Robbie Moore

Decisions about investment are for private enterprise, with government support through initiatives like Made Smarter and Help to Grow. We are providing a competitive business environment for British manufacturers – attracting investment and securing new high-value jobs in our industrial heartlands.

Our Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan requires water companies to improve all storm overflows discharging into or near designated bathing waters by 2035. The Environment Secretary has also demanded an action plan on every storm overflow in England.

The Environment Agency monitors all bathing waters in England with action plans in place at all ‘poor’ waters. Last year 93% of bathing waters were classified as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, up from 76% in 2010.

The UK committed to provide £160m at the 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Pledging Conference, bringing our contribution to almost £1bn since 2015. By the end of July, we will have disbursed over 50% of our funding, helping the UN and NGOs tackle the spread of COVID-19 and meet urgent humanitarian needs. Ultimately, only a political settlement will address the humanitarian crisis. We urge all parties to engage constructively with Special Envoy Martin Griffiths.

UK is leading the international campaign to rally support for Ukraine, condemn Russia’s invasion, debilitate the Russian economy, cripple Putin’s war machine and isolate Russia on the world stage. Since the invasion, the Foreign Secretary has used NATO and G7 meetings to push for more defensive and economic support for Ukraine and broader and deeper sanctions to ensure that Putin fails.

On 13 May we announced that anyone in England could now move home as long as they followed the advice at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-advice-on-home-moving-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.

This includes those moving into an occupied House in Multiple Occupation (HMO): during viewings, HMO tenants should stay out of indoor common areas, such as kitchens, bathrooms or sittings areas. They could remain inside their own private room with the doors closed.

Tenant safety should be landlords’ and letting agents’ first priority in this or any other move.

The Secretary of State meets with the Chairman of the Sentencing Council periodically to discuss a range of relevant matters, and has a representative attend Council meetings.

The Council has issued sentencing guidelines for a wide range of violent and sexual offences. While the Council is independent of Government, it is required to consult the Lord Chancellor on guideline development.

COVID-19 has been an unprecedented challenge for the criminal justice system but HMCTS has worked closely with the judiciary to keep courts open and cases flowing through the system.

HMCTS has led the way internationally in continuing justice; restarting jury trials ahead of all other comparable systems.

We continue to make significant progress on Criminal Courts Recovery. Since August, magistrates’ courts have been consistently completing more cases than they are receiving, dealing with over 21,000 cases each week and tackling the backlog.

In the Crown Court, we’re listing over 150 jury trials and conducting thousands of other hearings each week.

This year my Department has led the Government’s programme to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, which demonstrated the progress Northern Ireland has made as an integral part of the United Kingdom to people across this country and around the world.

Next week’s landmark Investment Summit will showcase the expertise and talent that exists in Northern Ireland and highlight its global attractiveness as a place to invest or start a business - both in its own right and as an integral part of the United Kingdom.

The 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement heralds an extraordinary achievement for Northern Ireland.

We have already announced the first part of our anniversary programme: an education initiative with the National Archives to inform young people across the UK of the journey to the Agreement and Northern Ireland’s transformation since.

The Government is committed to marking this historic occasion appropriately and sensitively, in a manner that speaks to the whole community and that enables us to look forward to a more peaceful and prosperous future.

This Government has always stressed the importance of the Union.

The recent spending review showed this Government’s commitment to investing in all parts of the UK, from city and growth deals, to driving the development of innovative technologies across Scotland.