Richard Holden

The process for access talks is set out in the Cabinet Manual. Access talks are initiated with permission from the Prime Minister of the day and are confidential.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place between Cabinet ministers and officials is not shared publicly.

The principles around ministerial travel are long-established and have been in place for successive administrations. Ministers take advice on individual travel arrangements as necessary.

The process for access talks is set out in the Cabinet Manual. Access talks are initiated with permission from the Prime Minister of the day and are confidential.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place between Cabinet ministers and officials is not shared publicly.

The Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 prohibited compulsory retirement taking place unless it could be objectively justified.

Compulsory retirement ages in the current Police pension scheme were removed with the introduction of the 2015 Police pension scheme. Compulsory retirement ages for Firefighters were removed more than 10 years ago.

Nothing in the private pension system sets a mandatory retirement age in the private sector. The Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) sets the earliest point at which you can access your private pension without facing an unauthorised payments charge (except in cases of serious ill health).

The Post Office is an essential service in communities across the country. The Government is committed to finding ways to strengthen the Post Office, through consulting with sub-postmasters, trade unions and customers. This will include supporting the development of new products, services and business models that will help reinvigorate the high street.

Proposed changes to the energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) were consulted on between 30 March 2023 to 23 June 2023 under the previous government. Following this a revised version of the National Policy Statement for electricity networks infrastructure was designated on 17 January 2024. This sets out that overhead lines should be the strong starting presumption for electricity networks developments in general, except in nationally designated landscapes where undergrounding is the starting presumption. The government does not make assessments for specific projects until they come to the Secretary of State for final planning decision.

Education matters and is at the heart of the mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The impact of any tax changes affecting independent schools on the state sector will be carefully considered. The government will complete its analysis once details of the policy changes have been confirmed; this will happen in due course.

High and rising school standards are at the heart of the mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best start in life. Ensuring schools have the resources and buildings they need is a key part of that.

There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England of which around 1% have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) present in some areas of their buildings.

The department will fix this problem as quickly as possible and permanently remove RAAC either through grant funding or rebuilding. All schools and colleges with RAAC are continuing to receive support from caseworkers where needed and are providing full time face to face education for all pupils.

School buildings should be fit for the future. The department will set out further details on wider spending plans, including for capital funding, in due course.

The Department for Transport published an interim report on the £2 fare cap in September 2023 setting out emerging trends in key outcomes from the first two months of the scheme. It is available on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-2-bus-fare-cap/2-bus-fare-cap-evaluation-interim-report-february-2023.

Bus patronage appears to be continuing to recover following the COVID-19 pandemic, and people making additional bus trips with the £2 bus fare cap in place are likely to be existing bus users and make a small number of additional trips.

DfT is considering the overall value for money of the £2 fare cap as part of our ongoing evaluation, which will continue over the coming months and provide richer conclusions on its effects and people’s attitudes.

The government is urgently considering the most effective ways to ensure public transport services are reliable and affordable. We will conclude this as quickly as possible.

The government is urgently considering the most effective ways to ensure public transport services are reliable and affordable. We will conclude this as quickly as possible.

We have committed to expanding Pay As You Go (PAYG) contactless ticketing to a further 47 stations in the South East by the end of the year, with 6 stations on the Chiltern railways line having already gone live in June.  This expansion will include the entire c2c network where passengers will benefit from a better ticketing offer. Further details of any wider expansion of PAYG will be announced in due course.

The latest rounds of the Safer Roads Fund are rounds 3A and 3B. Round 3A was funded in April 2023 to the total of £47.5 million and was granted to 25 Local Authorities to improve 27 roads. Round 3B was funded in March 2024 to the total of £38.3 million and was granted to 14 Local Authorities to improve 17 roads.

As Round 3 is still newly funded, local authorities are in the design phase of their schemes. Estimated completion dates are submitted to the Department as part of the Local Authorities' application process with most of round 3 schemes stating 2-3 years from design stage to completion. This would predict between 2025 and 2026 for completion.

The Department estimates that groundworks on many of the schemes will begin soon and Department officials will remain in contact with the local authorities, offering support throughout the lifetime of their scheme.

The headline UK economic inactivity level was 9.433 million in March-May 2010 (based on people aged between 16 and 64). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK economic inactivity level was 9.383 million.

The headline UK economic inactivity rate was 23.4% in March-May 2010 (this is also estimated on a 16-64 basis). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK economic inactivity rate was 22.1%.

The UK has experienced a rise in economic inactivity since the pandemic. The economic inactivity level has risen by 833,000 since the pre-pandemic level, with economic inactivity due to long-term sickness rising to 2.8m. The UK remains the only nation in the G7 with an economic inactivity rate higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statistics on the total number of people living in relative and absolute poverty both before and after housing costs are published annually in the Households Below Average Income statistics Households below average income (HBAI) statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Figures are produced on an annual basis and available for the breakdowns requested.

The UK has experienced a recent rise in unemployment. It has also seen a rise in economic inactivity since the pandemic of 833,000 with long-term sickness rising to 2.8m. The UK remains the only nation in the G7 with an employment rate lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The headline UK unemployment level was 2.508 million in March-May 2010 (based on people aged 16 and over). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK unemployment level was 1.528 million.

The headline UK unemployment rate was 7.9% in March-May 2010 (this is also estimated on a 16+ basis). In March-May 2024 (the latest month for which figures are available) the UK unemployment rate was 4.4%.

No specific assessment has been made. The legislation to ban virginity testing and hymenoplasty was introduced through the Health and Social Act 2022. In April 2024 the department published the virginity testing and hymenoplasty multi-agency guidance which provides advice to anyone who may come in to contact with women and girls affected by virginity testing and hymenoplasty. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/virginity-testing-and-hymenoplasty-multi-agency-guidance/virginity-testing-and-hymenoplasty-multi-agency-guidance

All capital spending activity is kept under regular review to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of patients and delivers value for money.

This Government recognises that strategic, value for money investments in capital projects are critical to providing good quality care. In line with this Government’s plans to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future and as part of our internal Spending Review preparations, the Department is reviewing capital requirements, including through NHS England’s assessment of long-term NHS estate needs across a range of areas. Timescales associated with the Spending Review are yet to be confirmed.

The Secretary of State has asked for an urgent report on the degree to which the New Hospital Programme is funded and a realistic timetable for delivery.

The process for access talks is set out in the Cabinet Manual. Access talks are initiated with permission from the Prime Minister of the day and are confidential.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place between Cabinet ministers and officials is not shared publicly.

The process for access talks is set out in the Cabinet Manual. Access talks are initiated with permission from the Prime Minister of the day and are confidential.

It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place between Cabinet ministers and officials is not shared publicly.

The 2013 regulations were introduced to ensure the Director of Public Prosecutions’ pension scheme is uprated in line with other public service pension schemes. There are no plans to repeal the regulations.

The annual deficit in 2009-2010 was 10.3% of GDP and 4.5% of GDP in 2023-24.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) does not publish the annual deficit in real terms. In order to remove the effects of inflation and provide an indication of a country’s ability to service borrowing and debt, it is typical to compare fiscal aggregates as a percentage of GDP, which represents the scale of the aggregate in comparison to the size of the economy at the relevant time.

In nominal terms, the annual deficit was £160.9bn in 2009-2010 and £122.1bn in 2023-24.

As a proportion of government spending, the annual deficit was 22.2% in 2009-2010 and 10.0% in 2023-24.

More information is available on the ONS’ website under “Public sector finances, UK Statistical bulletins”.

The Government is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses. The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulator responsible for access to cash further to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, with powers to seek to ensure the reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for individuals and businesses, including free withdrawal services for individuals. The FCA has recently published its final rules setting out its regulatory approach to protecting access to cash. These can be found here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/policy/ps24-8.pdf

Officials at Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, are in dialogue with Basildon Council to discuss where their programmes, capacity and funding may be able to support the Council’s priorities.

As set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.

Local planning authorities are required to plan for infrastructure delivery as part of plan-making and report on their use of developer contributions in Infrastructure Funding Statements.

The Government will keep the provision of local infrastructure under review, including when considering revisions to national planning policy.

The abuse that took place at Medomsley Detention Centre was appalling. The previous government, after years of campaigning by victims and survivors, commissioned the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) in October 2023 to undertake a thorough review of the abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre. The investigation commenced in November 2023 and is looking into what the authorities knew about the abuse over this period, if there were opportunities for them to take action or intervene, and what action they took.

At the outset, the PPO expected the review to take 18 months and therefore would conclude in May 2025 (although the Terms of Reference, which are available on the PPO website, do include the options for an extension if required, subject to approval).

It is important that the review has enough time to fully investigate what happened, to get the whole truth for victims and survivors. In the coming weeks, my officials and I will discuss the review’s progress with the PPO and his team to ensure that it can be completed as thoroughly but as quickly as possible.