Nia Griffith

The Government has been liaising with Territorial Offices and the devolved administrations including the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on this important issue. It is positive to note that developments in all four parts of the UK are such that there is work underway, at different stages, to end conversion practices often known as conversion therapy.

Officials will continue to work with their counterparts to discuss the UK Government’s proposals for England and Wales and share advice and progress on the approach to banning conversion therapy practices. We will share responses to our current public consultation relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland with relevant officials and we look forward to receiving further details of the Scottish Expert Advisory Group’s findings once they are developed. We have also provided the Scottish Parliament with written evidence on our plans to ban conversion therapy.

We are engaging with a wide range of international jurisdictions including Canada, France, New Zealand and Malta to understand the approaches they have taken or are developing to ban conversion therapy and to share our own developments too.

The Government has been liaising with Territorial Offices and the devolved administrations including the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on this important issue. It is positive to note that developments in all four parts of the UK are such that there is work underway, at different stages, to end conversion practices often known as conversion therapy.

Officials will continue to work with their counterparts to discuss the UK Government’s proposals for England and Wales and share advice and progress on the approach to banning conversion therapy practices. We will share responses to our current public consultation relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland with relevant officials and we look forward to receiving further details of the Scottish Expert Advisory Group’s findings once they are developed. We have also provided the Scottish Parliament with written evidence on our plans to ban conversion therapy.

We are engaging with a wide range of international jurisdictions including Canada, France, New Zealand and Malta to understand the approaches they have taken or are developing to ban conversion therapy and to share our own developments too.

Our proposals to ban conversion practices often known as conversion therapy are robust and comparable to other bans in place, or currently under development, around the world.

We are engaging with a wide range of international jurisdictions including France, Canada, New Zealand and Malta and will continue to work with a wide range of domestic stakeholders as our policy develops.

The existing criminal law is clear that a person cannot consent to serious harm and we do not propose to change this. We are working closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that the proposals will complement existing laws, including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and that they will not interfere with existing professional obligations and regulatory frameworks.

Our proposals to ban conversion practices often known as conversion therapy are robust and comparable to other bans in place, or currently under development, around the world.

We are engaging with a wide range of international jurisdictions including France, Canada, New Zealand and Malta and will continue to work with a wide range of domestic stakeholders as our policy develops.

The existing criminal law is clear that a person cannot consent to serious harm and we do not propose to change this. We are working closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that the proposals will complement existing laws, including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and that they will not interfere with existing professional obligations and regulatory frameworks.

Our proposals to ban conversion practices often known as conversion therapy are robust and comparable to other bans in place, or currently under development, around the world.

We are engaging with a wide range of international jurisdictions including France, Canada, New Zealand and Malta and will continue to work with a wide range of domestic stakeholders as our policy develops.

The existing criminal law is clear that a person cannot consent to serious harm and we do not propose to change this. We are working closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice, Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care to ensure that the proposals will complement existing laws, including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and that they will not interfere with existing professional obligations and regulatory frameworks.

As set out in the Command Paper published in May, the UK is committed to implementing the Protocol in a pragmatic and practical way that minimises the impact on both businesses and consumers. Further guidance will be set out in due course on post and parcel movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

The UKCA marking becomes mandatory for most goods from 1 January 2023. Products requiring the UKCA marking are valued at approximately £110bn of UK imports

BEIS is continuing to support industry through an extensive programme of engagement, publication of enhanced business guidance, and working closely with the Conformity Assessment Body sector and the UK Accreditation Service to support sufficient capacity to test and certify products to UKCA requirements.

Levelling up is central to the Government’s agenda and we are working with local leaders to ensure that every region, city, and town will effectively recover from Covid-19.

As part of this, £1,243,604,030 is being allocated through the Local Growth Fund for local growth deals in 2020 to 2021.

We notified the industry in October and December 2020 that the EU would not accept non-depurated, live, bivalve molluscs from class B waters harvested from wild stock from 1 January 2021.

Since then, we have heard that the EU Commission additionally has concerns about the trade from registered aquaculture production businesses. We have not however had a formal notification setting these out.

We are rapidly working to identify any scientific or legal basis that might undermine the trade so that it may continue to operate on a secure footing. This work includes discussions with EU Member States and the European Commission.

We understand the importance of this trade for Welsh shellfish businesses and others in the UK.

Live bivalve molluscs such as oysters, mussels, clams, cockles and scallops can continue to be exported to the EU if they are harvested from class A waters, have been cleaned or have cleared end product testing in GB.

The changes to The Highway Code to help improve road safety are being communicated in two phases:

• A factual awareness raising campaign ran in February and March, alerting road users to the changes as they came into effect.
• A broader behaviour change campaign will launch later this year, to align with seasonal increases in active travel, to help embed the changes and encourage understanding and uptake of the new guidance.

Both phases of the campaign include a significant media spend, utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand and social media advertising.

Communications activity also includes media engagement with supporting stakeholder comment and an extranet to share both static and video assets with stakeholders to amplify our messages.

More information on the campaign can be found at: www.think.gov.uk/campaign/highway-code-changes/

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their practical driving test following the suspension of routine driver training and testing during the pandemic.

The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this.

These include:

• offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners;
• asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests;
• conducting out of hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends; and
• asking recently retired driving examiners to return to testing.

As of 31 March 2022, driving test waiting times at Llanelli is 3 weeks.

The DVSA has a live recruitment campaign covering Llanelli, and has recently completed a campaign to recruit Welsh speaking driving examiners. The DVSA is also launching a new national campaign to recruit an extra 161 examiners across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests. This is in addition to its previous campaign to recruit more than 300 additional examiners.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their practical driving test following the suspension of routine driver training and testing during the pandemic.

The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this.

These include:

• offering a national recovery allowance and annual leave buy back to examiners;
• asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests;
• conducting out of hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends; and
• asking recently retired driving examiners to return to testing.

As of 31 March 2022, driving test waiting times at Llanelli is 3 weeks.

The DVSA has a live recruitment campaign covering Llanelli, and has recently completed a campaign to recruit Welsh speaking driving examiners. The DVSA is also launching a new national campaign to recruit an extra 161 examiners across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests. This is in addition to its previous campaign to recruit more than 300 additional examiners.

PIP is designed to provide help with extra costs arising from disability. Alongside the £9.1 billion Energy Bills Rebate announced on 3 February, the Government is providing £12 billion of support over this financial year and next to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19^th January to question number 104377.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question 107516.

Following the first reports of paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS) cases in London in April 2020, the former Public Health England initiated enhanced prospective national surveillance of PIMS cases with symptom onset between 1 March and 15 June 2020. NHS England used a rapid consensus exercise to develop national clinical management guidance on the condition.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that clinicians follow guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which directs critically ill children to acute care facilities. Training for paediatricians on PIMS has been supported by webinars for clinician decision makers and regular updates to paediatric critical care networks. Children with PIMS are identified, including appropriate treatment pathways, supported by seven specialised disease centres co-ordinating treatment advice.

The main bulk of the Integrated Review is expected to conclude in line with the Comprehensive Spending Review later this year, although implementation of its recommendations will be a multi-year project. Unlike a normal Strategic Defence and Security Review the Integrated Review will not be limited to specific departments, objectives or timeframes but will take a holistic approach to our place in the world and how Government is best structured to achieve our objectives.

The main bulk of the integrated review is expected to conclude in line with the Comprehensive Spending Review later this year, although implementation of its recommendations will be a multi-year project.

The government is launching a new Levelling Up Fund worth £4bn for England, that will attract up to £800m for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the usual way. The Levelling Up Fund will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities and will support economic recovery. The SR makes available up to £600m in 2021-22. Further funding will be spread over subsequent years up to 24/25.

On Friday 18 September 2020, the Government confirmed that a Fujitsu led consortium had been appointed to deliver the Trader Support Service (TSS). The consortium has expertise across the range of services needed to make the TSS effective, including the Institute of Export & International Trade, an existing provider of customs education, and the Customs Clearance Consortium, an established customs intermediary.

The Trader Support Service (TSS) was launched on 28 September and will be making declarations on behalf of traders from 1 January. The Trader Support Service will be able to help all traders, regardless of size and at no additional cost, to get their businesses ready for changes to trade due to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Home Office has agreed to provide £2.5m of Special Grant funding to Dyfed-Powys Police in respect of these costs up to September 2021.

The Home Office has agreed to provide £2.5m of Special Grant funding to Dyfed-Powys Police in respect of these costs up to September 2021.

The Home Office has agreed to provide £2.5m of Special Grant funding to Dyfed-Powys Police in respect of these costs up to September 2021.

The Home Office has sought Public Health advice on how we can make best use of this accommodation, working within the constraints of the configuration, whilst minimising risks from Covid-19.

Risk mitigations include limiting occupancy in dormitories ensuring a minimum distance between beds of at least 2 metres. This is complemented by a range of additional safety measures including increased cleaning of surfaces, availability of hand sanitisers, a track and trace system and communications with residents around covid-19 control measures.

Asylum seekers will have the same access to testing as the general population.

The Home Office’s contractor?has an outbreak management plan which will be enacted if we experience an outbreak.?

In recent months we have faced additional challenges which have required us in some instances to use temporary accommodation, including hotels, to fulfil our statutory obligations to house destitute asylum seekers whilst their claims are examined.

This accommodation is contingency accommodation. Our ambition is to house asylum seekers within the asylum estate without the need for contingency accommodation. We are working to address the issues putting pressure on our asylum accommodation including resuming cessation of support for those whose cases have been decided. This frees up accommodation for new claimants and allows us to reduce our use of contingency measures.

The Ministry of Defence has given permission to use the site for up to 12 months; this facility will be temporary, and we will discontinue it as soon as we are able.