Mark Pritchard

The Church Commissioners have indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The House of Commons Administration is aware of the risks, and carefully considers hardware procurements, and any security implications of using Chinese manufactured IT hardware on the parliamentary estate. We work with government departments to ensure that we work in line with the latest advice and guidance. The procurement of much of Parliament’s IT hardware (i.e. laptops, printers, tablets and accessories) is managed by a UK-based company called XMA.

Most office-based civil servants are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office, setting a consistent balance across the Civil Service. Departments, as individual employers, are responsible for any other measures.

It is a long-standing convention that the Government notifies the House of Commons of significant military action, either before or after the event, and where appropriate, makes time for a debate on that action. In the event that the House of Commons is unable to meet or conduct its business, the Government is committed to restoring the functioning of democratic institutions at the earliest opportunity. Even in emergency scenarios it is vital that Government decisions are scrutinised appropriately.

The Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 and the associated Regulations deliver a single framework for civil protection in the UK. The legislation is deliberately broad ranging and sets out the requirements to consider all emergencies that threaten serious damage to human welfare in the UK; the environment of a place in the UK; or war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK.

The Government keeps this legislation under review. The Cabinet Office has a legal obligation to review the CCA every five years. The most recent review was published in March 2022 and concluded that the Act continues to achieve its stated objectives. It did set out recommendations to strengthen the system and its planning which are being considered as part of the Resilience Review.

UK product safety legislation requires manufacturers or importers placing products on the UK market, including e-bikes and e-scooters, to ensure those products are safe. Regulators have powers to require that unsafe products are removed from sale.

We will introduce a new Bill to ensure the product safety framework keeps pace with modern technology, digital business models and international supply chains. This will better protect consumers and support business growth.

Through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements, we are exploring several ways to reduce energy bills by making more efficient use of the energy infrastructure we are building. As part of this we are considering zonal pricing, alongside options for further reform within our current national pricing arrangements. Government is considering these options carefully and will provide more information in due course.

The Online Safety Act gives platforms duties to tackle illegal content. The regulator, Ofcom, has outlined steps providers can take to fulfil these duties in codes of practice, including recommending steps for stopping illegal foreign interference and terrorism content being promoted via algorithms. These duties should be in effect by spring 2025.

The Act will also require all services to have clear, accessible Terms of Service (ToS) and will require Category 1 services to state what legal content for adults is not accepted. Companies must have effective reporting mechanisms, enabling users to raise concerns about enforcement of ToS, if they feel companies are not fulfilling their duties.

The government acknowledges rapid evolutions in the global satellite communications sector. Monopoly rarely serves the public interest and a competitive market is important to ensuring public and private sector value. We are keen to secure UK leadership in commercial satellite communications, which is why the UK has:

• delivered the Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit programme to develop the next generation of UK satellite communications technologies;
• led the European Space Agency’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems programme;
• supported a series of satellite broadband trials with a range of suppliers; and
• acquired a stake in UK based low Earth orbit satellite operator OneWeb, which supports over 400 highly productive UK jobs.

The Online Safety Act 2023 places duties on user to user services to proactively mitigate the risk that their services are used for illegal activity or to share illegal content. This includes content that incites violence and content which stirs up religious or racial hatred. The Act is currently being implemented. Ofcom will have a broad range of powers to assess and enforce compliance with the Act, including issuing fines to services that do not comply of up to £18m or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue in the relevant year, whichever is higher.

Since August 2022, Lichfield Cathedral has received £161,242 through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, and Hereford Cathedral has received £27,639.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has also supported both of these Cathedrals. Lichfield Cathedral has received £1,707,762 since 1996.Hereford Cathedral has received £6,135,300 since 2003.

Departmental settlements have been set by The Treasury following the Budget announcement on October 30. Individual programmes will now be assessed during the departmental Business Planning process.

The Government is committed to doing more to ensure that everyone from all backgrounds have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Sport and physical activity is central to achieving our health and opportunity manifesto missions, with the biggest gains coming from supporting those who are inactive to move more.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England’s work focuses on increasing participation in sport and to boost diversity at a grassroots level to give more and better opportunities to all.

Sport England provides long term investment to the Lawn Tennis Association, the National Governing Body for tennis in Britain, which receives up to £10.2 million for five years to invest in community tennis initiatives that will benefit everyone.

I refer the right hon. Member for The Wrekin to the answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12804.

The VAT treatment of the hiring or letting out of facilities will not change as a result of the decision to impose VAT on private school fees. HM Revenue and Customs have published guidance on charging and/or reclaiming VAT on goods and services related to private school fees, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/charging-and-reclaiming-vat-on-goods-and-services-related-to-private-school-fees.

In addition, in line with their charitable objectives, private schools demonstrate public benefit through partnerships with schools in the state sector. The government expects private schools to continue to work with schools in the state sector to demonstrate public benefit in this way. The government does not expect the imposition of VAT on school fees to reduce the efforts that private schools invest in their partnership working with state-funded schools.

The government’s ambition is that all children and young people receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs. This will help to restore parents’ trust that their child will get the support they need.

All schools have duties under the Equality Act 2010 towards individual disabled children and young people. They must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage.

The department is committed to ensuring a steady supply of teachers of children with vision impairment in both specialist and mainstream settings. To teach a class of pupils with vision impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant Mandatory Qualification for Sensory Impairment (MQSI). There are currently seven providers of the MQSI.

Moreover, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is developing a new occupational standard for teachers of pupils with sensory impairment, which is expected to be available from September 2025. This will improve the supply of those qualified to teach this important cohort and further help to improve their educational outcomes.

Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill and that is why pupils are taught how to swim and be safe in and around water at primary school.

Swimming and water safety are compulsory elements of the Physical Education (PE) National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. For example, it includes teaching on how to perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

The department is focusing on a number of measures to support teaching in this area, as part of its ongoing review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum. The public consultation on the revised draft RSHE statutory guidance closed on 11 July 2024. The revised guidance includes a new section called ‘Personal safety’, which outlines that pupils should know how to identify risk and manage personal safety in increasingly independent situations including around roads, railways and water.

It is vitally important that teachers have clear guidance, which is why the department will be looking carefully at the consultation responses, re-engaging with stakeholders and considering the relevant evidence before setting out next steps to take the RSHE guidance forward.

The department is also working closely with swimming and water safety stakeholders such as the Royal Life Saving Society UK and Swim England to support schools in raising attainment in primary school swimming and water safety. Support and advice from Swim England includes resources for schools and parents, which can be found at the following links: https://www.swimming.org/schools/ and https://www.swimming.org/learntoswim/learn-to-swim-information-for-parents/.

Department officials have also worked alongside the National Water Safety Forum to develop free resources for schools to provide vital water safety knowledge that can go a long way to reduce drowning deaths. These resources can be found on the Royal Life Saving Society website at: https://www.rlss.org.uk/Pages/Category/water-safety-education.

Ofsted’s overall role is to make sure that schools provide high and rising standards for every child through its inspection and reporting process. The School Inspection Handbook does not set any specific expectations for schools regarding site security. However, if inspectors had particular concerns about the adequacy of the physical security of school buildings, those concerns would be reported on.

Where birds of prey are killed by illegal use of rat poison, the full force of the law should apply to proven perpetrators of the crime. We have significant sanctions in place including an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence.

Bird of prey crime has been identified as a national wildlife crime priority. Defra supports the work of the National Wildlife Crime Unit which helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by, for example, directly assisting law enforcers.

Defra also provides funding for England’s Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme which determines the underlying cause of death in birds of prey where illegal use of pesticides or rodenticides/rat poison is suspected.

The Health and Safety Executive has responsibility for the GB Biocidal Products Regulation which covers rodenticides. Given the potential risks posed to the environment by rodenticides, they are subject to strict regulation. To ensure risks associated with professional use of anticoagulant rodenticides could be properly managed, a stewardship regime was developed by the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK to promote responsible use. This is currently under review. As of July 2024, it is no longer possible to purchase anticoagulant rodenticides for use outdoors in open areas.

Defra acted quickly to contain bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) when the first case this season was detected on 26 August, implementing zones with movement controls on susceptible livestock to prevent spread. These disease control restrictions have been adapted in response to new findings and there is now a single restricted zone (RZ) covering the east coast and some inland areas in England.

The movement of susceptible animals from the RZ to live elsewhere in England requires a specific licence and is subject to free pre-movement and post-movement testing. This helps to prevent the possible establishment of new pockets of disease from undetected spread via animal movements.

BTV-3 was confirmed on a single farm in Shropshire on 3 October, following the high-risk movement of cattle from the RZ.

Infected animals in cases found in free areas outside the restricted zone that moved before the RZ was declared, have also been humanely culled to minimise the risk of onward transmission.

Defra has permitted the use of vaccines for BTV-3. These vaccines are now available for vets to prescribe in England.

The Government will deliver a resilient and healthy food system, with a new deal that ensures fairness in the supply chain across all sectors, including the fresh produce sector. Farmers should always receive a fair price for their products and the Government is committed to tackling contractual unfairness wherever it exists.

Defra will continue to work closely with stakeholders from the fresh produce sector on the best way to achieve this.

This Government recognises that food security is national security and fruit and vegetables grown in the UK have an important part to play. As part of our mission-driven government and, in partnership with the sector, we are considering several ways to achieve our ambitious, measurable and long-term goals for the sector. We also recognise the importance of ensuring that growers can access the labour they need, and we have recently confirmed the Seasonal Worker visa route for 2025 with a total of 43,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for horticulture.

The Government is looking at existing policy to decide if and where policy changes may be needed. We also intend to engage with business, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on issues with and impacts of fireworks, including on animal welfare.

The use of fireworks is governed by the Fireworks Act 2003. The Fireworks Regulations, introduced in 2004, were made under this Act and prohibit the use of fireworks between 11pm and 7am. Exceptions apply for New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year, Diwali, and 5 November. Enforcement is the responsibility of the police.

Local authorities are responsible for investigating any noise or nuisance issues brought to their attention under Section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act. For noise – including from fireworks - to count as a statutory nuisance it must unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises, injure health or be likely to injure health.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age, currently sixty-six.

Local authorities in England have the power to go beyond their statutory obligations under the ENCTS and offer additional discretionary concessions, such as extending the times at which concessionary passes can be used.

All new tyres, both UK made and imported, require GB type approval before they are permitted for sale. To gain approval, manufacturers must demonstrate that they achieve a range of technical performance requirements. This includes a minimum wet grip performance which aims to ensure that sufficient deceleration can be achieved, even in adverse weather conditions. In addition, the braking system of the vehicle is required to achieve a minimum stopping performance in a variety of states.

There are no requirements in the goods vehicle operator licensing regime for vehicles used by delivery companies, utility companies, or construction companies to have livery displaying the details of the owning business, and the company using the vehicles at the time.

The goods vehicle operator licensing regime applies to vehicles weighing 3.5 tonnes or more used domestically, and those weighing more than 2.5 tonnes used for the purposes of hire and reward in the European Union.

Vehicles subject to operator licensing must have a disc with the operator licence number displayed. This can be checked on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/find-vehicle-operators to identify the operator responsible for the operation of the vehicle, and the type of licence held.

Midlands Connect, a sub-national transport body which researches, develops and progresses transport projects in the Midlands, is prioritising line speed improvements to this railway line over electrification. They are in the process of refreshing the Business Case for line speed improvements, which they plan to submit towards the end of 2024. It will be important to consider a range of options to progress decarbonisation of the rail network, and I expect to receive advice on this matter later this year.

I refer the honourable member to the answer to question UIN 500, given on the 25 July 2024.

The Government has no plans to extend statutory regulation to sports therapists at this time.

Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) is managed through cardiovascular services, and is managed by specialised cardiologists, linking with expertise from other specialties according to individual patients’ needs. Specialised Cardiology is one of the services which is being delegated to integrated care boards. Improvements in diagnosis and treatment are for local determination within national frameworks and NICE guidance and standards.

As of the end of October 2024, there were 412,017 patient pathways waiting for Cardiology Service, with 59.6%, or 245,532 patient pathways, waiting within 18 weeks. This is far below the 92% 18-week Referral-to-Treatment NHS Constitutional Standard. It is unacceptable that people cannot access the care they need, when they need it.

We have committed to getting back to the 18-week standard by the end of this Parliament. Funding announced in the Autumn Budget will support delivery of an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is equivalent to 40,000 per week, as a first step towards achieving this.

As part of this package, £1.5 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 will enable new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners to build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.

Dedicated and protected surgical hubs will transform the way the National Health Service provides elective care, improving outcomes for patients and reducing pressures on hospitals. Some hubs offer cardiology treatments and procedures, which could include treatment for PoTS.

The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

The Department is working hard with industry to help resolve intermittent supply issues with some epilepsy medications. As a result of ongoing activity and intensive work, including directing suppliers to expedite deliveries, some issues, including with some carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine presentations, have been resolved.

There was a supply issue with all strengths of lamotrigine tablets, used to manage epilepsy, due to manufacturing issues. The supply issue has recently resolved, and supply is expected to return to normal levels through early December 2024.

We are aware of an ongoing supply issue with all strengths of topiramate tablets with the resupply date to be confirmed. Other manufacturers of topiramate tablets can meet the increased demand during this time. We have confirmed with the supplier of Epilim Chronosphere that there are currently no issues with supply.

The Department continues to work closely with industry, the National Health Service, and others to help ensure patients continue to have access to an alternative treatment until their usual product is back in stock.

The Department does not hold the requested information centrally. All groups of healthcare professionals have their own regulatory bodies, for example, the General Medical Council is the regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council is the regulator of all nurses and midwives in the UK, and nursing associates in England. Healthcare professional regulators are independent of the Government, are directly accountable to Parliament, and are responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of their statutory duties. Regulators will hold data on professionals removed from their registers, and may be able to share this information upon request.

Any general practitioner, optometrist, or dentist offering National Health Service primary care services must also be registered on the NHS England Performers Lists. NHS England will hold data on professionals removed from the Performers Lists.

The Department does not intend to publish the country of origin of the baseline medical qualifications held by healthcare professionals removed from regulators’ registers or the Performers Lists.