Neil Duncan-Jordan

The Government uses a range of channels to reach and engage the public. Any use of these platforms would be assessed against the high standards for digital safety set out in the Government Communication Service (GCS) SAFE framework. The four core principles of the framework are safety and sustainability, ads context, freedom of speech, and ethics and enforcement.

The Child Poverty Taskforce understands the importance of children’s health in tackling child poverty. In December, children's health will be discussed at the external experts meeting as part of strategy development for ensuring low-income families are able to access quality services to tackle the impacts of poverty.

This engagement is happening alongside a wider commitment for the Taskforce to involve families, charities, campaigners, and leading organisations across the UK to understand the multiple drivers and impacts of poverty. Recently Taskforce co-chairs, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Education, visited a Barnado’s Family Centre in Brent to join a children’s session focused on healthy eating and heard how parents are struggling with the costs of essentials.

The Taskforce has set out their broader engagement strategy in their latest publication titled ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’. This engagement is in addition to the large existing evidence base on child poverty in the UK and internationally, which the Taskforce is building understanding from.

Individual medical professionals as well as organisations are also welcome to submit specific evidence to childpoverty.secretariat@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. We will set out details on the publication of the Strategy in due course.

We will work to reset the relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties, secure a broad-based security pact and tackle barriers to trade.

We have no plans for an EU-wide youth mobility scheme and there will be no return to freedom of movement.

The UK’s framework for occupational regulation upholds public protection, while ensuring regulatory burdens on industry are proportionate. Although the locksmithing profession is not subject to statutory regulation, several self-regulating trade associations and accreditation schemes exist within the industry. The government keeps the occupational regulatory regime under review to respond to industry and public needs.

Most people use fireworks in a responsible, safe, and appropriate manner and there are laws in place to address situations where fireworks are misused. The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property. The Government has recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk website to provide guidance on minimising the impacts of fireworks on people and animals.

To inform any future decisions on fireworks policy I intend to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities shortly after the fireworks season to gather evidence on the issues and impacts with fireworks. Officials regularly meet and correspond with charities to listen to and understand their views.

Most people use fireworks in a responsible, safe, and appropriate manner and there are laws in place to address situations where fireworks are misused. The current regulatory framework is designed to support people to enjoy fireworks whilst lowering the risk of dangers and disruption to people, pets, and property. The Government has recently launched an awareness campaign on the Gov.uk website to provide guidance on minimising the impacts of fireworks on people and animals.

To inform any future decisions on fireworks policy I intend to engage with businesses, consumer groups and charities shortly after the fireworks season to gather evidence on the issues and impacts with fireworks. Officials regularly meet and correspond with charities to listen to and understand their views.

Standing charges cover the costs energy suppliers take on to provide consumers with electricity. Although they are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges.

The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them. Ofgem’s recently published discussion paper sets out the options for how standing charges could be reduced, including by moving some supplier operational costs off standing charges onto the unit rate, increasing the variety of tariffs available for consumer in the market, and in the longer term, reviewing how system costs are allocated. We will continue to support Ofgem in this work and ensure that standing charges are reduced.

Last year, Ofgem introduced stringent rules for the involuntary installation of prepayment meters. Under these new rules, energy suppliers are required to make at least 10 attempts to contact an indebted customer, carry out a site visit prior to involuntary installation, and refrain from installations in households where a vulnerable person is present.

Energy suppliers are only able to restart involuntary prepayment meter installation when they can demonstrate to Ofgem that they are able to comply with the new rules. We are working with Ofgem to actively monitor the impact of these changes to involuntary installations and will continue to engage with them closely on this.

Funding announcements will be confirmed at the upcoming Spending Review.

The government is considering options to ensure a fair, proportionate and affordable approach to improving the energy performance of owner-occupied homes. We will consult this year on proposals for private and social rented homes to achieve Energy Performance Certificate C or equivalent by 2030.

The Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other home improvements. We will set out further detail on delivering our Warm Homes Plan next Spring.

Decisions about arts funding are subject to the arm’s-length principle and are made by Arts Council England. In December 2023, Arts Council England and English National Opera agreed £24m funding for 2024-2026. This will enable ENO to continue to deliver a substantial opera season every year in London, whilst co-developing significant performance and learning activity in Greater Manchester as it works towards establishing a new main base by 2029.  This brings ACE’s investment in the ENO to over £35m.

The ENO provides invaluable opportunities for young people, including their free tickets for under 21s scheme. We are pleased to see that this initiative, amongst others, remains a key part of the ENO’s impact.

This Government is committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential and recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving their life chances and wellbeing.

As set out in section 507B of the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a statutory duty to secure, so far as is reasonably practicable, sufficient provision of educational and recreational leisure-time activities for young people. This is funded from the local government settlement.

Additionally, as a government we are keen to ensure that there is appropriate youth provision to stop young people being drawn into crime and facing other poor outcomes. This is why we are creating the Young Futures programme, which will see the establishment of Prevention Partnerships in every local authority and the rollout of youth hubs across England and Wales. These Partnerships, supported by a network of hubs, will bring local services together and deliver support for young people to help them live safe and healthy lives.

This will build on the DCMS funding to invest £500 million in youth services to ensure every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer.

Short-term lets are an important part of the UK’s visitor accommodation offer and the government recognises the benefits to the visitor economy.

Parliament legislated for a registration scheme for short-term lets in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. This government is exploring the introduction of such a scheme, as a statutory requirement. This will promote a level playing field in the guest accommodation sector across England, particularly in the application of existing health & safety regulations.

Young carers were added, as a specific group within the education system, to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year.

The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward. This includes considering how schools are to be assessed in future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, in the context of the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to undertake a Young Carers’ Needs Assessment where it appears that a young carer may need support or where an assessment is requested by a young carer or by a parent of a young carer.

The Children’s Social Care National Framework, which was issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that children’s social care should achieve when supporting children, young people and families, including young carers.

The department is clear that the everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and break down barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. We have included specific expectations, in the framework, for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners on providing help to young carers.

Young carers were added, as a specific group within the education system, to the school census in the 2022/23 academic year. Ofsted has committed to developing and consulting upon a revised schools’ inspection framework for September 2025. This will support the new school report card, which will also be in place from that time. A consultation on the framework and report card is scheduled to launch early in the new year.

The department and Ofsted are engaging closely to take this forward. This includes considering how schools are to be assessed in future in terms of their contribution to inclusion, in the context of the government’s mission to ensure that all children, including young carers, can achieve and thrive at school.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to undertake a Young Carers’ Needs Assessment where it appears that a young carer may need support or where an assessment is requested by a young carer or by a parent of a young carer.

The Children’s Social Care National Framework, which was issued in December 2023, is statutory guidance for local authorities. It provides clarity on the outcomes that children’s social care should achieve when supporting children, young people and families, including young carers.

The department is clear that the everyone working within children’s social care should use the National Framework to understand how they can improve the outcomes and break down barriers for opportunity for children, young people, and families. We have included specific expectations, in the framework, for practice for senior leaders, practice supervisors and practitioners on providing help to young carers.

Local Skills Improvement Plans are a valuable source of information for local skills training providers, employers and stakeholders, and will provide important intelligence for the newly established Skills England.

The current grant-funding period for the designated employer representative bodies leading the development, implementation and review of each Local Skills Improvement Plan runs until March 2025. Future funding arrangements for Local Skills Improvement Plans will be considered as part of the current Spending Review.

The department has been working closely with all statutory partners involved in delivering special educational needs and disability (SEND) services in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole since their local area SEND inspection in June 2021.

The department holds regular formal monitoring meetings with the local authority and partners as part of holding the local area to account for making the necessary improvements in services. The latest monitoring meeting highlighted that the local authority and partners are taking positive steps to improve services, with some evidence of early impact, but that there are still ways to go to ensure that all children and families receive the service they require and deserve.

The department has put in place robust support for the local authority and their partners through the appointment of a Sector Led Improvement Partner and SEND advisor support. The department will continue to work with the local area to ensure they deliver further improvements in services.

It is also important that the department has a fair education funding system that directs funding to where it is needed. Budgets for the 2025/26 financial year have not been set. This means that decisions on high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND, and the publication of allocations to local authorities for that year, will not be to the usual timescales.

Sunken or stranded boats within Poole Harbour, and pollution arising from them, fall within the responsibility of the Poole Harbour Master’s Office. We encourage the public to report pollution via our incident hotline, by calling 0800 80 70 60 at any time.

The UK is leading action under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter to improve the management of end-of-life recreational vessels. This includes work with contracting parties: to develop a methodology to estimate the quantity, distribution and material composition of these vessels; to collate an inventory of end-of-life vessels; and to develop guidance to support their waste management.

The OSPAR Convention is the Regional Seas Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic and, as a Contracting Party, the UK participates in monitoring programmes to assess regional trends in marine litter and implements actions under the Regional Action Plan.

The UK also commissioned Resource Futures to undertake research to inform policy development to discourage abandonment and improve waste management of end-of-life recreational vessels, focused on establishing volume, location and type of materials in the waste stream and understanding current disposal options and barriers in the UK and across the OSPAR Maritime Area.

This research is published online: Marine litter from end of life recreational vessels - ME5247.

End of life recreational vessels are often made from glass reinforced polymer, or fibreglass, and are recognised as a source of marine litter when abandoned offshore or on shorelines where their degradation can lead to macro and micro litter.

Defra has not commissioned research into the potential impact of glass fibre boats on ecology directly, but the UK is leading action under the OSPAR Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter to improve the management of end-of-life recreational vessels. This includes work with contracting parties: to develop a methodology to estimate the quantity, distribution and material composition of these vessels; to collate an inventory of end-of-life vessels; and to develop guidance to support their waste management.

The OSPAR Convention is the Regional Seas Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic and, as a Contracting Party, the UK participates in monitoring programmes to assess regional trends in marine litter and implements actions under the Regional Action Plan.

The UK also commissioned Resource Futures to undertake research to inform policy development to discourage abandonment and improve waste management of end-of-life recreational vessels, focused on establishing volume, location and type of materials in the waste stream and understanding current disposal options and barriers in the UK and across the OSPAR Maritime Area. This research is published online: Marine litter from end of life recreational vessels - ME5247.

In our manifesto, the Government committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy. A circular economy is a system that decouples economic activity from new resource extraction, using a systemic approach across the full material and product lifecycle to maintain the value of our resources for as long as possible. Recycling has a role to play in the circular economy, but where possible the approach will mean moving materials and products further up the waste hierarchy by encouraging better design, reuse and repair.

The UK is leading action under the OSPAR Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter to improve the management of end-of-life recreational vessels. The OSPAR Convention is the Regional Seas Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. This includes work with other Contracting Parties: to develop a methodology to estimate the quantity, distribution and material composition of these vessels; to collate an inventory of end-of-life vessels; and to develop guidance to support their waste management.

The UK also commissioned Resource Futures to undertake research to inform policy development to discourage abandonment and improve waste management of end-of-life recreational vessels, focused on establishing volume, location and type of materials in the waste stream and understanding current disposal options and barriers in the UK and across the OSPAR Maritime Area. This research is published online: Marine litter from end of life recreational vessels - ME5247.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Eastleigh, Liz Jarvis, on 18 September 2024, PQ 5214.

We are carefully considering the recommendations in the Animal Welfare Committee’s report on the welfare implications of carrying methods for poultry to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare and will set out next steps in due course.

Maritime officials within the Department have had no discussions on the long-term provision of ferry services from (i) Poole and (ii) Portsmouth to the Channel Islands.

Ferry services are predominantly run on a commercial basis without UK government intervention. However, where services are pertinent to local and regional objectives, relevant bodies can become involved in the specification of service provision. In this case, we understand that the governments of the States of Guernsey and Jersey have undertaken a procurement process to meet the Islands’ ferry service needs. This is a matter for those States, and therefore this Department has not had discussions with Islands, ferry providers, or unions, in this instance.

The new fare cap will be designed to be as equitable as possible in terms of its support for passengers across England. One of the key principles of the scheme will be to include ‘open’ services which allow any member of public to board. ‘Closed’ school services, defined as a service which would not allow a member of the general public to board, and school services which operate in term-time only will not be eligible for inclusion. This is in keeping with the approach of the previous fare cap scheme, which did not allow for the inclusion of closed school services.

Services from participating operators that serve schools, are open to members of the public and run all year round will be eligible for inclusion in the scheme.

Department officials have regular discussions with South-Western Railway on the introduction of the Arterio Class 701 fleet. The first trains have entered passenger service, with a gradual roll out expected over the next two years.

Department officials have regular discussions with South-Western Railway on the introduction of the Arterio Class 701 fleet. The first trains have entered passenger service, with a gradual roll out expected over the next two years.

We look to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), as the independent safety regulator for Britain’s railways, to ensure operators have the right procedures in place for both driver and guard operated doors to safeguard passengers when embarking and disembarking trains.

The ORR has concluded that passengers can be dispatched safely and effectively with driver control operated doors, provided suitable equipment, procedures and competent staff are in place. These should be consistent with the principles for driver-controlled operation that the ORR has developed in consultation with train operators and trade unions. The ORR will, nonetheless, continue to keep dispatch arrangements under review to ensure any risks are mitigated effectively.

Automatic enrolment has succeeded in transforming pension saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. These statistics are available from The Pensions Regulator and are updated on a monthly basis in their Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance report.

The department’s regular publication of data, including the Workplace Pension Participation and Savings Trends, is available on GOV.UK. This publication includes a wide range of data on pension participation. Overall, 80% (22.3m) of employees in Great Britain are benefiting from participating in a workplace pension as of 2023. Considering only employees eligible for automatic enrolment, 88% (20.7m) of employees are participating.

The data requested for the average pension paid to members of automatic enrolment schemes is not available.

The department publishes the Pensioners’ Income Series. This provides estimates on the level and source of pensioners’ incomes, including income from occupational pensions (this is a wider definition than automatic enrolment schemes).

In the 2022/23 financial year, 62% of pensioner benefit units were in receipt of occupational pension income. Of the pensioner benefit units receiving this income, the median amount received was £210 per week and the mean amount received was £314 per week, with 6% of pensioner benefit units receiving £900 or more per week.

We will shortly be directly contacting approximately 120,000 pensioners who are in receipt of Housing Benefit and who may be eligible for, but not currently claiming, Pension Credit. We will be inviting these pensioners to claim Pension Credit ahead of 21st December so that they may also be entitled to this year’s Winter Fuel Payment.

In the longer term, the Government will bring together the administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, so that pensioner households receiving Housing Benefit also receive any Pension Credit that they are entitled to, which was pushed back by the previous government.

Since the announcement to means test Winter Fuel payments, to date we have increased the resource in Pension Credit claims by approximately 500 staff through a combination of internal redeployments, use of external providers and external recruitment. This is in line with the overall resourcing plan for Pension Credit claims and Winter Fuel payments.

1. About half (52%) of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit households affected by the policy, or 230,000, are single adult households, and about half (48% or 220,000) are couples, as show in Figure 2 of the latest statistics commentary published here: Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, April 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

2. In April 2024, 82,000 (40%) of single parents who are affected by the policy were in work.

3. In April 2024, the mean average take home pay of single parents who are affected by the policy and were in work was £1,038 per month.