Richard Graham

We welcome Cranfield’s research, helping the business community to identify and address barriers to achieving gender-balanced leadership. Cranfield’s 2018 Board Report shows that the FTSE 100 are on track to meet the Hampton-Alexander Review target. This is for women to hold 33% of positions on FTSE Boards by 2020, as well as on Executive Committees and their Direct Reports. 29% of board positions are now held by women, up from 27.7% in October 2017 and 12.5% in 2011. The FTSE 250 however, need to take action to address their slow progress.

The Government is supporting the Hampton-Alexander Review targets. Our new requirement for large employers to publish gender pay gap information is also exposing where women face barriers to progression and supporting employers to remove these. Other initiatives that support the talent pipeline of women include the Women’s Business Council’s action groups: Starting Out, Getting On and Staying On. The Government has also allocated £5million to help people who have taken time out for caring responsibilities, to return to work.

Our £1.5m Women’s Votes Centenary Grant Scheme is supporting grassroots projects across England that encourage more women to participate in all levels of politics so that they can have an equal voice in decision-making.

The Church of England keeps the administrative burden on its clergy constantly under review. There is a current programme of work in process to simplify many aspects of its work. The simplification programme has already cut a great deal paperwork and moved much of its administration online. For example, applications for permission to make changes to church buildings under the Faculty process are now much easier and quicker. 30 of our 40 dioceses are now using the bespoke online application and file management system, which not only reduces the use of paper but also pre-completed forms, remembers past applications so text can be re-used, and stores key documents securely.

The Registration of Marriage Bills currently in front of both Houses also attempt to simplify the registration process for marriage by digitising aspects of the administration.

The Church of England has also developed a new Digital Communications team which supports the national, diocesan and parish level to improve communications through websites, social media and other digital channels.

Specifically, within the Diocese of Gloucester there is an imaginative vision in place which has four key themes around leadership, imagination, faith and engagement (LIFE). Liberating people for life-giving community engagement means looking at governance and administration in new ways.

The Post Office is the largest provider of counter-based Government services in the UK. In 2013 it won a cross-Government framework contract which allows all Government Departments and their Executive Agencies to contract with the Post Office easily and cheaply. Key contracts with the DVLA and the Passport Office have been moved onto this new framework, as has the Post Office Card Account contract which has been extended to at least 2021.

The Post Office is well-placed to bid for and win important contracts, with its extensive geographic reach and key role in the heart of communities. Government cannot simply award contracts to the Post Office; services must be procured competitively to ensure value for taxpayers’ money.

This Government has devolved more powers and responsibilities to cities and local government than any other Government in a generation. After two successful rounds of City Deals, the Government introduced Growth Deals to ensure that everywhere in England had the opportunity to negotiate for funding and the freedoms and flexibilities needed to drive their local economies.

So far, £7bn has been awarded to Local Enterprise Partnerships through Growth Deals. £77.5m has been awarded to Gloucestershire, including £4.1m for the regeneration of Blackfriars in Gloucester, £4.7m for the Gloucester King’s Quarter Bus Station and £2m for Gloucester South West Bypass.

Movements in pump prices are largely driven by crude oil prices. In January 2013, the Office for Fair Trading published the results of a Call for Information to investigate whether or not competition problems existed in the road fuels market. This included investigating concerns that pump prices rise quickly when the wholesale price goes up but fall more slowly when it drops. Their analysis found very limited evidence of this.

The Government believes that it is important that consumers get a fair deal and that falls in oil prices materialise into lower prices for motorists. The Government urges fuel retailers fully to pass on changes in the oil price to UK consumers at pumps in full and as quickly as possible.

The Government is investing across the justice system.The additional £85 million to the CPS will enable the CPS to respond effectively to any increase in caseload resulting from the recruitment of 20,000 new police officers; to better meet their disclosure obligations; to work with investigators to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry; and to deliver much needed changes to external counsel fees. Investing in the CPS to meet these pressures demonstrates that this Government is commitment to ensuring that justice is served.

The South West regional area of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) covers three police force areas: Avon & Somerset, Devon and Cornwall and Gloucestershire. The Area is based in Bristol, Exeter and Truro following the closure of the Gloucester office in April 2014. In 2013-14, prior to the closure of the Gloucester office, CPS South West prosecuted 11,826 cases where the CPS had authorised charge. In 2018-19 they prosecuted 9,279. This reduction is consistent with the falling caseload for the CPS nationally.

The CPS does not hold any records relating to the average waiting time at court. However, data is available showing the average time (in calendar days) from the date the decision to charge a suspect was made to the date the prosecution case was finalised. In 2013-14 this was 140.3 days for CPS South West and 139.2 days in 2018-19. For cases referred by Gloucestershire Police the average time taken between decision to charge and finalised prosecution has dropped from 176.5 days in 2013-14 to 142.5 days in 2018-19.

The average timeliness of a prosecution case is measured from the date charges are authorised by the CPS to finalisation. The average time includes the period between the date the CPS authorise the charge, to the date the suspect was charged by the police, to date of the first listed hearing and subsequent finalisation of the defendant’s case. It is not possible to disaggregate the average timeliness between these stages. The data includes cases which are completed in magistrates’ courts and, more serious and complex, cases which proceed to the Crown Court. The precise time to charge a defendant is a matter for the police and similarly the time to list a case in court is a matter for HM Courts and Tribunals Service. The length of time cases take in court depends on the nature and complexity of the matters in question and whether matters are admitted or contested by the defendant.

In 2013, we commissioned the Boston Consulting Group to analyse the financial market for public service mutuals. They found that mutuals can operate effectively across the public sector, improving service quality and driving innovation. In particular, they found mutuals create significant productivity gains: for instance, absenteeism and staff turnover fell by 20% and 16% respectively.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office gave to the hon. Member for Bradford West on Friday 28 February 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 586W.

Government Digital Service now works cross-government to track the activity of misleading websites or phishing attempts.

We share this information with Google so that it can identify and take action against websites that add little or no value to existing online Government services. Google will continue to support us by removing those misleading adverts and by closing the accounts of repeat offenders. We are also engaging with other search engine providers.

We will increasingly be working with BIS, the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and key trading standards bodies to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office gave to the hon. Member for Bradford West on Friday 28 February 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 586W.

Government Digital Service now works cross-government to track the activity of misleading websites or phishing attempts.

We share this information with Google so that it can identify and take action against websites that add little or no value to existing online Government services. Google will continue to support us by removing those misleading adverts and by closing the accounts of repeat offenders. We are also engaging with other search engine providers.

We will increasingly be working with BIS, the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and key trading standards bodies to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office gave to the hon. Member for Bradford West on Friday 28 February 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 586W.

Government Digital Service now works cross-government to track the activity of misleading websites or phishing attempts.

We share this information with Google so that it can identify and take action against websites that add little or no value to existing online Government services. Google will continue to support us by removing those misleading adverts and by closing the accounts of repeat offenders. We are also engaging with other search engine providers.

We will increasingly be working with BIS, the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and key trading standards bodies to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer my Rt Hon Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office gave to the hon. Member for Bradford West on Friday 28 February 2014 (Official Report) Column Ref: 586W.

Government Digital Service now works cross-government to track the activity of misleading websites or phishing attempts.

We share this information with Google so that it can identify and take action against websites that add little or no value to existing online Government services. Google will continue to support us by removing those misleading adverts and by closing the accounts of repeat offenders. We are also engaging with other search engine providers.

We will increasingly be working with BIS, the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) and key trading standards bodies to ensure enforcement action is taken where appropriate.

On Monday 13 September we confirmed that wave and tidal stream projects will be eligible to compete in this year’s Contracts for Difference allocation round. We continue to assess a range of marine technologies following our Call for Evidence on marine energy.

Ministers regularly discuss issues including renewable energy, including as part of the Government’s commitment to meeting net zero by 2050.

In 2019, the Government set a legally binding-target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from across the UK economy by 2050. We agree with the Committee on Climate Change’s view on the importance of a diverse mix of power generation sources to achieve that with renewables providing the majority of our electricity by 2050 alongside firm low carbon power from sources such as nuclear, and gas or biomass generation with carbon capture and storage. The Government has introduced many initiatives to increase the supply of renewable energy production in the UK.

We have committed up to £557m of annual support for future Contracts for Difference, providing developers with the confidence they need to invest in bringing forward new projects and we are supporting our world-leading offshore wind industry through the 2019 sector deal.

In order to support smaller scale renewable electricity generation, the Government introduced the Smart Export Guarantee on 1 January, which gives?small scale low-carbon electricity generators, such as?homes with?solar?panels,?the right to?be paid for the renewable electricity they export to the grid.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) supports the transition to low-carbon heating in the UK, helping generate renewable heat for schools, hospitals and more than 12,000 social housing properties. The scheme is designed to bridge the gap between the cost of fossil fuel heat sources and renewable heat alternatives through financial support for owners of participating installations. The RHI helps to sustain and build the supply-chains needed to deliver our aspirations for renewable heat in 2020 and beyond

Meeting our net zero target will require virtually all heat in buildings to be decarbonised, and heat in industry to be reduced to close to zero carbon emissions. This will involve large-scale transformation, including disruption to consumers and wide-ranging change to energy systems and markets: the way heating is supplied to over 28 million homes, businesses and industrial users will need to change.

We are working to develop a new policy framework for the long-term decarbonisation of heat. This will set out the programme of work required to enable key strategic decisions on how we achieve mass transition to low carbon heating.

The UK’s preference is to remain involved in the Galileo programme and we are continuing in our negotiations with the European Union on that basis. However, as a responsible Government, we need to look at alternatives to meet our national security, strategic and industrial requirements.

As such, on 29 August, the Government announced that we are investing £92m of Brexit readiness money on developing an independent satellite system. The study will inform the decision to create the system as an alternative to Galileo should an acceptable agreement for continued UK participation in Galileo not be possible.

We’re committed to supporting our marine energy industry.

Through the European Marine Energy Centre, based in the Orkney Islands and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, we are world leaders in developing marine technologies.

We have provided more support for offshore wind than any other country in the world.

And we are making up to £557 million of annual support available for offshore wind, wave and tidal stream in upcoming competitive CFD allocation rounds.

I congratulate my Hon. Friend for his continued advocacy on tidal lagoons.

We are making progress on assessing the recommendations of the Hendry Review. As my Hon. Friend will be aware, the issues are complex, as they relate to an untried technology in the marine environment. It is important we understand the costs and challenges posed by this technology in relation to its possible role in the UK’s energy mix and potential environmental impact.

All operators providing gambling facilities to consumers in Great Britain must be licensed by the Gambling Commission and comply with licence conditions, which include the protection of vulnerable people from being harmed or exploited by gambling. Operators are required to prevent underage gambling, to intervene when a customer shows signs of being at risk of harm and to offer the facility to self-exclude. Online operators must also offer a ‘time out’ facility and can make other tools available to help players manage their gambling, such as setting time or spend limits.

In May last year the Government published its response to the Consultation on proposals for changes to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, which set out a comprehensive package to strengthen protections across all forms of gambling, including online. Next month, the Gambling Commission will bring in new rules requiring operators to complete age and identity verification before consumers can deposit money and gamble, or play free-to-play demo games.

The Gambling Commission is also currently consulting on proposals to strengthen the requirement for operators to interact with consumers who may be experiencing gambling related harm. They are also reviewing whether gambling online with credit cards should be restricted, and will explore the potential consequences of doing so.

Government has invested heavily in digital connectivity in Gloucester through its Superfast programme, which has invested over £34m across Gloucestershire, Hereford, and South Gloucestershire. The majority of this investment has supported fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) connections, with some fibre to the premise (FTTP) connections installed in harder to reach areas.

We received an expression of interest from Gloucester City Council in 2017 for the Local Full Fibre Network programme’s Challenge Fund, which is designed to fund locally-led public connectivity projects that have the potential to leverage commercial investment in full fibre broadband connections. Local bodies were invited to submit formal bids, and funding was allocated to 13 successful bidders that were announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement in March 2018. We expect the next round of funding to open in summer 2018. We did not receive a bid from Gloucester for the first wave of funding, so we would welcome a bid from them for this next round.

We are also encouraging fibre broadband rollout through our Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme. Small to medium sized businesses can claim a voucher worth up to £3,000 and residents can claim a voucher worth up to £500 as part of a group project. Businesses and local community groups interested in requesting a voucher can find details of suppliers in their local area on our website at https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/. So far in Gloucester there has been a total of 11 vouchers requested, so we would welcome further uptake of the scheme.

On mobile connectivity, the Government does not provide direct funding. Our approach is to deliver regulatory reforms that make it easier to roll out mobile infrastructure across the UK. That is why we have reformed the Electronic Communications Code, to encourage investment in the rollout of digital infrastructure by making deployment cheaper. The reforms came into force on 28 December 2017, and this will help expand current and future digital networks. We have also reformed mobile planning laws in England in November 2016, which provided new rights, for example, to build taller masts.

VisitBritain research shows that in 2016, over one million of the UK’s inbound visitors come here with attending a festival in mind, spending nearly £1.2bn during their visit.

In addition, the Arts Council has carried out research into the benefits of local events on the community and economy. For example, the SO Festival in East Lindsey is estimated to have increased footfall from 30,000 to 83,000. The Grinagog Festival in Torquay submitted a report for their 2018 festival estimating that there was £150,000 direct economic impact based on 2,400 paying customers.

Sport England use the Active People Survey to monitor participation.

In May 2016, Sport England published its new strategy, 'Towards an Active Nation' that sets out how future investment in grassroots sport will be made. It includes an investment guide to all National Governing Bodies (NGB) for the 2017-21 period.Previous track record of delivery against targets in the 2013-2017 funding cycle will be part of that assessment. The NGB investment guide is available on Sport England’s website: https://www.sportengland.org/our-work/national-governing-bodies/investment-guide/

The integrity of sport is absolutely paramount, and the new UK Sports Governance code published last month - part of our 'Sporting Future' strategy - is clear that we expect the highest standards of governance and transparency from all our sports governing bodies that want to receive public funding in future. Among the requirements is that organisations have strong leadership in place, with the right checks and balances to minimise the likelihood of integrity issues arising.

Since the 2010/11 academic year there have been 14,860 apprenticeship starts in Gloucester and 57,200 in Gloucestershire reported to date. These totals include the 2022/23 academic year figures which are provisional and cover the first three quarters (August 2022 to April 2023). The full year figures for the 2022/23 academic year will be published on 30 November 2023.

Apprenticeship starts are recorded on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and published by the department in the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication, which can be accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships. Apprenticeship starts for Gloucester and Gloucestershire for the 2010/11 to 2022/23 academic years are shown here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/38cbdfef-ad03-41bc-4937-08dbdfb23d99.

The SEN2 data publication indicates how many young people up to the age of 25 are enrolled on supported internships in Gloucestershire in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The data can found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/aa3ee401-2f03-4901-4e0e-08dbdfa6a426.

The department is not able to specify how many of these placements were for 16–19-year-olds. The department does not hold data on how many supported internship placements Gloucestershire made available.

​In February 2022, the department announced that it is investing up to £18 million over the next three years to build capacity in the Supported Internships programme, aiming to double the number of Supported Internships to give more young people with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan the skills to secure and sustain paid employment.

In the 2023 Spring Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced up to £3 million to pilot extending Supported Internships to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities without EHC plans by March 2025.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of subject teachers in state funded secondary schools, is collected each November as part of the annual School Workforce Census. Information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The number of hours spent teaching music and other subjects nationally in a typical week for the 2011/12 to 2022/23 academic years (full time period available), is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8a899462-7a12-4c60-4df6-08dbdfa6a426.

As of 2022/23, there were 75 music teachers (any teacher timetabled to teach music) at Key Stages 3, 4, and 5 in the 36 state funded secondary schools in Gloucestershire that reported data on subjects taught. There were a further five schools that did not report such data. An equivalent figure for 2010/11 is not available.

Timetabled teaching is reported for a typical week in November, as determined by the school. It does not cover an entire year of teaching. If there are variations in timetabling across the year, this is not covered in the data available to the department.

Subject taught is only collected from secondary schools that use electronic timetabling software that can produce data in the format required. Data is then weighted to provide national totals.

The Central School Services Block (CSSB) funds local authorities to carry out central functions on behalf of all pupils in maintained schools and academies. The CSSB funding comprises two distinct parts: funding for ongoing responsibilities, and for historic commitments. In 2023/24, Gloucestershire received a total of £3,077,365 in CSSB funding, and its provisional CSSB allocation for 2024/25 through the National Funding Formula is £3,197,919. Final allocations for 2024/25 will be published in December within the Dedicated Schools Grant.

The below table includes data for Gloucestershire local authority for Summer 2022. The department does not hold data below local authority level.

2022

2023 data is not yet available.