Nicola Richards

We are working closely with the Ukrainian government on tackling conflict-related sexual violence, including through UK expertise to support investigations through the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group and the International Criminal Court.

As part of the UK's £220 million of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, we are helping ensure legal support and crisis accommodation for victims and documentation of gender-based violence cases.

In 2020/21 the closure of the estate to visitors, along with the much-reduced number of people working onsite, significantly affected income. In 2020/21 income from tours reduced by £2.4 million. Many tours staff were reassigned to other roles so there was no clear offsetting saving. The impact on catering and retail was a net increase in costs of £4.6 million (catering) and £0.85 million (retail). With no education visits spending on the transport subsidy for schools was reduced by £0.6m.

(a) Taken from House of Commons Administration Annual Report and Accounts for 2019–20.

(b) Taken from House of Commons Administration Annual Report and Accounts for 2020–21. See below for explanation of the figure.

*The House of Commons had budgeted to receive £2.4 million in income from tours in 2020–21 but, in the event, there was no income because tours were cancelled. It is important to note that this is income foregone, which is not the same as a net loss. (We noted on page 27 of the accounts that the loss in income is a gross figure; many tours staff were reassigned to other roles so there was no clear offsetting saving.)

In 2021 commercial tours, along with public access to retail and catering outlets, restarted over the summer. Income and expenditure in these areas continue to be closely monitored, as with all House of Commons 2021/22 budgets.

The House of Commons Commission has implemented relevant Government guidance which at times required individuals to work from home. Since legal restrictions were lifted no member of House staff has been required to work from home where this would have an impact on their health.

Arrangements for their staff are a matter for the Member as the employer, who likewise have been able to allow their staff to work on the estate once legal restrictions were lifted where there was a health need.

The health and wellbeing of all on the estate remains the highest priority for the Commission. A range of services are offered by the House to support the wellbeing of Members and staff, including:

• Mental Health Guidance, including Mental Health: A Guide for Managers
• Wellness Action Plans
• In partnership with Mind – a number of additional resources recognising the impact of Coronavirus on individuals
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Occupational Health, Wellbeing & Medical Services

Through the use of these tools suitable arrangements for an individual can be put in place based on their specific circumstances.

No staff have been made redundant. Staff have been redeployed to alternative roles as required.

No redundancies have been made, or are expected, consequential to (a) the closure of catering and hospitality venues and (b) restrictions placed on the number of visitors to the parliamentary estate.

We are clear that the Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for an employer or potential employer to discriminate against a disabled person because of their disability. Specifically, the Act requires employers to make reasonable adjustments in relation to the disabled employee’s job or application for a job.

The Government has put in place a range of provisions to help disabled people find and stay in work across the country. Our programmes include Access to Work, Disability Confident, specialised employment support including the Work and Health Programme and the Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme.

In addition, the Government is ensuring that disabled people, including people with hidden disabilities have access to public services, such as access to the Blue Badge scheme for parking, Changing Places toilet facilities, and accessible communications. The Government, via the Cabinet Office Disability Unit, is supporting the British Standards Institution, in its development of a public information symbol to support disabled people with non-visible disabilities.

We will publish a National Strategy for Disabled People to ensure that all disabled people can play a full role in society. The Strategy will focus on the issues that disabled people say affect them the most in all aspects and phases of life.

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

The Secretary of State and department officials have regular meetings and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society groups, on online safety issues. During the development and passage of the Online Safety Act, the department and Ministers met with relevant civil society organisations to discuss issues such as suicide prevention and countering online hate and violence, to ensure the legislation took into account as broad a range of views as possible.

Following the Act gaining Royal Assent, there is ongoing engagement with relevant stakeholders as the legislation is implemented by Ofcom, the online safety regulator.

The Government recognises this is a worrying time for businesses facing pressures due to the significant increases in prices. Extensive engagement continues across government at both a ministerial and official level on this situation to understand, and to help mitigate the impacts of, high global energy prices. The Government’s priority is to ensure costs are managed and energy supplies maintained.

We are providing hospitality businesses in Tiers 2 and 3 with a wide package of support to help them through the current crisis. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, government-backed loans, Local Restrictions Support Grants and additional funding provided to Local Authorities to support businesses. On 1 December, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister also announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to leisure facilities, including swimming pools, which are great spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in leisure facilities.

Sport England has invested £9,564,322 in swimming and diving projects since April 2019, which includes £6,260,502 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.

Living Well Street is currently not in any rollout plans via the local body, the Black Country LEP. While not eligible for our Rural Gigabit Vouchers, this helpful checker provides several local suppliers who are able to deliver to this area which residents may find useful (https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/#suppliers).

The government has the ambition of providing nationwide gigabit-capable connectivity as soon as possible. The government will continue to take action to remove barriers to commercial network rollout, and will ensure that those in the hardest to reach areas are not left behind. £5 billion of funding has been allocated to invest in the hardest to reach areas of the UK, ensuring that all residents will have access to the digital connectivity they need and deserve. Further details of the £5 billion programme will be published in due course. As of 27 August, 26% of UK premises have access to gigabit-capable speeds; however while this is good progress, I realise there is still much more to do.

The government also introduced the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) on 20 March 2020. The USO gives eligible premises in the UK the right to request a decent and affordable connection. The government has defined decent broadband as a service that can provide a download speed of 10Mbps and an upload speed of 1Mbps. Further information can be found at this address: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/broadband-uso-need-to-know.

However, the vast majority of premises in urban areas such as Living Well Street are likely to be able to access a 4G or 5G mobile data service that provides USO level speeds or higher and so therefore will not qualify for assistance under the Universal Service Obligation. According to the Ofcom mobile availability checker, residents in Living Well Street can access a 4G connection across all four of the mobile network operators.

DCMS recognises the crucial role that individuals play in the UK’s entertainment and events industry, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many individuals operating in these sectors.

The Secretary of State announced a major £1.57 billion support package for key cultural organisations to help them through the coronavirus pandemic. This funding will provide targeted support to organisations across a range of cultural and creative sectors which will benefit self-employed and freelance workers by providing support to music venues and many other organisations in the Creative Industries that host live events, to stay open and continue operating.

To complement the funding for organisations made available by Government, Arts Council England (ACE) have announced £95m of additional support for individuals, including freelancers. This involves:

• An additional £75m in project grants. These will be focused on applications that maximise employment opportunities and those from under-represented groups. Freelancers and National Portfolio Organisations are eligible to apply.

• A further round of the ACE programme ‘Discover Your Creative Practice’ will open in the autumn. This will make approximately £18m available for individuals looking to develop new creative skills that will help them to further develop their career.

• ACE will also be adding £2m into relevant benevolent funds to support those less well supported by the programmes outlined above, including stage managers and technicians.

We are committed to continuing to work with the entertainment and events sectors to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery.

The government recognises that the COVID-19 outbreak has had unparalleled impact on all elements of the global and UK economy, and this academic year has been difficult for all students.

To protect students at this unprecedented time, particularly those who may have been planning to undertake a part time job, we have made an additional £85 million of student hardship funding available to higher education providers in the 2020/21 academic year. This is in addition to the £256 million of government funded student premium funding already available to higher education (HE) providers to draw on for this academic year, 2020/21.

Providers have flexibility in how they distribute this funding to their students, in a way that best prioritises those in greatest need. Support can include help for students, including international students and postgraduates, facing additional costs arising from having to maintain accommodation in more than one location or assistance to help students access teaching remotely.

The current measures aim to target support for students in greatest need, and we have been consistently clear that if an international student needs to request access to hardship funds through their provider due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, they can be confident in expressing these concerns to their provider without any impact on their immigration status.

The HE sector has also led some valuable work in this area. For example, Universities UK international published guidance for universities to support international students in financial hardship, and in March they wrote to all UK-based embassies to ensure international students are aware of the support available to them if required. This guidance is available here: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/guidance-support-international-student-hardship-pandemic.aspx/.

To further support students in finding work post-graduation, the department has worked with the HE sector to understand what more we can do to support graduates who are looking to enter the labour market at this challenging time. In response, we have developed the Graduate Employment and Skills Guide, which was published on Monday 10 May 2021 on the Office for Students website. The guide signposts graduates to public, private and voluntary sector opportunities, to help students build employability skills, gain work experience or enter the labour market, as well as providing links to further study options and resources on graduate mental health and wellbeing.

The Department wants to support all young people to lead happy, healthy and safe lives and to foster respect for other people and for difference. That is why the Department has made the new subjects of Relationships Education (for primary school pupils), Relationships and Sex Education (for secondary school pupils) and Health Education (for all pupils in state-funded schools) compulsory from September 2020.

The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance specifically advises schools to be alive to issues such as sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and gender stereotypes, and to take positive action to tackle these issues. Statutory guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

In primary schools, age-appropriate relationships education involves supporting children to learn about what healthy relationships are and their importance, as well as how to develop mutually respectful relationships in all contexts, including online. In secondary schools, relationships education broadens to become age-appropriate relationships and sex education and will include factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships.

Specifically, at secondary school pupils should be taught about the concepts of and laws relating to sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based violence and female genital mutilation.

To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence we have produced RSHE Teacher Training Modules which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. Each module covers safeguarding to make sure teachers, pastoral staff and the designated safeguarding lead are equipped to deal with sensitive discussions and potential disclosures.

We plan to introduce regulations soon which will prohibit the use of remote controlled electronic training collars that deliver an electric shock to cats and dogs.

We have not made an assessment of the costs to the Department in responding to this case, which was concluded in Defra’s favour. We plan to introduce regulations soon which will prohibit the use of remote controlled electronic training collars that deliver an electric shock to cats and dogs.

Tackling the harm caused by sewer overflows is a top priority for this department.

I have met water company CEOs and made clear that the volume of sewage discharged into rivers and other waterways in extreme weather must be reduced.

To achieve this, the new Storm Overflows Taskforce - bringing together the Government, the water industry, regulators and environmental NGOs - has agreed to set a long-term goal to eliminate harm from storm overflows. The Taskforce is meeting regularly and working on plans to make progress towards that goal, and has commissioned research to gather evidence on the costs, benefits and feasibility of different options.

As announced on 11 May, we are putting forward amendments to the Environment Bill that will help to reduce the harm that storm overflows cause to our waterways. We are introducing new duties that will require the Government to publish a plan by September 2022 to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows and to report progress to Parliament on implementing that plan. We are also introducing duties requiring water companies and the Environment Agency to publish data on storm overflow operations on an annual basis. These legally binding obligations on water companies and the Government will reduce pollution in rivers – protecting wildlife and public health.

Water companies are currently committed in the 5-year business planning period (2020-25) to a significant programme of improvements to the monitoring and management of storm overflows at a cost of around £1.1 billion. This investment includes undertaking 800 investigations and 798 improvement schemes to provide environmental improvements by reducing spills from frequently spilling overflows.

The UK Government intends to achieve an FTA with the EU by December 2020. We therefore do not expect the UK Global Tariff (UKGT) to apply to EU imports. The Political Declaration sets an aim for “a zero tariff and zero quota FTA”. We would like to achieve that. Reducing the cost pressures and processes associated with trade is in the interests of people and businesses across the UK.

The Government wants a free trade deal, based on friendly cooperation. The UK is a significant importer of goods from the EU, and avoiding tariffs would be beneficial to both sides, given our shared commitment to high regulatory standards We will publish more analysis in the Taxation Information and Impact Note (TIIN) alongside the legislation, as is standard practice.

Diamond Bus is a commercial bus operator and recovery funding provided to them by the Department for Transport through the Bus Recovery Grant is commercially sensitive. Diamond Bus Ltd received £1,600,478.60 in 19/20, £1,264,742.20 in 20/21 and £1,712,055.34 in 21/22 through the Bus Service Operator Grant.

Transport for West Midlands oversees transport in Sandwell Council and all funding provided to them under the Bus Service Operators Grant and Bus Recovery Grant is paid to West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). WMCA has received £1,792,259 annually since 2013 through the Bus Service Operator Grant. WMCA have been allocated £7.3m from March 2020 to October 2022 to support services through the pandemic, of which they received £4.2 million via Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant, £1.2 million via Bus Recovery Grant and £1.9 million from the Local Transport Fund.

The Department for Transport also provided funding to WMCA to support its bus network for the duration of the Commonwealth Games in 2022. WMCA therefore also received an additional £23.4m under the Network Stabilisation Fund and Network Planning Fund which can be used to maintain bus services.

NHS England has committed £20 million between 2022 and 2025 to fund the expansion of HIV opt-out testing in accident and emergency (A&E) departments in areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. To further maximise the opportunity afforded by the funding for HIV opt-out testing, NHS England decided to implement a combined blood borne viruses (BBV) approach to include Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C testing alongside HIV. The NHS England London region took a decision to include all A&E departments in London the project, some of which were high HIV prevalence areas.

Data from NHS England indicates that this BBV opt-out testing initiative has helped find more than 900 people unaware they are living with HIV, or not accessing HIV care and over 2500 people living with, or not accessing care for Hepatitis B and over 1000 people living with or not accessing care for Hepatitis C during the first 18 months of the programme.

On 9 November 2023, the UK Health Security Agency published an evaluation of the first year of the BBV opt-out testing in A&E departments in local areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. Findings show that the programme has made a significant contribution to BBV testing in England with more than half the number of tests done in the programme compared to BBV tests in other settings.

After careful consideration of the available evidence, the Government has now also committed £20 million to fund new research, commissioned through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), that will involve an expansion and evaluation of BBV opt out testing in a further 47 emergency departments, in high prevalence HIV areas across England (2 or more HIV cases per 1,000 residents). Funding will support 12 months of testing for each emergency department, to begin during the next financial year.

This information is not held in the format requested.

The number of people not retained in care is included in the HIV Action Plan monitoring and evaluation framework published on 1 December 2022 which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-monitoring-and-evaluation-framework/hiv-action-plan-monitoring-and-evaluation-framework

The following table shows the number of people not attending care for at least 15 months in 2019 to 2021.

Among the 94,695 people seen for human immunodeficiency virus care between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020, 4,444 people were not retained in care, that is were not seen for care again for at least 15 months, by the end of 2021.

The HIV Action Plan is the cornerstone of our approach to drive forward progress and achieve our ambitions to end new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmissions, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. The Plan is driven forward by an Implementation Steering Group (ISG) comprised by key delivery partners, including the voluntary and community sector. To help fulfil our commitments to optimise rapid access to treatment and retention in care, we are in the process of setting up a retention and re-engagement in care task and finish (T&F) group as a subgroup of the ISG. The T&F group is chaired by NHS England and will provide advice to the ISG on actions needed to increase the number of people retained and re-engaged in care and receiving effective treatment, including addressing barriers which prevent people from accessing services. The recommendations will be considered by the ISG who will agree how best to take it forward.

When examining the feasibility of further expanding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) opt-out testing to areas of high prevalence, we will assess its contribution to finding cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV and preventing further HIV transmissions in the areas it is currently being rolled out. This will be considered alongside data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions, acquired immune deficiency syndrome and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030, including the estimated number of people living with undiagnosed HIV, published regularly by the United Kingdom Health and Security Agency through the HIV Action Plan Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

As part of the Government’s ‘Towards Zero: the HIV Action Plan for England - 2022 to 2025’, NHS England has expanded opt-out human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in accident and emergency departments in areas of extremely high diagnosed HIV prevalence (over five cases per 1,000 people), a proven effective way to identify new HIV cases in line with the guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England is investing £20 million over three years from 2022 to 2025 to support this activity.

We will be considering the full evidence from the first year of opt-out testing, alongside the data on progress towards our ambition of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030, to decide whether we further expand this programme to areas with high HIV prevalence (two to five cases per 1,000 people). We will also share the findings from the opt-out testing programme with local health systems to inform local decisions on expansion.

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office were informed of the deaths of 15 British nationals killed in the terrorist attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023.

We do not have details on how many of the victims were dual nationals.

We have not recently engaged with the Turkish Government on the reported granting of citizenship and passports to senior Hamas figures. Turkey granted citizenship to Ismail Haniyey in 2020, and Saleh al-Arouri was killed in January this year.

Neither John Ging nor Matthias Schmale currently work for UNRWA. John Ging left the organisation in 2011 and Matthias Schmale in 2021, We hold regular discussions with UNRWA about their operations in Gaza and across the region. We are not currently aware of any threats made to their senior operations staff.

We call upon Russia to cease these deportations immediately and return all Ukrainian children. In June 2022, we sanctioned the Russian Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, and in June 2023, we announced new sanctions against 10 Russian officials and one entity involved. We have provided funding to the International Criminal Court and support to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. The UK is also now a member of the 'International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children'. We are determined to hold to account those responsible for forcibly deporting and attempting to indoctrinate Ukrainian children.

We are not currently aware of any threats made to senior UNRWA operations staff by Hamas.