Richard Holden

The Office for Equality and Opportunity’s role in informing Government policy on marriage relates to equality and discrimination, as it is responsible for the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, which include marriage and civil partnership.

While the Office for Equality and Opportunity work with the Ministry of Justice on issues relating to equality, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for marriage law.

Minimal costs were incurred in the rebranding of the Equality Hub to the Office of Equality and Opportunity as it was a renaming exercise rather than a Machinery of Government change. Therefore, there has been no programme or digital expenditure to date and only minimal administrative time by current employees.

This Government is fully committed to transparency and to looking at how the range of information published can be improved and made as useful as possible.

We are committed to publishing an updated organogram on data.gov.uk. Work has already begun to do this.

Secondments into the Civil Service from other sectors are a key route to bring essential skills and experience into the right roles and teams, enabling talented individuals from outside the Civil Service to contribute to the work of Government by sharing critical capabilities and innovative thinking for a set period of time.

In August 2023 the Government Chief People Office, Fiona Ryland, commissioned all departments, professions and functions to embed secondments as a key part of their resourcing and skills strategies.

A quarterly secondments data commission was reintroduced in April 2023 to provide insight on inward and outward secondments taking place across government. The Cabinet Office has worked closely with departments to increase the amount, detail and quality of the data available. Responses are now received from all ministerial departments.

Guidance on ministers’ transparency returns is published on GOV.UK at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6604110bf9ab41001aeea39c/2024_04_02-Ministers-Transparency-Guidance.pdf

Departments are required to publish details of ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals, including meetings with lobbyists registered on the Register of Consultant Lobbyists. Departments are also required to publish details of hospitality above de minimis levels received by ministers in their ministerial capacity.

Guidance on ministers’ and special advisers’ transparency returns is published on GOV.UK.

Ministers’ transparency guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6604110bf9ab41001aeea39c/2024_04_02-Ministers-Transparency-Guidance.pdf

Special Advisers’ transparency guidance is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66041202e8c4420011220347/2024_04_02-Special-Advisers-Transparency-Guidance.pdf

The general requirement for departments to make available the final impact assessment of a government bill introduced to Parliament is set out in the Guide to Making Legislation, published by the Cabinet Office, and affirmed in the Better Regulation Framework Guidance, published by the Department for Business and Trade.

The UK has not placed a blanket embargo on spare parts for foreign cars.

All information on trade sanctions, embargoes and restrictions, including trade controls and transit controls can be found on GOV.UK [here].

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.

In line with our net zero target, we committed to phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation by 1st October 2024, a year earlier than the original 2025 target, and on September 30th Great Britain’s last coal fired electricity power plant, Ratcliffe-upon-Soar, closed. This means we have reduced coal’s share of our electricity supply from around a third, to zero in the space of only ten years. Most imported coal is used by industry, including steel making, cement and chemical industries, and patent fuel manufacture.

Coal production and import information can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a7a172a3c2a28abb50d8be/DUKES_2024_Chapter_2.pdf

Our manifesto was clear on our intention to not grant new coal licences and we are exploring avenues to achieve this.

I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave to UIN 1981. A record of Ministerial meetings is updated periodically on Gov.UK.

The Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) Table 2.1 on Coal Commodities states that the annual figure for heritage railways usage is 15,000 tonnes - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a7a17249b9c0597fdb066a/DUKES_2.1.xlsx

The North Sea Transition Authority publishes UK oil and gas production projections to 2050 and the OBR’s latest forecasts for oil and gas tax revenues up to 2028/29 was published in the March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Future years will be included in future forecasts. Tax revenues from oil and gas employment will be included under forecasts for Income Tax and National Insurance, which are not separated by industry.

The Energy Security Plan Update, published in December 2023, included an assessment of the role of imports in meeting our domestic gas demand until 2050. The department also publishes projections of the UK’s future demand for oil (under existing and near-final policy) and monitors both UK production and demand as part of the regular departmental output.

These assessments will be updated in due course to reflect the new government's policy.

The GOV.UK One Login programme is subject to regular scrutiny and reporting to assess and ensure project objectives have been met, including through the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has provided positive reviews of GOV.UK One Login for the last three years. The programme is also working with the Evaluation Task Force to publish a comprehensive evaluation plan which will assess the programme’s key objectives.

The GOV.UK One Login programme has not had a contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd.

The development of Emergency Alerts included a contract awarded to Fujitsu.

Emergency alerts is a mobile network based system for warning the public if there is a danger to life nearby and action to take to stay safe. The system is owned by COBR, Civil Contingencies Unit, with GDS maintaining authority for the product’s development and managing the risks.

Fujitsu was awarded the contract WP2083, which was a compliant procurement run through the Crown Commercial Services framework (RM6100). In accordance with procurement regulations, a fair, open and transparent procurement process was conducted. A fair evaluation was completed and the award made to the supplier offering the best MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender).

The contract with Fujitsu is currently in its Initial Term, which spans 36 months and is set to conclude on 09 October 2025. There is provision for an Extension Period of up to 12 months, subject to Cabinet Office Approval. The contract was agreed and signed by the Cabinet Office on 7th October 2022.

It is confirmed that Year 3 of the contract will proceed with Fujitsu as planned. The potential utilisation of the Extension Period remains under consideration, pending future decisions on ownership, funding, and operational structure.

A review of the contract's future beyond the Initial Term will be undertaken, accounting for evolving organisational needs and HMG best practice guidelines.

The Online Safety Act gives online platforms new duties to tackle illegal content on their services, including illegal pornography. Ofcom as the new regulator for this regime will have extensive enforcement powers if platforms fail to fulfil their duties. These include powers to impose heavy fines on services, and also to apply to the Courts for business disruption measures. These include orders that require third parties to restrict access to non-compliant services in the UK, e.g. blocking via internet access services or app stores.

Separate to provisions in the Online Safety Act, the Pornography Review, led by Independent Lead Reviewer Baroness Gabby Bertin, is exploring the effectiveness of regulation, legislation and the law enforcement response to pornography. The government expects the Review to present its final report by the end of the year.

We are committed to working closely with our international partners on approaches to ensure tech companies are held to account for addressing illegal and harmful content online. We have a number of bilateral agreements which include online safety. In particular, the online safety and security memorandum of understanding with Australia commits us to increasing cooperation between our respective law enforcement agencies and regulators to enhance detection and enforcement capabilities. We will continue to identify opportunities to advance multilateral cooperation, including through the OECD and G7.

OpenReach has announced commercial plans to deliver full-fibre broadband to 25 million premises in the UK by 2026 and 30 million by 2030.

As part of Project Gigabit, Building Digital UK has signed a framework agreement with Openreach, with a value of up to £800 million, to provide around 312,000 hard-to-reach premises with access to gigabit-capable broadband.

Essex has been included within a call-off under this framework, which we plan to award in the coming months with delivery to commence in late-2025. According to the independent website ThinkBroadband.com, over 82% of premises in Essex have access to gigabit-capable connection, including 64% with full-fibre.

The Government is working closely with the live music sector to support an economically sustainable grassroots music sector. Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Art Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music fund which provides grants to grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals of live and electronic music gig-goers across the UK.

The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee’s report on grassroots music venues will be published soon. It will set out in further detail the Government’s position on working with industry to support the grassroots music sector.

The next Charter Review has to ensure the BBC doesn’t just survive but thrives for decades to come.

My Department is in the early stages of preparation for the upcoming Charter Review, which we expect to launch in 2025. My Department is already in discussions with the BBC about Charter Review.

Since 1999, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £70,562,212 to the UK’s heritage railways.

Within that amount, DCMS funded over 60 heritage steam organisations through the Culture Recovery Fund (2020 - 2021) providing nearly £15 million in support for the heritage rail sector. This has included multiple awards supporting the infrastructure of iconic heritage railways such as Ffestiniog, Bluebell and Severn Valley, as well as the restoration of individual locomotives and elements of rolling stock, including the world-famous Flying Scotsman.

Since 1999, Historic England (previously English Heritage) has awarded £280,396 to the UK’s heritage railways. This included sites such as Bowes Railway Company in the North East which received seven grants since 2002 totalling £515,834. In addition, Bowes Railway Company received £36,241 (July 2020 to March 2021) through a Covid-19 Emergency Grant. Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Community Interest Company received £3,374 (June 2020 to September 2020) through a Covid-19 Emergency Grant. A £49k repair grant was provided towards the cost of the restoration of a Grade II* listed turntable in St Blazey, Cornwall in 2021. The turntable has been restored to operational condition by a social enterprise company, and allows main line steam engines to run into Cornwall on railtours bringing tourists to the Duchy, and be turned ready for their return journey. Historic England has also been supporting the Railway 200 celebrations in many ways including research, outreach and listing sites with links to heritage rail.

We do not hold information on grants given from parts of Government that are not DCMS and its arms length bodies.

No.

Arts Council England’s £100 million programme, National Lottery Project Grants, is open for applications to organisations and individuals from across England, from north to south and east to west, including in Basildon and Billericay. The criteria for applying are available on the Arts Council's website.

Grants awarded from the Arts Council’s main funding streams within the last 5 financial years (2023/2024 inclusive) are published online and provide details of all organisations that receive funding.They are available in the following locations:

• National Lottery Project Grants
• Developing Your Creative Practice
• Investment Programme (2018-2022 NPO)
• Investment Programme (2023-2026 NPO)
• Cultural Recovery Fund
• Emergency Response Fund

Since 2019, Arts Council England has provided over £5.8 million of funding to organisations in the Basildon and Billericay constituency.