Ranil Jayawardena

The Minister for Women and Equalities sought advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the benefits or otherwise of an amendment to the Equality Act 2010 on the current definition of 'sex'.

Having received that advice, the Minister for Women and Equalities has asked officials to undertake detailed policy and legal analysis, as per the EHRC’s request, to understand the impact of its advice on various protected groups and related issues arising.

The procurement process for the delivery of Climate Assembly UK was run fully in line with House practice and legal requirements. It used an Open procedure under the Public Procurement Regulations. In doing so the House of Commons applied objective due diligence criteria related to the contract, including grounds for exclusion from the competition. The process ensured that bidders were managed in an equal, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. Bidders were required to complete a suitability questionnaire and meet criteria based upon quality and value for money considerations. The successful supplier provided the best value for money for the House and delivered a product that was subsequently judged favourably by the independent evaluation process that reviewed its methodology and outputs. The political views of the sub-contractors were not included as part of the evaluation criteria, in line with House practice.

The Church Commissioners have not recently held discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the Married Couple’s Tax Allowance, though the matter has been raised by bishops in the House of Lords.

The Electoral Commission has made no assessment of the impact on its future expenditure if legislation was to be brought forward and approved to abolish elections by halves or thirds for all English local authorities.

The Church of England Education Office issued an updated version of their Valuing All God’s Children guidance in November 2017. This guidance is designed to support primary and secondary schools in addressing homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. The new guidance reflects the latest equalities legislation, enabling schools to be inclusive environments where all pupils are treated with dignity and respect in line with the Church of England’s Vision for Education.

The guidance has been distributed to every Church of England primary and secondary school along with every Diocesan Director of Education. This guidance has been welcomed by the schools and Directors of Education. Training to accompany the guidance will be rolled out to dioceses and schools from February next year.

On 29 October 2019 the Government added 14 new offences to the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. This latest extension to the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme means that perpetrators of some of the most heinous crimes such as sex offences against children and vulnerable adults and controlling and coercive behaviour could have their sentences increased, bringing some comfort to victims and their families.

We will continue to monitor the scheme to consider any further extensions.

In 2018, of the 20 requests that were received for sentences handed down in Winchester, Portsmouth and Southampton Crown Court, 9 fell out of the remit of the scheme. Therefore 45% fell outside the scheme.

In 2019, to date, of the 16 requests that were received for the sentences handed down in Winchester and Southampton Crown Court, 6 fell out of the remit of the scheme. Therefore 38% fell outside the scheme.

The ULS scheme remains an important avenue for victims, family members and the public to ensure justice is delivered in the most serious cases.

Since its inception in 1989, the ULS scheme has been extended to include additional offences, including some sexual offences, and offences involving child cruelty and modern slavery. In 2017 the Government re-committed in our manifesto to look at further extension and, as a result, the scheme was extended in 2017, and again in 2018, to include a number of terror-related offences.

We continue to look carefully at the ambit of the scheme.

I regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest, including on matters relating to the rule of law. As my predecessor set out in his speech at Chatham House in May 2018, the UK has been clear that we consider cyber space to be an integral part of the rules based international order that we are proud to promote.

Cyber space is not a lawless world. It is the Government’s view that there are boundaries of acceptable state behaviour in cyber space, just as there are everywhere else. Hostile actors cannot take action by cyber means without consequence.

The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the correlation between the level of turnout at elections and detection of electoral fraud.

The Government has not made an assessment of the effect on the public purse of holding combined elections every four years. Not all local authorities hold their council elections on a four-year cycle and new elected positions can be created, as we have seen for local authority and combined authority mayors in recent years.

Combined polls will often result in lower overall costs to public funds both in respect of the Consolidated Fund and the relevant devolved administration or local authority sources. Combination has also been shown to increase turnout in instances where a poll that traditionally experiences low turnout is combined with a poll where turnout is higher.

The Government is committed to delivering more equal and updated parliamentary constituencies to ensure there is fair and equal representation for electors across the UK.

The four independent Boundary Commissions conducted the 2018 Boundary Review and made recommendations in accordance with rules previously agreed by Parliament.

It is for the Boundary Commissions to take into account relevant factors when recommending parliamentary constituencies, including local government boundaries

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The UK’s policy is not to sponsor or support the issuing of any exploitation licences for deep sea mining projects unless and until there is sufficient scientific evidence about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems, and strong enforceable environmental Regulations, Standards and Guidelines have been developed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and are in place. The UK’s approach is both precautionary and conditional.

The Government commissioned an independent review from the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and Heriot-Watt University. The terms of reference included a review of minerals contained in seafloor deposits and how this compares to terrestrial resources, with discussion on future resource potential and knowledge gaps. The review was published in October 2022 and is available here: https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/deep-sea-mining-evidence-review-published/

The Department will soon be publishing updated analysis comparing the cost of electricity generation across renewable and selected non-renewable technologies, reflecting the latest evidence. This will be published by the end of March 2024. The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) is a widely used metric which provides a simple way to compare costs across technologies. There are alternative metrics, such as the Energy Return on Investment but all metrics have limitations. Some additional factors than for LCOEs, such as timing and location of generation can be considered by enhanced LCOE analysis. Full system costs are evaluated by the Department’s power modelling.

The Government is building evidence to determine if blending meets the required safety standards and represents value for money, which will be essential for blending to be enabled. The Government is working closely with Ofgem and industry to explore options for a future billing methodology that could fairly incorporate hydrogen blends, protecting consumers in the process.

The Government is building evidence to determine if blending meets the required safety standards and represents value for money, which will be essential for blending to be enabled. The Government is working closely with Ofgem and industry to explore options for a future billing methodology that could fairly incorporate hydrogen blends, protecting consumers in the process.

The Government is looking to facilitate and promote extensive deployment of rooftop solar on industrial and commercial property in order to make maximum usage of available surfaces for business as well as environmental and climate benefits.

The Government will consider how else to extend deployment further, including with solar car parks.

This Government understands the frustration arising from the impact poor mobile coverage has on some communities, particularly in rural and remote areas. That is why we agreed a deal with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to deliver the Shared Rural Network (SRN) which will extend 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass by the end of 2025, underpinned by legally binding spectrum obligations.

The SRN will improve mobile coverage for an extra 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads and will lead to increases in coverage across all four nations, with the biggest coverage improvements in rural parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

In fact the programme is already delivering coverage improvements across the UK with 4G coverage now at 92%, up from 91% when the SRN agreement was signed in March 2020. The MNOs have now deployed more than 150 new sites and have upgraded over 1,500 sites across the UK. On 3 May we announced the activation of the first government-funded SRN phone mast upgrade in Lockerbie, Scotland.

As part of our Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, we have asked Ofcom to improve the accuracy of their reporting of mobile coverage and network performance in rural areas.

The quantities in which pre-packed alcohol, including English sparkling wine, can be sold will be considered as part of the Government’s review of EU-derived law. An update will be provided in due course.

Low carbon hydrogen is critical to delivering energy security, presents a significant growth opportunity, and will help the UK reach net zero. The UK approach is to promote every aspect of the hydrogen economy: production, demand, networks and storage. The Government will ensure that its approach to developing the hydrogen economy takes into account wider government priorities and policies – including considerations related to the affordability of energy bills. This, combined with targeted innovation funding and a facilitative regulatory environment, will unlock hydrogen uptake across key end use sectors.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is working closely with the Department of Health & Social Care to mitigate the impacts associated with the upcoming winter.

Care homes are not included on the list of Approved Designated Services as set out in the Electricity Supply Emergency Code, and therefore do not qualify for Protected Site status. Sites are ultimately still responsible for their own business continuity and should not rely on being on the Protected Sites List for their power resilience. The Electricity Supply Emergency Code only applies to certain scenarios and does not give sites complete coverage for all possible power disruption events.

The Government is pleased to see examples of solar installations in UK car parks such as in York, Glasgow and Leeds and is considering how to encourage more.

Businesses in North East Hampshire will have benefitted from a range of Government measures, including reversal of the National Insurance rise, which will save SMEs approximately £4,200 on average, cut to fuel duty for 12 months and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which will protect small businesses from high energy costs over the winter. Furthermore, we have raised the Employment Allowance to £5,000 and are freezing the business rates multiplier for another year to protect businesses from rising inflation, worth £9.3 billion over the next 5 years.

In addition, finance is available to SMEs across the UK through the Recovery Loan Scheme, and the Start Up loan scheme has provided 84 SMEs in North East Hampshire with loans to the value of £926,620 as of October 2022.

HM Government is proud to champion our world-class orchestras and musicians, and help them to thrive. Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 Investment Programme, more money is going to more orchestral organisations in more parts of the country than ever before.

The Arts Council’s new national portfolio is supporting 139 organisations classed as ‘music’ by investing c.£65 million of public funding. The Arts Council’s investment in classical music remains high, in particular in orchestral music organisations, with 23 such organisations being funded – an increase from 19 in the last round; and at around £21 million per annum, which is around £2 million more than previously. Moreover, these numbers are likely to underestimate the level of music activity being funded as some organisations will fall into combined arts or non-discipline-specific categories. The Arts Council’s investment in orchestras, opera, and other classical organisations through the new portfolio constitutes nearly 80% of all its investment in music.

Organisations such as the Multi-Story Orchestra, Orchestras for All, ParaOrchestra, The People’s Orchestra, and Pegasus Opera are joining the National Portfolio for the first time – bringing down barriers to classical music, celebrating the power it can have in people’s lives, and inspiring the next generation of performers – while long-established organisations such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, and the Hallé Orchestra continue to receive funding.

Furthermore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced at Spring Budget 2023 that the Government will extend the current headline rates of relief for the Theatre and Orchestra Tax Relief for two years. The rates for Orchestra Tax Relief will remain at 50% for expenditure taking place from 1 April 2023, reducing to 35% from 1 April 2025 and returning to 25% from 1 April 2026.

Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. DCMS is working alongside Sport England in order to support their ten year strategy to drive up participation rates across all sports, including cricket.

Sport England has invested more than £23 million into cricket over the last five years, including more than £3.9 million to support grassroots clubs through the immediate challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. In North East Hampshire, Stratfield Turgis & Hartley Wespall Cricket Club received £20,000 in 2018 as part of the Community Asset Fund and £3,600 through the ‘Return to Play Fund’ last summer, to support adaptations for the return of cricket post-pandemic.

Sport England funding to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) focuses on tackling the inequalities which exist within the game, such as expanding the talent pathway for the women’s and girls game, increasing opportunities for disabled children and supporting governance reform and inclusive leadership support across the County Network.

In Hampshire, just over 97% of premises can access superfast broadband (>=30Mbps), which is in line with the UK national average.

As part of Project Gigabit, we have launched a regional procurement in Hampshire, to bring gigabit-capable broadband to up to 88,000 hard-to-reach premises that are not included in suppliers’ commercial build plans. We have also launched a local procurement in the New Forest area, which will connect an estimated further 10,000 premises. The two contracts have a combined indicative value of almost £120 million and we aim to award contracts between April and June 2023.

Eligible premises in Hampshire can also receive a gigabit-capable connection through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. We recently announced an increase in the value of these vouchers so that new projects can receive as much as £4,500 towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband in rural and particularly hard-to-reach areas.

For the very hardest to reach premises which are unlikely to receive gigabit-capable connectivity via either a commercial or government funded delivery mechanism, the Government is determined to explore all possible options to improve their broadband connectivity, including solutions such as satellite and fixed wireless access technologies.

The government is committed to reducing gambling-related harm and works closely with the Gambling Commission. We have committed to review the Gambling Act 2005 and will announce further details in due course. We welcome the National Audit Office’s report on Gambling Regulation: Problem Gambling and Protecting Vulnerable People and are considering its recommendations carefully.

The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit capable connectivity as soon as possible. Much progress has already been made, with full fibre coverage doubling in the past year to reach 10% of UK premises.

This Government will continue to take action to remove barriers to network rollout and to ensure that those in the hardest to reach areas are not left behind. We have introduced legislation to make it easier for operators to deploy broadband in blocks of flats, will be legislating to mandate gigabit connectivity in new builds and will provide £5 billion of funding to support rollout in hard to reach areas.

Specifically in Hampshire, the government has invested heavily in this county, with over £15million of government funding allocated. Full fibre coverage stands at 9%, marginally below the UK figure of c.10%.

Virgin Media switched on full gigabit capability to Southampton in September 2019, whilst CityFibre, Toob and Trooli have all announced plans to invest in full fibre networks. Toob is aiming to cover 100,000 premises in Southampton with full fibre by the end of 2021, while Trooli has been undertaking work in the villages of Ropley and Bramdean.

The Government is also supporting deployment in Hampshire with projects in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight through the Local Full Fibre Networks programme.