Sarah Green

We will maintain a team of around 140-150 officials in the COP Unit.

The Unit will continue to work closely with other government departments to ensure we build on and secure the legacy of our COP Presidency and the UK’s international reputation as a climate leader.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s diplomatic network will remain essential to our international efforts, as will leadership from other government departments.

The Government will publish England’s first Women’s Health Strategy later this year which will set out a positive new agenda to improve the health and wellbeing of women across England. To ensure that the Strategy is evidence-based and reflects women’s priorities, we ran a Call for Evidence earlier this year. This attracted over 100,000 responses from individual women, clinicians and carers and around 500 longer written submissions, which we are now analysing.

There is already robust legislation in place that protects consumers when purchasing goods and services online. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets out the rights consumers enjoy while shopping online and in store.

There are already routes of redress for harm suffered as a result of illegal and/or unsafe toys purchased via an online marketplace. For instance, where a defective product causes damage or injury, the producer or importer of the product is legally liable and may be required to pay damages under Part 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

All toys placed on the UK market, including those sold online, must meet essential safety requirements under the UK Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 and there are criminal sanctions for non-compliance.

There are already routes of redress for harm suffered as a result of illegal and/or unsafe toys purchased via an online marketplace. For instance, where a defective product causes damage or injury, the producer or importer of the product is legally liable and may be required to pay damages under Part 1 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) also provides rights and protections when a consumer buys goods or services. Under the CRA, goods sold by traders must be as described, of a satisfactory quality, and fit for a particular purpose if that purpose was made known to the trader by the consumer before the contract was made. If the goods do not meet these standards, the consumer is entitled to ask for a repair, replacement, or a full refund depending on the circumstance. The consumer can pursue a claim for breach of contract against the trader they bought the goods from in the courts.

Local authorities are responsible for the training and development of their children’s social care workforce, including ensuring that their social workers meet the standards set out in the ‘Post qualifying standards: knowledge and skills statement for child and family practitioners’.

The government is providing local authorities with £4.8 billion of new grant funding over the Spending Review period to 2025. This will enable the sector to maintain vital frontline services including children’s social care. Moreover, the government has given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures. Local authorities are best placed to decide how much to invest in the training and development of their children’s social care workforce.

The government supports local authorities by funding the initial training of social workers. The Department of Health and Social Care provides funding of approximately £77 million per annum for social worker initial training (both child and family and adult social). In addition, the department provides approximately £50 million per annum on fast-track initial training programmes.

The government works closely with local authorities to ensure that child and family social worker have the right skills and capability to meet the needs of children and families.

In the autumn budget a combined Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities package of £500 million for Early Help was announced. This includes a £300 million package to transform ‘Start for Life’ services and create a network of family hubs in half of council areas in England and a £200 million uplift to the Supporting Families programme.

The additional funding for Supporting Families takes the total investment to £695 million over the next 3 years, around a 40% real-terms uplift in funding for the programme by 2024-25.

The government recognises the importance of not disrupting education and is prioritising keeping settings open under Plan B. We therefore expect education settings to remain open for face-to-face teaching as planned. Teaching and learning should not be moved online as a result of the work from home guidance and staff can continue to attend work as necessary to deliver this. This is outlined here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-reopening-buildings-and-campuses.

We know that, in response to COVID-19, HE providers delivered new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and some providers have continued to use some of these approaches alongside in-person provision. Where blended learning is used, it should enhance students’ academic experience and we expect all universities to continue to deliver excellent learning, in line with guidance from the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS will continue to monitor the situation to ensure this, and HE providers should be open about what students can expect. If students have concerns, they should first raise them with their HE provider. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at HE providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) to consider their complaint.

The Oakervee Review highlighted the importance of integrating HS2 stations with the existing transport network and the local area. Integrating HS2 stations with local and regional transport modes, including active travel options, is a key Sponsor’s Requirement (as set out in Sponsor’s Requirement no.13, in Annex 2 of the HS2 Development Agreement). By working with local and regional authorities and stakeholders HS2 Ltd must deliver integrated travel connections that promote sustainable travel. Work continues to ensure that HS2 stations across all phases are effectively integrated, through engagement with key partners such as Transport for London, Transport for the West Midlands, Transport for Greater Manchester, Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, and relevant local planning and highways authorities.

A comprehensive range of compensation schemes is in place across the whole route, following consultation. These in most cases go beyond what the law requires; they are generous and comprehensive and available until one year after the start of operations on the relevant section of the HS2 route. Property compensation schemes are subject to regular review, most recently in 2020, when 36 proposals for improvement were put forward, over half of which have now been implemented, and with more to come.

The Oakervee Review concluded that the scope of Phase One should be continually reviewed, within the limits of the Phase One Act powers. The Department continues to review its requirements for the railway and considers changes where there is a value-for-money case, within the scope of these powers.

For example, at Euston Station, following a review, the Department has recently confirmed the decision to move to a less complex, more efficient design of the station that continues to support the full HS2 service planned.

Figures provided by HS2 Ltd covering July to September 2021 show that 7,237 full-time equivalent jobs are supported by contractors working on the route from the Colne Valley to Southam.

The Secretary of State and HS2 Ltd take the preservation and enhancement of all bat species and populations associated with the project very seriously.

HS2 Ltd’s strategy for the preservation and enhancement of bats in this area adopts a precautionary approach as to the presence of a Barbastelle population at these locations. That strategy, overseen by experienced ecologists, is to enhance linkages between woodlands and other habitats to provide connectivity and additional foraging areas for bats.

Works will include new species-rich woodland planting, hedgerow creation, the strengthening of existing hedgerows, and the translocation and reuse of ancient woodland soils. Planting will also be placed alongside the top of the cutting associated with this area to direct bat flight lines towards crossing points at Wendover Dean Viaduct. Prior to works, mitigation measures include the erection of bat boxes ahead of tree felling to ensure there is continuous availability of roosting features.

The provision of habitat and the creation of links at this scale will significantly increase the amount of foraging and commuting habitat available to local bat communities in this area.

The landscape and ecological design for this stretch of route is still being developed. When finalised, the proposals will be submitted to Buckinghamshire Council to support the local planning application for this area under Schedule 17 of the Phase One Act.

Equipping the health and social care workforce with the skills they need is crucial to providing high quality of care for those living with dementia.

As announced in our recent white paper, People at the Heart of Care, Government will invest at least £500 million over the next three years in the training and development of the social care workforce. This will include co-producing a sector-wide Knowledge and Skills Framework, building on existing frameworks including the Dementia Training Standards Framework and providing hundreds of thousands of training places and qualifications for the workforce, including those working to support individuals with Parkinson's and dementia.

Local authorities are required to undertake an assessment of any carer who requires support. This assessment records the impact on the carer and review their needs, including whether they are willing or able to continue caring.

The ‘People at the Heart of Care’ white paper states that we will invest up to £25 million to work with the sector to improve the services provided to support unpaid carers. This will identify and test a range of new and existing interventions to support unpaid carers, including respite care and breaks. Additionally, as part of the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, local authorities will have access to over £1 billion for social care in 2022/23.

All clinical trial participants should now be able to access their domestic NHS COVID Pass via the NHS App or NHS.UK for use in England. Trial participants can view details of their trial vaccines in their NHS COVID Pass if their clinical trial site has uploaded vaccination information onto the National Health Service vaccine database. Participants should confirm with their clinical trial site that their data has been transferred. Since 7 December, clinical trial participants who have received additional ‘top up’ doses of approved vaccines can now also demonstrate these in their NHS COVID Pass for travel via the NHS App and NHS.UK.

Women who have been adversely affected by surgical mesh may access comprehensive treatment, care and advice at the 8 specialist mesh centres currently in operation across England.

Good progress is being made towards the establishment of a further regional service with a provider in the South West. NHS England and NHS Improvement will announce the location of this provider in due course.

The Spending Review in 2020 provided £260 million to continue to increase the National Health Service workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan. This included £52 million in 2021/22 for Health Education England to further invest in the cancer and diagnostics workforce and expanding the postgraduate medical training of key cancer-related medical professions, such as clinical radiologists and oncologists.

Following the outcome of the recent Spending Review, spending plans for individual budgets for 2022/23 to 2024/25, including for the radiology and oncology workforce, will be subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and finalised in due course.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption. The standard rate of 20 per cent applies to most goods and services, including PCR tests. Medical testing, where it is administered by a registered health professional or where it is supervised by a relevant health professional and supplied as part of a single testing service, is exempt from VAT. The Government also continues to offer free Covid-19 testing for those with Covid-19 symptoms.

The Government recognises that the cost of PCR tests can be high, which is why we are working with the travel industry and private testing providers to see how we can further reduce the costs for the British public, whilst ensuring that travel remains as safe as possible. From 7 January 2022, eligible fully vaccinated passengers will no longer need to take a pre-departure test or self-isolate on arrival in England.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was designed as a temporary, economy-wide measure to support businesses while widespread restrictions were in place. To date, the scheme has succeeded in supporting 11.7 million jobs across the UK with employer claims totalling £70 billion, which has aided businesses and protected livelihoods.

Where applicable, travel agents can continue to apply for the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme through their local authority, which is open until March 2022. Throughout the pandemic, over £2 billion of discretionary business grant funding was provided to local authorities via the ARG to support businesses in their local area. Local authorities determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target.

The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6th January. The ACRS will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.

The first to be resettled under the new ACRS will be some of those already evacuated and in the UK. They include women’s rights activists, journalists, and prosecutors, as well as the Afghan families of British Nationals.

From Spring, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will refer refugees to the scheme, based on assessments of protection need.

In Year One we will also resettle individuals who supported the UK and international community effort in Afghanistan, including those British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni who are most at risk. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be in touch with those eligible to support them through the next steps.

There will not be an application process for the ACRS. More detail on the three referral pathways can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.

The Home Office does not publish impact assessments relating to police office closures.

Decisions on how to use funding and resources are an operational matter for Chief Constables. Police and Crime Commissioners are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience, including the management of the police estate.