Paul Howell

His Majesty’s Government is working with industry and inspectors to develop digital Export Health Certificates to replace paper certification for live animals, to reduce the administrative burden on traders where possible. We anticipate a staged approach to digitisation of certification for exports to tie in with wider work on the Single Trade Window, which will allow traders to meet all their import, export and transit obligations by submitting information once, and in one place.

EU BCPs can only be constructed with approval given by EU Member States. Defra has regular bilateral meetings with EU Member States where the topic of building BCPs in EU to support the export of live animals in the EU has been discussed.

Use of the National Register for Refusals and Revocations (NR3) is recommended in the Department’s Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards which was published in 2020. The Department is monitoring usage of the NR3 and communicates with local authorities on this matter regularly.

Searches conducted by the local authorities listed over the last year:

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has increased the number of vocational driving tests available per week to 3,000. This is a 50% increase from before the pandemic, achieved through the use of overtime and moving additional staff into testing.

DVSA has recruited 300 new car examiners to ease demand on vocational examiners, who conduct HGV driving tests, and is also recruiting 40 more vocational examiners. In addition, the delegation of the reversing manoeuvres in the HGV driving test to approved trainers, announced on 10 September 2021, will allow vocational examiners to complete more driving tests per day.

The forthcoming regulatory change to remove the requirement to take a test to tow a trailer with a car, also announced on 10 September, will result in around an additional 30,000 vocational tests a year being made available, as most of the examiners who conducted car and trailer tests are also qualified to conduct HGV and HGV and trailer tests. A further 20,000 vocational tests will be made available through removing the requirement to take a rigid lorry (Cat C) test before an articulated vehicle (Cat C+E) test.

General practitioners (GPs) have been asked to prioritise COVID-19 booster vaccinations and emergency care. While appointments may be postponed, NHS 111 and community pharmacy teams are available to provide health advice.

We have agreed temporary changes to increase capacity in general practice. This includes extending the period of self-certification to access Statutory Sick Pay, suspending requests for medical information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (excluding bus and lorry drivers) and suspending the re-certification requirement for existing prescription charge medical exemptions.

Travellers who have received a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test in the last 90 days will be required to take a PCR test on their return from international travel. There is no exemption to the testing or isolation requirements for entering England on the basis of natural immunity.

Novavax trial participants who are part of a priority group, such as health and social care workers, older people and people with certain medical conditions, are able to receive a booster vaccine on top of their trial doses. Individuals will be offered a booster dose by either their clinical trial team or via the National Health Service.

NHS England and NHS Improvement have committed to midwifery-led continuity of carer, so that it becomes the default model of care for women using maternity services across England by March 2023. NHS England and NHS Improvement have provided local maternity systems with £90.05 million between 2018 to 2021 to fulfil transformational objectives, including implementing continuity of carer models. An additional £96 million was announced earlier this year, the majority of which will be invested in additional midwives and obstetric capacity.

Upcoming guidance on midwifery-led continuity of carer will include advice on the implementation of maternal medicine-focused continuity of carer teams, which could be used to accommodate women deemed higher risk due to previous loss, whilst still offering continuity of the midwife caring for them.

Work is ongoing to determine which non-United Kingdom vaccines, including but not limited to those recognised by the World Health Organization, could be recognised in this country.

The Government of Ukraine has confirmed that foreign nationals fighting as members of their armed forces are Prisoners of War (PoW). This includes British Nationals captured by Russian forces or proxies and detained in non-government controlled areas of Ukraine. All PoWs must be treated in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, including the Geneva Conventions. HMG is working with the Government of Ukraine on British Nationals detainees, PoWs and potential breaches of International Humanitarian Law and liaising closely with other international partners.

We remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of unfairly detained British nationals in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Anoosheh Ashoori and Morad Tahbaz. The Foreign Secretary and I continue to raise Iran's practice of detaining British dual nationals with our Iranian counterparts. Our Ambassador in Tehran also continues to raise these cases with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The IMS debt is a longstanding issue and we have been consistently clear that we continue to explore options to resolve this 40-year old case. We will not comment further as discussions are ongoing.

The estimated number of people who financially benefited from the National insurance reduction in the Autumn Statement and Spring Budget and the associated financial gain for an average employee on £35,404 can be seen in Table 1 below:

Table 1: gain for an average employee on £35,404 from reductions to National Insurance announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024

The estimated average financial gain among those benefitting from both the Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024 National insurance reduction, by region, can be seen in the Table 2 below:

Table 2: average financial gain and cumulative gain from reductions to National Insurance announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024, by region

These are the modelled average impacts rather than the impacts for an average full time employee (on a given salary), for example the £900 gain previously published for the cumulative impacts.

The Autumn Statement 2023 National insurance reduction estimates are based upon the 2019 to 2020 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected in line with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibilities November 2023 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

The Spring Budget 2024 National insurance reduction estimates and cumulative estimates of both policies are based upon the 2019 to 2020 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected in line with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibilities March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

The estimated number of people who financially benefited from the National insurance reduction in the Autumn Statement and Spring Budget and the associated financial gain for an average employee on £35,404 can be seen in Table 1 below:

Table 1: gain for an average employee on £35,404 from reductions to National Insurance announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024

The estimated average financial gain among those benefitting from both the Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024 National insurance reduction, by region, can be seen in the Table 2 below:

Table 2: average financial gain and cumulative gain from reductions to National Insurance announced in the Autumn Statement 2023 and Spring Budget 2024, by region

These are the modelled average impacts rather than the impacts for an average full time employee (on a given salary), for example the £900 gain previously published for the cumulative impacts.

The Autumn Statement 2023 National insurance reduction estimates are based upon the 2019 to 2020 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected in line with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibilities November 2023 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

The Spring Budget 2024 National insurance reduction estimates and cumulative estimates of both policies are based upon the 2019 to 2020 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected in line with economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibilities March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

The Valuation Office Agency’s Automated Valuation Model (AVM) methodology for Wales has been updated substantially since the cancelled 2007 English revaluation. The new AVM uses spatial modelling techniques of which location is a key element. The spatial model estimates a continuous field of location factors (which are influenced by various aspects such as transport links, crime rates, quality of nearby schools) rather than the discrete localities.

I would observe that this is a policy proposed by the Welsh Government, and does not represent the policy position of the UK Government in England.

The Welsh Government has commissioned the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to carry out a revaluation of all domestic property in Wales. To facilitate this, the VOA has built an Automated Valuation Model which has produced values for 1.46 million properties.

The following external datasets were used:

• Land Registry Price Paid data to supplement VOA sales data
• Land Registry Title Polygons and Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database for plot sizes for houses
• Ordnance Survey Master Map for building footprints for houses
• House Price Index to adjust sales in time
• National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) to incorporate Census Geography
• Ordnance Survey AddressBase Premium for latest property coordinate data
• Energy Performance Certificates

Additionally, as part of model development, sales verification was undertaken. VOA staff used a range of available data, such as aerial and street view photography, sales particulars, EPC certificates and Local Authority Planning websites to verify the usefulness of the sale.

The VOA has not collected additional codes over and above those already used within England and Wales.

I would observe that this is a policy proposed by the Labour Welsh Government, and does not represent the policy position of the UK Government in England.

The Welsh Government has commissioned the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to carry out a revaluation of all domestic property in Wales. To facilitate this, the VOA has built an Automated Valuation Model which has produced values for 1.46 million properties.

The following external datasets were used:

• Land Registry Price Paid data to supplement VOA sales data
• Land Registry Title Polygons and Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database for plot sizes for houses
• Ordnance Survey Master Map for building footprints for houses
• House Price Index to adjust sales in time
• National Statistics Postcode Lookup (NSPL) to incorporate Census Geography
• Ordnance Survey AddressBase Premium for latest property coordinate data
• Energy Performance Certificates

Additionally, as part of model development, sales verification was undertaken. VOA staff used a range of available data, such as aerial and street view photography, sales particulars, EPC certificates and Local Authority Planning websites to verify the usefulness of the sale.

The VOA has not collected additional codes over and above those already used within England and Wales.

I would observe that this is a policy proposed by the Labour Welsh Government, and does not represent the policy position of the UK Government in England.

The official statistics on crime and fire do not have a comparable definition of arson which is why the two sets of figures may appear inconsistent.

When a victim reports arson to the police, it will be recorded by them in line with the legal definition set out in the Criminal Damage Act of 1971 which is ‘an act of attempting to destroy or damage property, and/or in doing so, to endanger life’.

In contrast, the official statistics on fire publish information on the number of deliberate fires attended by the fire service where the motive for the fire was ‘thought to be’ or ‘suspected to be’ deliberate. This is a broader definition than the criminal offence of arson and will include fires that have not been reported to the police.

The UK is working tirelessly to preserve stability in the Middle East and as such I have regular discussions with regional partners and our international allies including with NATO. These discussions cover a range of topics, including the conflict in Gaza and requirement for humanitarian assistance to our work with partners on protecting and deterring Houthi attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea.

We are investing £9 million through the Levelling Up Parks Fund to regenerate green spaces across the UK as part of our Levelling Up agenda. The scheme will be broader than earlier Pocket Parks programmes and further details will be announced shortly.

We have announced a sales, fees and charges co-payment scheme to compensate for irrecoverable losses in 2020/21 where those are above the level they could have been expected to plan for. We will also extend the period over which councils must manage shortfalls in local tax income relating to 2020-21. Further details of how we will support councils to manage tax losses will be announced at the spending review.