impact of Covid-19 on the economy on an ongoing basis, although it does not prepare forecasts, which is the responsibility of the independent OBR. The OBR bases its forecasts on many factors and data, including labour market and population data, which will account for the impact of birth and retirement rates, among other factors.

The Treasury remains committed to ensuring we take the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the United Kingdom. We have already announced considerable and unprecedented support for businesses and individuals through the pandemic.

The Government recognises the importance of supporting older workers to remain active in the labour market and is committed to supporting older workers to find and retain employment. The Government has recently refreshed it Fuller Working Lives strategy to include 50 PLUS: Choices, recognising the different situations and challenges currently faced by the over 50s. We are continuing to work closely with employers, while ensuring early and targeted employment and skills support is available to help over 50s stay in or return back to work. The Plan for Jobs package provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged 50 and over, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work.

We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is available to the employers of anyone who is unable to work, including from home, due to caring responsibilities arising from COVID-19, such as caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing. However, the furloughing of staff through the CJRS is a voluntary arrangement, entered at the employers’ discretion and agreed by employees. It is not for the Government to decide whether an individual firm should put its staff on furlough.

In the most recent national lockdown, the Government has chosen to keep early years settings open for all children. Vulnerable children and children of key workers can also continue to attend out-of-school settings, for example breakfast clubs and after-school clubs. Households with anyone aged under 14 can form a ‘childcare bubble’. This allows friends or family from one other household to provide informal childcare.

The objective of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to enable employers to keep people in employment. So far, the CJRS has helped 1.2 million employers to pay the wages of 9.9 million jobs across all sectors of the economy.

Analysis published by HMRC shows that 90 per cent of employees that left the CJRS between April and July were still on their original payroll in August, suggesting they remained working for their original employer. The OBR have also estimated that unemployment would have been higher in the second quarter of 2021 in the absence of the CJRS and other measures.

The Government continues to monitor CJRS take-up, with HMRC's latest official statistics producing analysis of claims split by characteristics including employer size, sector of the economy, geography, age and gender.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality, leisure, and retail sector to understand the impact the pandemic has had, and how to protect jobs in these sectors.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which has been extended until April 2021, was introduced to help employers whose operations have been severely affected by COVID-19 retain their employees and protect the UK economy. All businesses across the UK can access the scheme, with employees receiving 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

The wholesale and retail sector are responsible for the greatest total value of claims up to the end of October at £8 billion, supporting over 1.8 million jobs. In addition, by the end of October, the accommodation and food services sector had claimed £6.9 billion supporting over 1.6 million jobs, and the arts entertainment and recreation sector £2 billion supporting over 450,000 jobs. The Government continue to take a flexible approach and extended the CJRS to support jobs and provide businesses with certainty over the coming months.

In line with the extension to the CJRS, the Government also recently announced an extension to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until April 2021, to support self-employed individuals, across the UK, whose businesses have been adversely impacted by Covid-19, which is particularly important for the leisure sector.

The job support schemes come in addition to the wide-ranging package of business support available that will indirectly support jobs in these sectors, including protecting businesses with cash grants, Government backed finance through loan schemes, ‘Pay as You Grow’ long-term repayments options, a VAT deferral for up to 12 months, a 12-month business rates holiday; and a moratorium on evictions to protect commercial tenants.

The Government keeps all available business support under review and is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on these industries.

It is the responsibility of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to publish analysis of the sustainability of the public finances. The OBR published its latest projections in its July 2020 Fiscal Sustainability Report. This incorporated its assessment of the effect of changing demographics on the public finances. The OBR expects demographic change and other cost pressures in health spending to put upward pressure on public spending while leaving revenues broadly unchanged.

The government is committed to fiscal sustainability and ensuring the long-term health of the public finances, and HM Treasury continues to review the UK’s fiscal framework to ensure it remains appropriate for both the macroeconomic context and the longer-term pressures related to demographic change. The government will set out further details on its plans to put the public finances back on a sustainable footing when the economic uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic recedes. The OBR’s FSR provides important analysis and scenarios which will be used to inform this review, alongside a consideration of the regularly updated population projections provided by the ONS.

Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting business and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.

As measures to control the virus change, it is right that government support should also evolve. Because of this, we continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.

Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.

To support business owners, the government has implemented a package of support, including the Local Restrictions Support Grant, providing closed businesses with a grant of up to £3,000 per month. Local authorities have also recently received an additional £500 million, to a total of £1.6 billion, of discretionary funding to allow them to support their local businesses.

To support employees, The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until the end of April. This provides a substantial grant for employers to cover 80% of the wages of their employees.

At the Spending Review 2020, the Chancellor announced an additional £500 million to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. This builds on the comprehensive expansion of mental health services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits at least a further £2.3 billion a year by 23/24.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme forms part of a wider national effort to protect people’s jobs. Fraudulent claims put at risk the provision of public services and the protection of livelihoods. This could include employers claiming on an employee’s behalf and not then paying them what they are entitled to, asking employees to do work while on furlough, or making a backdated claim that includes times when workers were working.

As part of HMRC’s commitment to transparency and to deter fraudulent claims, they will publish information about employers who claim for periods starting on or after 1 December 2020. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-who-have-claimed-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

Employees can play a vital role by reporting fraudulent claims to HMRC, via their online fraud reporting tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/customs-excise-and-vat-fraud-reporting.

Compliance investigations are now under way, and HMRC are checking claims made through this scheme. Payments may be withheld or need to be repaid in full to HMRC if the claim is based on dishonest or inaccurate information or found to be fraudulent.

HMRC have made clear that they will not hesitate to act on reports of abuse, and the first arrest made in relation to CJRS fraud was on 8 July 2020.

Individuals are only entitled to the National Living Wage (NLW)/National Minimum Wage (NMW) for the hours they are working or treated as working under the NLW/NMW rules.

Therefore, under flexible furloughing, furloughed workers will be paid NMW for any hours the individual spends working. For hours not worked, i.e. time furloughed, workers will be paid the lower of 80 per cent of their salary, or £2,500. This amount – for hours not worked – is the amount the employer can claim for through the CJRS.

If they wish, employers can top up these payments voluntarily.

If workers are required to complete training courses during the hours they are furloughed, then they must be paid at least the appropriate 2020/21 NLW/NMW for the time spent training, even if this is more than the 80 per cent of their monthly earnings that will be subsidised. Any training should be carried out in line with the latest public health guidance.

The Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care has primary responsibility for considering this issue.

However, at the Spending Review 2020, the Chancellor announced that the NHS will receive around an additional £500 million next year to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. This builds on the comprehensive expansion of mental health services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits at least a further £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24.

In addition, DHSC published ‘Staying mentally well this winter’ in November 2020, backed by an additional £50 million, which sets out the mental health and support available to people throughout the winter period and beyond.

A cross-Government group of ministers, led by the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health and the Paymaster General, has been established to consider and respond to the longer-term impacts of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing and will set out its plans in due course.

Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting business and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.

As measures to control the virus change, it is right that government support should also evolve. Because of this, we continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.

Vaccines are a foundation of our way out of this pandemic. As of 29 January, over 7.4 million people across the United Kingdom have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Backdated payments for those areas which entered Tier 3 prior to 5^th November will be made in the week commencing 14^th December. A total of £6.5m will be paid to relevant Local Authorities. This funding will enable those Local Authorities to make payments of up to £1,500 per two weeks that businesses were closed under the previous Tier 3 restrictions.

There are fundamental problems with the realities of a Universal Basic Income. Providing sufficient support through a UBI would require both a significant reduction in other public spending and an increase in taxation. A flat rate UBI would also not account for the additional needs and costs faced by some and could markedly increase inequality.

We are focussed on helping people get into work, making up to £30 billion available through our Plan for Jobs and have supported those on the lowest incomes through the pandemic by investing an additional £7.4 billion in the welfare system this year.

Enforcing a four-day working week would likely increase business costs at a time where we should be supporting businesses. We need to help businesses by creating and protecting jobs, not adding to their costs. This is why the Government has extended a number of Covid support schemes, such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, through the winter.

The UK’s flexible labour market allows employers to independently agree working arrangements with their workers. Enforcing a four-day working week would take that choice away from both workers and employers.

The Government is committed to tackling period poverty, and DHSC ministers are working with officials to develop a women’s health strategy.

Vital sexual and reproductive healthcare services have been maintained during the pandemic, including via online services, and NHS England announced in March 2019 that it will offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them. Last year we introduced the period product scheme to provide free period products for all learners who need them. This scheme will continue into 2021.

At Budget 2020 the Government announced that from January 2021, there will be no VAT charged on women’s sanitary products. And in the meantime, the £15m Tampon Tax Fund allocates the funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to front line projects that directly improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls.