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.

Individuals who work to support children and families must be clear of what is expected of them, and how they need to work together in partnership with others. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018)’ is the statutory guidance on inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and respond to their needs. This guidance is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942454/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_inter_agency_guidance.pdf.

Targeted area inspections, carried out jointly by Ofsted, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation for England and Wales, and the Care Quality Commission, provide a rigorous assessment of the quality of these multi-agency arrangements in a local area.

We know that lockdown has been a difficult time for safeguarding partners and appreciate all that they have done to safeguard vulnerable children in challenging circumstances. However, the statutory duty to work together and provide quality safeguarding services remained unchanged.

The department has been in close contact with all safeguarding partners throughout the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure they continued to identify and risk assess children in their areas. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 outbreak added challenges to services’ ability to identify and work with families, especially those intent to deceive them.

The department launched the See, Hear, Respond programme aimed to support vulnerable children and young people whose usual support networks were impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak and national restrictions. The government provided over £11 million to the programme which was delivered between June 2020 and March 2021 by a consortium of over 70 national and local organisations.

In April 2020, the government made £1.8 million available to the NSPCC to expand and promote its national helpline for adults to report concerns. While schools, social workers and the police remain at the forefront of work to protect vulnerable children, expanding the NSPCC helpline will mean many more adults know how and where to raise concerns and seek advice or support about the safety and wellbeing of any child or young person they are worried about.

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.

Work is being undertaken to ensure all honey meets our high standards. However, honey, is a complex natural product, meaning analysis to determine if honey has been adulterated can often be challenging. No single test can definitively determine a honey’s authenticity, and there are a range of different analytical methods available, from the well-established traditional validated methods to more recently developed advanced ‘fingerprinting’ tools such as NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance).

Allegations that some honey sold in the UK may be adulterated with added sugars, including the recent Honey Authenticity Project survey, are based on results using NMR. These have been investigated by the relevant local authorities, using a weight of evidence approach, and they concluded there was insufficient evidence to indicate fraud or non-compliance.

Defra, the Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland and the Government Chemist have been working together to identify areas where the Government can facilitate progress on some of the underpinning scientific issues that have emerged around honey authenticity testing, with the aim of providing further clarity to those carrying out monitoring and enforcement checks of honey, which protect consumers and legitimate businesses. Our programme of work on honey focuses on dissemination and knowledge transfer such as a webinar organised by the Government Chemist with Defra’s support. As part of our honey programme, we are also supporting work on testing methods which will look more in depth at issues such as ensuring method fitness for purpose and on standardising approaches.

We recognise the importance of quality standards for all foods, including honey. All honey on sale, regardless of where it has come from must comply with the Honey (England) Regulations 2015 which set out detailed specifications in terms of its composition, labelling, and quality criteria. Honey fraud by means of addition of sugars, or anything else to honey, is not permitted.

The UK produces a relatively small amount of the honey consumed domestically and relies heavily on imports to meet consumer demand and provide a reliable year-round supply. The UK has a thriving and diverse honey market, giving consumers access to a wide range of products, from mono-floral varieties to single origin and blended honeys, at a wide range of different price points.

Defra, along with other partners, is very active in ensuring honey, meets our high standards regardless of where it has been produced. We have an active food authenticity programme to ensure honey sold in the UK is not subject to fraud, meets our high standards and maintains a level playing field between honey producers.

We set out our initial proposals to reform the Habitat Regulations in the Nature Recovery Green Paper: protected sites and species. The Nature Recovery Green Paper consultation closed on 11 May and we are now in the process of analysing responses. The Government will publish a formal response in due course.

All local authorities in England currently offer a kerbside collection service for paper and card.

To ensure that we recycle more paper and card, as well as other materials, we are seeking to make recycling easier by ensuring that there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England.

Following support at public consultation, the Environment Act 2021 stipulates that all local authorities, and other waste collectors, in England must make arrangements for a core set of materials to be collected for recycling from households, businesses and non-domestic premises (including paper and card). These measures will improve the quality and quantity of materials collected for recycling and increase public confidence in the recycling system.

In 2021 we published a second consultation on consistency recycling collections. This consultation closed on 4 July and sought views on increasing consistency in recycling, including the specific materials that are in scope of collection in the paper and card waste stream. We are currently analysing responses to the consultation and intend to publish our response in due course.

Transport in London is devolved, and therefore it is for the Mayor to make decisions on service levels that support the goal of being financially sustainable by April 2023, while continuing to provide reliable services for passengers both within and outside of Greater London.

Since the start of the pandemic, the Government has provided TfL with close to £5bn in support.

Our latest assessment indicates that only one sanctioned individual has connections to my Department’s infrastructure projects through involvement with an HS2 contractor. The HS2 contractor has suspended any dividend payments from going to the sanctioned individual.

The Government recently agreed a fourth extraordinary funding and financing package for Transport for London (TfL) worth around £200m. This takes total funding provided to TfL since the start of the pandemic to close to £5bn and will ensure the continued running of TfL’s network as we recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government’s extraordinary funding settlements recognise the reliance of London’s transport network on fare revenue, and Government’s commitment now and in the future to mitigating loss of fare revenue because of the pandemic.

The Mayor has agreed to carry out a review of demand and service levels in April 2022 to inform future service level requirements and potential changes. Transport in London is devolved, and therefore the Mayor must make decisions on service levels that supports the goal of being financially sustainable by April 2023.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working hard to process paper applications as quickly as possible for all drivers, including those with health conditions. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham.

The DVLA has recently introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with epilepsy. This process has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver.

The majority of those renewing their licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they can meet the criteria outlined here. Insurance cover in these circumstances is a matter for the insurance company concerned.

The DVLA is currently reviewing the information provided on GOV.UK to make clear that drivers have the option to surrender their driving licence before reporting a medical condition using the online fitness to drive service.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working hard to process paper applications as quickly as possible for all drivers, including those with health conditions. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham.

The DVLA has recently introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with epilepsy. This process has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver.

The majority of those renewing their licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they can meet the criteria outlined here. Insurance cover in these circumstances is a matter for the insurance company concerned.

The DVLA is currently reviewing the information provided on GOV.UK to make clear that drivers have the option to surrender their driving licence before reporting a medical condition using the online fitness to drive service.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) are aware of the European Parliament’s report. The UKHSA and COMARE will review emerging evidence and provide advice to inform the Government’s policy making.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) continually monitors the safety of vaccines used in the United Kingdom vaccination programme. This is based on a range of sources, including spontaneous adverse drug reaction data from the UK’s Yellow Card scheme and other global regulators, with data on vaccine exposure from public health partners and information from epidemiological studies. The MHRA’s scientists review information on a daily basis for safety issues or unexpected rare events. This enables rapid detection of any new risks, weighed against the expected benefits. The weekly Yellow Card report summarises information on COVID-19 vaccines received via the scheme and includes the findings of safety investigations carried out by the MHRA.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has reviewed United Kingdom and international reports of suspected myocarditis and pericarditis following vaccination against COVID-19. There has been higher reporting of these suspected events with mRNA vaccines Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna and occurring more frequently in males. In the UK the evidence shows that for the Pfizer vaccine, there is similar frequency of reporting after the first and second dose, with suspected events typically occurring within a short time after vaccination.

These reports have also been analysed by the Government’s independent advisory body, the Commission for Human Medicines and its COVID-19 Vaccines Benefit Risk Expert Working Group. Following their advice, the product information for the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines was updated to include these reports and advise healthcare professionals and patients to be aware of symptoms of myocarditis and pericarditis.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency routinely promotes the Yellow Card Scheme through social media and has encouraged reporting of the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines through a targeted communication campaign. This includes Google AdWords, website advertising banners and partner support through dedicated areas on websites directing users to the Scheme. Healthcare professionals also are encouraged to report any suspected adverse drug reactions experienced by patients.

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.

The framework of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) was set out in the oral statement of 6 January. In Year 1 of the ACRS, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will consider at-risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni for resettlement under the third pathway.

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.

Digital status has been an overwhelming success. Millions of customers have used the Home Office’s digital services which enable customers to prove their immigration status immediately. Data on the usage of our digital services can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

As part of the continuing transformation of the border and immigration system, we will phase out physical and paper-based products and services and replace them with accessible, easy to use online and digital services. These new services, alongside new technologies, will remove certain scenarios where customers have to rely on the Employer Checking Service to prove their permission to work, helping reduce the need for employers to submit queries in future.

The home office is currently recruiting additional staff to reduce the time taken to respond to requests on the Employer Checking Service. Information on the number of requests submitted to the Employer Checking Service and awaiting a response as of 25 May 2022 is not available in a reportable format as it is unassured management information.

Digital status has been an overwhelming success. Millions of customers have used the Home Office’s digital services which enable customers to prove their immigration status immediately. Data on the usage of our digital services can be found on the GOV.UK webpage: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

As part of the continuing transformation of the border and immigration system, we will phase out physical and paper-based products and services and replace them with accessible, easy to use online and digital services. These new services, alongside new technologies, will remove certain scenarios where customers have to rely on the Employer Checking Service to prove their permission to work, helping reduce the need for employers to submit queries in future.

The Home Office is currently recruiting additional staff to reduce the time taken to respond to requests on the Employer Checking Service, information on the number of requests submitted to the Employer Checking Service and awaiting a response as of 25 May 2022 is not publicly available.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme is run and maintained by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities. More information can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-visa-under-the-ukraine-sponsorship-scheme

We recognise the deeply troubling circumstances faced by all Ukrainians who are caught up in this conflict, including unaccompanied minors. Safeguarding and protection of these vulnerable children is paramount.

The routes and visa changes which we have announced so far follow extensive engagement with the Ukrainian Government to ensure they respond directly to their concerns. The Ukrainian Government stated to the UK Government in writing on 7^th March 2022 that: “any Ukrainian Child who is currently outside Ukraine may not be adopted or placed in the care of foreigners without the consent of Ukraine”. The current rules in relation to unaccompanied children and the Home for Ukraine Scheme therefore respect this position.

We will continue to work closely with the Ukrainian Government going forward as to how we can work together to support unaccompanied children displaced by the conflict.

The Government is committed to increasing improvements in the response to fraud – including investigations and prosecutions. The government is committed to taking fraudsters off the streets and increasing arrests and prosecutions. We the government is committed to increasing arrests and prosecutions and that is why we have been working with partners from law enforcement, the public and private sectors to explore all options available to give our policing colleagues what they need to keep pace with criminals and encourage innovation within industry.

In February 2021, we set out an ambitious framework for tackling fraud against individuals and businesses, which will be published in detail later in 2022. It will commit key partners in the public and private sectors to do more to tackle fraud, focusing on restricting opportunities to commit fraud increasing public awareness and strengthening victim support.

We are already increasing law enforcement investigative capacity in the National Crime Agency and in Regional Organised Crime Units across England and Wales. As part of the Police Uplift Programme to recruit an additional 20,000 officers by 2023, we have channelled additional officer resource into the Regional Organised Crime Unit network to work on a host of serious and organised crime threats including fraud as well as posts to the City of London Police to fulfil their role as a world-class fraud specialist force. We will also establish a new fraud investigative function in the NCA to target the most complex and serious fraudsters, meeting a manifesto commitment to create a new national cybercrime force focused on fraud. We are also increasing intelligence capabilities in the NCA and the national security community to identify the most harmful criminals and organised criminal gangs.

Paragraph 140 of the National Planning Policy Framework states that 'once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans'

All local plans must be submitted for independent examination by an inspector. Where a local authority is proposing to amend Green Belt boundaries, it is for the inspector to decide if exceptional circumstances have been adequately demonstrated, and ultimately, whether the local plan is 'sound' and can be adopted.

Government policy on local plan examination site visits is set out in paragraph 3.23 of 'Procedure Guide for Local Plan Examinations’. It states that: 'The Inspector will decide which sites and locations they need to visit in order to assess the soundness of the plan and may also undertake a familiarisation tour of the area. Site visits may take place at any time during the examination'.

The law requires local planning authorities to review their local plans at least once every five years to assess whether updates are needed. When updates are needed, authorities must follow the local plan preparation process set out in law. The plan-making section of Government's planning practice guidance provides further details on this process. Government planning practice guidance also sets out the process for updating neighbourhood plans.

The Department has considered the responses to the consultation and the Government will respond shortly.

Local authorities are responsible for creating and protecting Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework states that a local authority can take land out of Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process. Similarly, if a local authority considers that certain land would, and should, serve the purposes of Green Belt as set out in the Framework, it could propose the new designation as a policy in a revised local plan, and consult the local community. After any further revision, the draft plan would be submitted for formal examination in public by an independent Planning Inspector, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State. The plan (including any new Green Belt boundary) is checked thoroughly to confirm whether it is sound: that is, positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with the Framework.

This Government has a manifesto commitment to protect and enhance the Green Belt. Our National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that a local authority can take land out of Green Belt only in exceptional circumstances, through the local plan process, and only if it can demonstrate that it has explored all other reasonable options. These strong protections for Green Belt land will remain firmly in place.

The Ministry of Justice published a Summary of Responses to the Call for Evidence on Dispute Resolution in England & Wales in March this year. Policy proposals informed by these responses are under development and will be the subject of further public consultation in due course.