Sarah Owen

As announced by the Prime Minister on 22 February, The Global Travel Taskforce is an important step in exploring how we can safely reopen international travel. It will develop a framework that can facilitate greater travel when the time is right, while managing the risk from imported cases and variants.

It will look to take a risk-based approach, making use of the suite of measures the Government already has in place such as testing (pre-departure testing and Test to Release) and self-isolation, as well as the recommendations from the first Global Travel Taskforce last year.

The Government will engage with stakeholders across the international travel sector to develop this work, in a similar way to the first Global Travel Taskforce last November, and will work at pace to report to the Prime Minister by 12 April. Further detail on the Taskforce and its plans will be shared shortly.

The government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector due to COVID-19. The sector is crucial to the UK’s economy and businesses across the industry can draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures we have put in place during this time. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which supports companies cover the wage costs of their employees, has been extended until the end of April 2021, during which time it will contribute up to 80% of employees’ wages (up to £2,500 per month). The government has also support the aviation industry through the Covid Corporate Financing Facility and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Schemes.

The Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme announced on 24 November will provide support for eligible businesses, up to the equivalent of their business rates liabilities in the 2020/21 financial year, subject to certain conditions and a cap per claimant of £8m. This is intended to help reduce cash burn and could unlock shareholder and lender support.

We continue to monitor the financial health of the sector and review the support provided to it in light of evolving restrictions on domestic and international travel.

Further to my answer of 11 January 2021, on 25 January 2021 the Secretary of State held a meeting with Highways England to discuss progress. He has asked for a report setting out progress in delivering the 18-point smart motorway action plan and which identifies actions that can be delivered early by 12 March 2021, so any accelerated works can be rapidly put in place.

Department for Transport officials liaise with Govia Thameslink Railway on a frequent and regular basis to understand the measures they are putting in place regarding the safety of their staff.

In line with the January COVID-19 lockdown announcement, and guidance from Public Health England, Govia Thameslink Railway has implemented COVID-secure arrangements at all work places across their network. Measures include:

• Additional mess room facilities to enable social distancing
• The application of a sanitising agent (Zoono virucide) within the cab and saloon areas of trains
• Regular testing for secure ‘bubbles’ is provided where training within a cab is required
• All Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) employees were immediately stood down from work
• Staff rosters have been amended to reduce the number of frontline workers at stations, in line with the reduction in passenger numbers

Leagrave was nominated for Access for All funding in 2019, but was not selected as other stations in the region better met the selection criteria. The Department looks forward to receiving a further bid for Leagrave when we open a new round of Access for All in the future.

The Department for Transport has not had any bespoke discussions with representatives of Luton Airport specifically on the ban on international travel during the covid-19 lockdown announced in January 2021. The Department’s Airports Team however held its regular monthly meeting with representatives of Luton Airport on 7^th January 2021 and representatives of Luton Airport attended a pre-departure testing airports round table hosted by the Aviation Minister on 8^th January 2021.

Department for Transport officials have regular meetings with Luton Borough Council on a variety of transport related matters, including on local road maintenance issues. The Department is providing Luton with over £2.3 million towards highway maintenance this financial year. It is for each Council to decide on how this funding is utilised based on their highway asset management strategy, needs, and priorities.

Highways England’s Delivery Plan 2020-25 sets out the activities and projects Highways England will deliver over the current road investment strategy period. In addition to ongoing work to upgrade sections of the motorway, a priority for Highways England is the delivery of the Secretary of State’s 18 point action plan to raise the bar on safety and increase public confidence in the motorway network.

Highways England will implement the action plan in full and has already completed work, including the provision of 10 additional emergency areas on the M25 and making all emergency areas more visible by introducing a bright orange surface and better, more frequent signs. A nationally-targeted safety campaign to increase road user confidence, including what to do in the event of a breakdown in a live lane, will launch during January 2021.

Highways England will deliver all the remaining actions including the provision of stopped vehicle detection on ALR motorways and conversion of dynamic hard shoulder to ALR.

Decisions on International Travel Corridors are currently informed by risk assessments provided by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC), working closely with Public Health England (PHE), using methodology endorsed by the four Chief Medical Officers (CMO) of the UK.

JBC and PHE monitor over 250 countries, territories and islands daily to inform these risk assessments. Factors taken into consideration include:

• An estimate of the proportion of the population that is currently infected (this is known as ‘point prevalence’);
• Weekly case incidence rate taking into account population size of the country, territory or island;
• Trends in incidence, deaths, hospitalisations and intensive care admissions;
• Information on laboratory capacity, testing and contact tracing strategies, and test positivity rates;
• COVID-19 cases detected in the UK following travel to the country, territory or island (‘imported infections’);
• Qualitative information related to the reliability of reported data and the maturity of public health systems;
• Public health measures in place and the enforcement of, and adherence to, those measures.

The Department for Transport is in regular contact with airlines, airports and unions to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on the sector and its workers.

We expect companies to pursue all possible actions to preserve cash and maximise liquidity, including engaging with shareholders, lenders and the markets, and utilising all available assets and facilities. However, we do not comment on discussions held with individual companies, as this information is commercially sensitive.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 11 June 2020, PQ UIN 56177.

The Government has been clear that we will only consider bespoke support for businesses once all other avenues have been exhausted, including the economy-wide support announced by the Chancellor.

In considering whether there is a case for providing additional support, we would look at factors such as whether the business makes a material contribution to the economic activity of the UK and the equitable and fair treatment across businesses in the sector. Any support that is offered will follow the government guidance on Managing Public Money.

The Secretary of State has held extensive discussions about self-isolation measures with the Home Secretary.

The Department for Transport has engaged with the aviation sector on this issue and will continue to do so in the coming weeks. This includes working with senior representatives from the aviation industry as part of the Aviation Expert Steering Group. This group serves as the working group for the International Aviation Taskforce – one of the five sectoral taskforces announced by the Government on 13 May.

In addition, the Department has co-chaired with Border Force three implementation groups with the aviation industry to ensure that the industry is aware of how the new regulations on self-isolation will be implemented.

The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector as a result of COVID-19, and has been engaging regularly with airlines throughout the UK to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on their financial position.

Businesses across the industry, including airlines, have been able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures put in place during this time. This includes a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, two business interruption loan guarantee schemes for different sizes of business, Time to Pay flexibilities with tax bills, financial support for employees and VAT deferrals.

If airlines find themselves in trouble as a result of coronavirus even following the Government’s cross-economy wage and financial interventions, the Transport Secretary and Chancellor have confirmed that the Government is prepared to enter discussions with individual companies seeking bespoke support as a last resort, having exhausted all other options. Any intervention would need to represent value for money for taxpayers.

Airlines across the country are eligible and have accessed these schemes which has protected a substantial number of jobs across the industry. We do not comment on the commercial or financial matters of private firms and are therefore it would be inappropriate to detail individual discussions.

The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aviation sector as a result of COVID-19, and has been meeting with airlines based in the UK on a regular basis to understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on their financial position. These meetings have also been used to inform and advise airlines on the support that can be potentially available to them if applicable.

Businesses across the industry, including airlines, have been able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures put in place during this time. This includes a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital, two business interruption loan guarantee schemes for different sizes of business, Time to Pay flexibilities with tax bills, financial support for employees and VAT deferrals.

The Chancellor wrote to airlines and airports across the sector 24^th March. As that letter outlined if airlines find themselves in trouble as a result of coronavirus even following the Government’s cross-economy wage and financial interventions, the Transport Secretary and Chancellor have confirmed that the Government is prepared to enter discussions with individual companies seeking bespoke support, but only as a last resort, having exhausted all other options. Any intervention would need to represent value for money for taxpayers.

It would not be appropriate to comment on individual discussions. However, we recognise that this will be very distressing news for EasyJet employees and their families, and we stand ready to support them.

Our transport systems are critical to support the restart of the wider economy and we continue to work closely with the aviation sector on these restart plans and the longer-term recovery of the sector. Firms can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees. If airlines find themselves in trouble because of coronavirus, and have exhausted the measures already available to them, the Government is prepared to enter discussions with individual companies seeking bespoke support as a last resort, having exhausted all other options.??Any intervention would need to represent value for money for taxpayers.

Our transport systems are critical to support the restart of the wider economy and we continue to work closely with the aviation sector through the phasing of lockdown restrictions and beyond, on these restart plans and the longer-term recovery of the sector. In addition, the International Aviation Taskforce has been set up to support the development of guidelines for safely restarting the sector that will take place, when the science allows. The Taskforce will be publishing guidance for passengers and operators shortly.

The Chancellor recently extended the Job Retention Scheme until the end of October, bringing more flexibility to the scheme to ensure those who are able to work can do so, while remaining amongst the most generous employee schemes in the world. As well as financial support for employees, firms can also draw upon the unprecedented package of measures to protect jobs, including: schemes to raise capital and flexibilities with tax bills.

The Civil Aviation Authority is working with airlines and airports to provide flexibility within the regulatory framework to help manage and mitigate Covid-19 impacts where this is appropriate, including on fulfilment of regulatory requirements such as Pilot’s flight time.

The Department for Transport is in regular conversation with UK airlines and is working with the sector, the regulator and consumer groups to help ensure airlines deliver on their commitments. The Government’s position is clear - if a customer asks for a refund, that refund needs to be paid.

The number of reported personal injury road accidents and the number of fatal casualties between junctions 10 and 13 on the M1 since 2010 can be found in the table below:

On 24 October 2019 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the Department will carry out an evidence stocktake to gather the facts about smart motorway safety.

The Department will present the findings shortly.

The Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS), introduced in 2013, encourages mobility within the social rented sector, strengthens work-incentives and makes better use of available social housing, while providing fairness to taxpayers on expenditure on Housing Benefit.

The policy has saved over £2 billion since its introduction in April 2013. A breakdown by financial year is provided in the table below:

Total Estimated Housing Benefit RSRS Deductions, 2013/14 to 2019/20 (£m pa)

Notes

1. Deductions figures do not take into account any additional savings due to behavioural change before/after the policy has been introduced, for example moving to a smaller property to avoid a deduction.

1. Figures do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as these data are not currently available.

In terms of the cost of administering the RSRS, funding was made available to local authorities (LAs). Information is published in Housing Benefit subsidy circulars available on Gov.UK.

To date (2019/20) administrative funding for the RSRS policy has been around £68m (which includes funding for the administration of Discretionary Housing Payments associated with the introduction of the RSRS policy).

The selection process for Regional Serious Violence and Contextual Safeguarding Leads is the established NHS England and NHS Improvement recruitment process, following fair and open procedures. The role description includes the system assurance of several statutory functions which the National Health Service is required to implement, including Prevent; female genital mutilation; modern slavery and human trafficking; tackling serious violence; preventing domestic abuse; and stopping violence against women and girls. The Regional Serious Violence and Contextual Safeguarding Leads focus on all nuances of neglect, abuse, exploitation and violence as indicated with their community safety partnerships, national crime agency data and counter terrorism reports.

A National Health Service number is needed for individuals to demonstrate their COVID-19 vaccination status via the NHS App, through the NHS website or via letters from the NHS, which can be requested by calling 119. Anyone can register with a general practitioner (GP) practice to get an NHS number. It is free to register and proof of address or immigration status, ID or an NHS number is not needed. A registration letter will arrive in the post containing an NHS number.

Individuals who do not have an NHS number or are not registered with a GP are still entitled to free COVID-19 vaccinations.

The data is not currently available as it is being collated and centrally validated.

Data provided by Corporate Travel Management to the Department shows that to 1 July, 127,074 travellers have completed hotel quarantine, across 73 hotels.

The Managed Quarantine Service operates through a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which include infection control. These procedures are based on advice from the Department’s infection prevention specialist. We have contracted with Global Secure Accreditation to provide liaison officers in each hotel to oversee the correct deployment of the SOPs. They undertake monthly reviews of compliance and their effectiveness and if required make recommendations for the Department to strengthen them. Should an outbreak occur, incident management teams investigate the cause and implement measures to stop further transmission. Directors of Public Health and Environmental Health take considerable interest in all quarantine hotels in their area and regularly visit all quarantine hotels in their area to assure the correct infection control measures are in place.

Since February 2021, approximately 60 people have been granted exemptions from COVID-19 managed quarantine facilities on medical grounds.

We have governance arrangements in place and tools available in the event of transmission of a dangerous variant of concern with vaccine escape qualities. This includes the local action committee command structure and outbreak management protocols within the Contain Framework, which act as routes to provide support and interventions where required. The United Kingdom’s world leading genomic sequencing programme allows us to quickly identify and respond to any new variants and we are building onshore capability to rapidly develop new vaccines if required.

The Government recognizes that this has been an incredibly difficult time to grieve, with the challenging, yet necessary, measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 affecting the complexity of grief for many people.

Since March 2020, the Government has given £10.2 million to mental health charities, including bereavement support charities, to support adults and children struggling with their mental wellbeing due to the impact of covid-19. We have also published our Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, backed by a one-off targeted investment of £500 million, to ensure that we have the right support in place this year.

A wide range of support continues to be available for the bereaved, and we will continue to work closely with bereavement services to assess how further support can be provided.

The Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office are continuing to consider to options for validation and will provide a further update in due course.

We continue to have meetings with those bereaved as a result of the pandemic, in order to hear and learn from their experiences.

The Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office will continue to consider the most effective way of ensuring data transparency. Our partners are responsible for collecting information on the operation of the policy, which is used to maintain an effective service.

The Department is unable to publish data relating to the operation of the scheme as this information is not currently centrally validated. Partners are responsible for collecting information on the operation of the policy, which is used to maintain an effective service and the Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office will continue to consider the most effective way of ensuring data transparency.

The information is not collected in the format requested.

On 13 February 2021, the Government published the COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Plan, which aims to improve uptake across all communities in the United Kingdom. We have allocated £23.75 million for councils and voluntary groups through the Community Champions scheme. Through this scheme, Community Champions will use their local networks to provide advice about COVID-19 and the vaccine. Champions will also work with councils to identify the barriers to accessing accurate information about the vaccine and to provide tailored support, such as phone calls for people who are digitally excluded and linking to general practitioner surgeries.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation supports flexibility in delivery of the programme at a local level to ensure that every opportunity is utilised to offer the vaccine to groups with lower uptake. This can include offering vaccine in a wider range of settings. In Luton, additional vaccination centres, including a gym and a youth centre, have been set up by the local clinical commissioning group to maximise vaccine uptake.

Public Health England has produced a range of advice on pregnancy and fertility with regards to COVID-19 vaccination, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-women-of-childbearing-age-currently-pregnant-planning-a-pregnancy-or-breastfeeding

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to help social media platforms identify and take action against false claims about COVID-19 vaccines in lines with their terms and conditions. This includes false narratives about the alleged impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on fertility. There is no evidence that the vaccine affects fertility.

Our vaccine communications toolkits for stakeholders, partners and employers cover information around these concerns and we have been sourcing and sharing case stories of women of childbearing age who have had the vaccine before, during or after pregnancy to tackle vaccine hesitancy. At a local level webinars and engagement sessions have been focused to address women’s concerns around the vaccine and have also been tailored to specific demographic groups.

Public Health England has not made an assessment.

Health visiting services have continued to deliver the Healthy Child Programme throughout the pandemic. Contacts were initially virtual unless there was a clinical or safeguarding need. Health visitors have also prioritised families not already in contact with services. Services have now been restored in line with the community services prioritisation guidance.

The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

There have been no specific discussions.

National Health Service staff vaccination data is currently published down to regional level. NHS England and NHS Improvement have no imminent plans to publish data on vaccinations by trust. The level of data published by NHS England and NHS Improvement is regularly reviewed.

The legislative measures in the Health and Care Bill White Paper are a critical first step in wider reform in the adult social care sector. However, our commitment to the reform of social care extends beyond this legislation and we will bring forward further proposals in 2021.

Health visitors have continued to provide support throughout the pandemic through a blended approach consisting of face-to-face and virtual visits, making a professional judgement on what sort of appointment is best for each family. Local authorities are best placed to make decisions on workforce based on local need. New parents are offered five universal health and wellbeing reviews during the first two and a half years of a child’s life where health visitors provide tailored support and can signpost parents to additional services as required.

No such discussions have taken place. There has been no suspension of first doses available in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care System although as the number of people who are due their second dose increases, the balance of appointments will change to reflect vaccine availability and the need to complete those second doses within 12 weeks.

A formal impact assessment has not been produced for the regulations that require day two and day eight testing. NHS Test and Trace tests are free for people who have symptoms of COVID-19 or who are clinically advised to take a test. Only essential travel should be being undertaken during the pandemic to protect the public. All international arrivals need to buy the travel testing package through the testing booking portal or through hotel quarantine before they travel to the United Kingdom. For all arrivals quarantining at home the testing package is £210 from NHS Test and Trace. However, we recently introduced private sector testing of travellers in home quarantine partly to safeguard National Health Service capacity and to offer a wider choice for international arrivals who need to purchase private tests. The prices and service offered by these approved providers vary.

Limiting mixing indoors, where the risk of transmission is much higher, is critical to halting the spread of the virus. Therefore, people will not be allowed to mix indoors with anyone they do not live with or have not formed a support bubble wit, until step three of the roadmap, which will come into force no earlier than 17 May. From step three, up to six people or two households will be able to meet indoors. However, couples can currently meet outdoors on a one to one basis for exercise and recreation.

The Government will keep this under review in keeping with its commitment to remove current restrictions based on the data.

The Government has been clear that there will be opportunities to look back, analyse and reflect on all aspects of COVID-19. This will include an independent inquiry at the appropriate time.

Entitlement to free National Health Service treatment is generally based on ordinary residence in the United Kingdom. If individuals are not registered with a general practitioner NHS regional teams working with various appropriate local systems will contact unregistered people to ensure they are offered the vaccine. This includes those experiencing homelessness, people who may not live in a fixed location, refugees and those seeking asylum.

Locally commissioned arrangements to reach these groups may include local NHS community and mental health trust providers, Primary Care Networks or partnership activity with statutory and voluntary services.  Because there is no charge for the vaccine for people living in the UK, the immigration status of a patient is not relevant, therefore no proof of residence is needed and there is no requirement to report anyone to the Home Office.

Discussions are ongoing with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee about additional funding for costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as the increased advance payments, general COVID-19 business support has been accessible to most community pharmacies, including the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant and business rate relief. Additional payments have been made to support opening hours on Bank Holidays, social distancing and the medicine delivery service to shielded patients. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided free of charge and pharmacies are reimbursed for PPE already purchased. Non-monetary support provided during the pandemic included the removal of some administrative tasks, flexibility in opening hours and the delayed introduction of new services.

For phase two of the COVID 19 vaccination programme, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation published its interim advice on 26 February setting out that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age, and not occupation. This is because age is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations. Therefore, police officers will not be prioritised based on their occupation.

To date, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not held discussions with Cabinet colleagues or NHS England and NHS Improvement about prioritising workers at managed quarantine facilities for vaccination.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.  The JCVI identified that the vaccination of frontline healthcare workers should be a priority for the COVID-19 vaccination programme during phase one because these staff are at high risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection and also of transmitting that infection to multiple persons who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, as well as to other staff in a healthcare environment.

For phase two of the vaccination programme, the JCVI published its final advice on 13 April, setting out that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age, rather than by occupation. This is because age is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations, and because the speed of delivery is crucial as we provide more people with protection from COVID-19. The Government is on track to offer all adults eligible in phase one and phase two their first dose of authorised vaccines by the end of July. Therefore, workers at managed quarantine facilities who are eligible for a vaccine, because of their age or other clinical factors, such as underlying health conditions, will have access to a vaccine by the end of July.

Due to significant diary pressures, we are unable to meet with the family of Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong at this time.

The Government takes this issue seriously and is committed to ensuring the safety of pregnant women during this pandemic.

Due to significant diary pressures, we are unable to meet with the family of Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong at this time.

The Government takes this issue seriously and is committed to ensuring the safety of pregnant women during the pandemic.

Since March 2020, the Department has received a huge increase in the number of Written Question tabled. In the last calendar year to 1 March 2021, we have received over 13,000 Written Questions and as a result response times have significantly fallen. We have created and put into action an iterative recovery plan, the objectives of which are to increase the number of questions answered on time, to clear the backlog of overdue questions and to ensure high-quality answers.

Advice for pregnant employees was published by the Government, in partnership with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The Royal College of Midwives and The Health and Safety Executive on 23 December 2020.

The guidance sets out that if a woman is pregnant and has let their employer know in writing, the employer should carry out a risk assessment. Pregnant women of any gestation should not be required to continue working if this is not supported by the risk assessment.

Women who are 28 weeks pregnant and beyond or are pregnant and have an underlying health condition that puts them at a greater risk of severe illness from COVID-19 at any gestation, are advised to take a more precautionary approach. Employers should consider how to redeploy these staff and maximise the potential for homeworking, wherever possible.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.  For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.

Teachers aged 50 years and older or in an at-risk group are eligible for vaccination in the first phase of the programme. Prioritisation decisions for the next phase of delivery are subject to of the surveillance and monitoring data and information from phase one, as well as further input from independent scientific experts such as the JCVI. Phase two of the roll-out may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services, such as teachers and school staff.

We are working closely with all 314 lower tier and unitary local authorities to collate information on how the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is progressing and will release this information in due course.

The Department is working with Public Health England, NHS England and NHS Improvement and key stakeholders to encourage take-up of the COVID-19 vaccine among black, Asian and minority ethnic communities and ensure that everyone, including those with questions about the vaccination process, has access to accurate advice and information. The Department is also working with community press and radio stations to deliver information on vaccination in over a dozen languages.

Our activity is also focusing on recruiting trusted voices, faith leaders, and community organisations for priority multicultural audiences, with a particular focus on Muslim, Polish, black African and Caribbean and Jewish communities. The Department is building on pre-existing relationships and established channels, as well as reaching out to more influencers through virtual sessions. Externally, the Department is also working with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to help social media platforms identify/ take action on incorrect claims on the virus, including anti-vaccination narratives that could endanger people’s health.

This data is not held in the form requested. Data is held on the number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine received by people in the United Kingdom by week. By 3 January 2021, 375,357 people in the UK had received their first dose of vaccine. This increased to 1,085,657 by 10 January 2021. The daily update of the number of vaccinations in the UK is available at the following link:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations

We are following the advice from independent experts on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which groups of people to prioritise for COVID-19 vaccines.

The JCVI advised the immediate priority should be to prevent deaths and protect health and care staff, with old age deemed the single biggest factor determining mortality.

The Government will set out plans for phase two of the vaccination programme, based on further advice from the JCVI. Phase two may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services.

Due to significant diary pressures, we are unable to meet with the family of Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong at this time.

The Government takes this issue seriously and is committed to ensuring the safety of pregnant women during this pandemic.

The information requested is not held centrally.

All vaccination sites are maximising the use of all vaccines and preventing wastage, mitigating the possibility of doses exceeding their recommended shelf life or being spoiled.

The Secretary of State has not had specific conversations with the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, individual clinicians in Luton or Luton Borough Council regarding the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Secretary of State has not had specific conversations with the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, individual clinicians in Luton or Luton Borough Council regarding the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Secretary of State has not had specific conversations with the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, individual clinicians in Luton or Luton Borough Council regarding the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

On Wednesday 16 December the Government released provisional figures which showed at least 137,897 people received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the end of Tuesday 15 December. Further information is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-than-137000-people-in-uk-receive-first-dose-of-covid-vaccine-in-one-week

Data published by NHS England shows that by the week ending 17 January 2021, 3,857,266 people had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The latest COVID-19 vaccination data is available here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

As of 27 December 2020, the Department published data showing that 944,539 people in the United Kingdom had received a COVID-19 vaccination.

Formal statistics will be published on an ongoing basis at: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI has advised that the first priorities for any COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.

Therefore, in line with the recommendations of the JCVI, the vaccine will be initially rolled out to the priority groups including care home residents and staff, people over 80 years old and health and care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and all individuals aged 16-64 years old with underlying health conditions. Phase 2 of the roll out may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services.

On 15 May 2020 we published details of a £600 million Infection Control Fund for adult social care. The Fund was paid in two instalments: in May and July. The Department is still assuring the information that local authorities have provided on the final expenditure of the overall fund, which ran from May to September 2020. However, on 27 July, we published data that shows that every local authority distributed funding and that, in total, councils had distributed £257 million of the initial £300 million tranche by 23 July.

On 17 September 2020 the Government announced the extension of this fund until March 2021, with an additional £546 million for the care sector.

The Infection Control Fund has provided over £1.1 billion to the care sector to implement infection prevention measures. Under the conditions of the extended fund which came into place in October, local authorities are required to pass funding to care homes and Care Quality Commission regulated community care providers within the local authority’s geographical basis. The conditions also require local authorities to submit returns specifying how the grant has been spent for the Department to consider.

The flu vaccination is recommended for health and social care workers who have direct contact with patients and service users, so they can protect themselves and the vulnerable people that they care for. This is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Responsibility for offering a free flu vaccination to frontline health and social care workers rests with their employers, as part of their occupational health responsibility. Where a workplace scheme is not available, social care workers can access the flu vaccine for free through their general practitioner or at most high street pharmacists, via the National Health Service complementary scheme.

This year we have also published guidance on flu vaccination for social care workers and made available letters for care workers and personal assistants if they need help to provide proof of entitlement to the free vaccination. These are both available on GOV.UK at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-immunisation-for-social-care-staff

General practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists are responsible for ordering flu vaccine from suppliers which are used to deliver the national flu programme to adults, with deliveries phased through the season. The Department has procured additional doses of seasonal flu vaccine to ensure more flu vaccines are available this winter for priority cohorts, including frontline health and social care workers. GPs, community pharmacists and trusts who have exhausted their own supply are now able to order from this central stock.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with local areas to ensure that local providers are supported to meet increased demand for the flu vaccination this winter. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has granted dispensation to allow the movement of vaccines locally between practices and other National Health Service provider organisations this season, to help address local shortages.

The flu vaccination is recommended for health and social care workers who have direct contact with patients and service users, so they can protect themselves and the vulnerable people that they care for. This is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Responsibility for offering a free flu vaccination to frontline health and social care workers rests with their employers, as part of their occupational health responsibility. Where a workplace scheme is not available, social care workers can access the flu vaccine for free through their general practitioner or at most high street pharmacists, via the National Health Service complementary scheme.

This year we have also published guidance on flu vaccination for social care workers and made available letters for care workers and personal assistants if they need help to provide proof of entitlement to the free vaccination. These are both available on GOV.UK at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flu-immunisation-for-social-care-staff

The first provisional monthly influenza vaccine uptake data amongst frontline healthcare workers in England, published by Public Health England, is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2020-to-2021

The report covers data on vaccine uptake between 1 September 2020 and 31 October 2020 based on manual returns.

Since the initial pandemic peak, the Government has assessed and managed the impact of COVID-19 on the wider health and care agenda. This included agreeing approaches to managing service backlogs whilst also planning for winter and a successful European Union exit transition period.

During the summer the Government continued to work on the response to COVID-19 by developing the health and social care plan to ensure readiness. This has included £3 billion of additional funding to support the National Health Service announced on the 17 July and a further £450 million of capital funding.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considered the expansion of the flu vaccination programme at a meeting on 6 July 2020. The JCVI was supportive of extending vaccination to all adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age, starting at the oldest age groups as a temporary measure for the 2020/21 influenza season.

The minute of the JCVI’s Extraordinary Meeting on COVID-19 Immunisation prioritisation held 6 July 2020 is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#minutes

A decision was made this year to extend the seasonal flu programme to people aged 50 and over in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns about the co-circulation of flu and COVID-19. A decision has not yet been made in relation to the inclusion of people aged 50 and over in future years.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considered the expansion of the flu vaccination programme at a meeting on 6 July 2020. The JCVI was supportive of extending vaccination to all adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age, starting at the oldest age groups as a temporary measure for the 2020/21 influenza season.

The minute of the JCVI’s Extraordinary Meeting on COVID-19 Immunisation prioritisation held 6 July 2020 is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation#minutes

A decision was made this year to extend the seasonal flu programme to people aged 50 and over in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, and concerns about the co-circulation of flu and COVID-19. A decision has not yet been made in relation to the inclusion of people aged 50 and over in future years.

The flu vaccine programme is currently being delivered, with priority given to those who are most at risk from the effects of flu, and frontline health and social care workers. There will be further communication on extending the programme to those aged 50-64 later in the season. Overall, there is sufficient vaccine for more than 30 million people to be vaccinated in England this winter.

NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that at no point have urgent blood tests been delayed or unavailable due to the reported distribution issue.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working to ensure all shortage items are supplied promptly and that delivery schedules are returned to normal. They are working closely with Roche Diagnostics, and will continue to do so until all routine services have resumed, and any backlog of testing has been worked through.

Public Health England collect provisional weekly data on flu vaccine uptake levels in key cohorts, including those aged 65 years and over, at risk groups, pregnant women and children aged 2 and 3. The weekly reports are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports

Monthly data on the number of people who have been vaccinated from these cohorts, together with monthly data on uptake in healthcare workers and school age children, Reception to Year 7, is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures

The first monthly data was published on 26 November on the number of people who have been vaccinated up to 31 October 2020.

It is still very early in the flu season to provide an assessment on overall uptake.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with all the national pharmacy organisations on plans to ensure that community pharmacies, including large chain pharmacies, are used to optimal effect in the COVID-19 vaccination programme, starting with the sites that can do this at scale. As of 22 February 2021, 196 community pharmacies have now started to offer the COVID-19 vaccination service, with more pharmacies joining the service over the coming weeks. We expect 200 community pharmacies sites to offer the COVID-19 vaccination service as of 8 March 2021. Some pharmacists and members of their team have also been working with general practitioners to deliver the vaccine in many areas of the country.

The BMA General Practitioners Committee in England agreed with NHS England and NHS Improvement the general practice COVID-19 vaccination service, which was commissioned in line with agreed national terms and conditions as an Enhanced Service. GP Practices working within Primary Care Network groupings were invited to nominate by Tuesday 18 November a site to be designated and approved for administering COVID-19 vaccinations. The ES specification was published on 1 December. Practices were asked to opt into the ES by the end of the 7 December.

NHSE&I wrote to practices on 4 December, giving 10 days’ notice to prepare Primary Care Network groupings who had opted into vaccine delivery to be ready to roll out the vaccines from the week commencing 14 December, under the new Enhanced Service.

Practices in more than a hundred parts of England took delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine on 14 December, with hundreds of other sites starting to vaccinate patients in December. The sites are located in every region of England and will each deliver 975 doses of the vaccine to patients in their first week of vaccinating. Patients will be invited to return three weeks later for their second dose.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with all the national pharmacy organisations on plans to ensure that community pharmacies, including large chain pharmacies, are used to optimal effect in the COVID-19 vaccination programme, starting with the sites that can do this at scale. As of 22 February 2021, 196 community pharmacies have now started to offer the COVID-19 vaccination service, with more pharmacies joining the service over the coming weeks. We expect 200 community pharmacies sites to offer the COVID-19 vaccination service as of 8 March 2021. Some pharmacists and members of their team have also been working with general practitioners to deliver the vaccine in many areas of the country.

The Government has asked the National Health Service to be ready to deploy any safe, effective vaccines when available. Planning considerations include the size and make-up of the workforce needed to deliver a potentially extensive vaccination programme at pace, training requirements, guidance, consumables and other equipment, as well as the supporting infrastructure required, including warehousing, transport, logistics and end-destination ‘clinic’ storage.

The scale of what is rolled out and when will depend on a safe, effective vaccine being available. All plans we are making recognise that there are numerous potential vaccine candidates, meaning that we will need to remain flexible. Throughout, as health is a devolved matter, the Government is working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure successful delivery across the whole of the United Kingdom.

My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has met with a wide range of individuals who have been impacted in different ways by the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how they have been affected. This includes meetings with relatives of those who have sadly lost their lives to the virus.

The National Health Service COVID-19 App has been widely available to download since 24 September and provides several tools to support testing and contact tracing in England and Wales including contact tracing, local area alerts and venue check-in. As of 14 October, the app had been downloaded over 17.67 million times in England and Wales. By 28 October this had risen to 19.22 million.

Public Health England and NHS England and NHS Improvement are the health and social care delivery organisations responsible for ensuring that a COVID-19 vaccine is deployed and administered safely and efficiently to the public. This includes the planning for distribution and the consideration of the settings and workforce required to vaccinate against COVID-19. All developing programme plans recognise that there are numerous potential vaccine candidates, meaning that we will need to remain flexible.

Public Health England is in regular discussion with potential suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines around the storage and distribution of vaccines from when they may become available.

Throughout, as health is a devolved matter, the Government is working closely with the devolved administrations to ensure successful delivery across the whole of the United Kingdom.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care discusses a range of topics concerning Departmental responsibilities with Cabinet colleagues, including the distribution of a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

The Government is taking a cross-Government approach to address bereavement support and help ensure that families and friends of those deceased get the support they need.

We are engaging with the National Health Service, arm’s length bodies and bereavement organisations to assess the increased need for bereavement support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We recognise how difficult it has been for people to be cut off from their friends and family throughout the past few months. Support bubbles were introduced to assist the most isolated in society. They can be a source of extra support to some of those most impacted by the difficult effects of the social restrictions, while ensuring we continue to keep the rate of transmission low. This is why the policy has been targeted at single-adult households. However, there are other sources of support available for grieving households. For example, support groups of up to 15 people are still able to meet. In such scenarios, people should continue to adhere to social distancing when interacting with those not in their household or support bubble.

Guidance on meeting people from outside of their household has been published and can be accessed at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/meeting-people-from-outside-your-household

The Government is taking a cross-Government approach to address bereavement support and help ensure that families and friends of those deceased get the support they need – particularly during this difficult time.

We are engaging with a range of specialist bereavement organisations to assess the increased the need for support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government is taking a cross-Government approach to address bereavement support and help ensure that families and friends of those deceased get the support they need – particularly during this difficult time. We are engaging with a range of specialist bereavement organisations to assess the increased need for support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, the Government awarded £4.2 million to mental health charities and charities providing bereavement support. This funding is part of an overall £750 million package for the voluntary sector announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in April.

The information requested is not currently held centrally.

In recent months the Government has reintroduced shielding advice for clinically extremely vulnerable people in tier 4 areas or during periods of national lockdown. The updated guidance and letters signpost people to mental health support and the Government has provided additional funding to local authorities to support clinically extremely vulnerable people during these periods of enhanced restrictions. NHS Volunteer Responders also remain on hand to support people, including clinically vulnerable people with serious mental illness.

General practitioners and other National Health Service providers have been asked to prioritise flu vaccination for all those who are in the clinically vulnerable groups documented in the national guidance.

Vaccination of those who are in at risk groups has started and will continue in all areas in England through the winter months.

Information on the flu vaccination programme for this season is included in the Annual Flu Letter Update 2020/21, which was published on 5 August 2020. The Annual Flu Letter is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/907149/Letter_annualflu_2020_to_2021_update.pdf

We will be providing further communication later in the season on the expansion of the programme to those aged 50 – 64 years.

As of 10am on 29 September, there had been over 13 million downloads of the NHS COVID-19 app.

The Government receives a range of inputs in order to make all of its decisions relating to COVID-19 restrictions, including monitoring the impact of restrictions in local areas via the Joint Biosecurity Centre and monitoring international experience.

These restrictions on operating hours have been applied in local areas where the evidence suggests it can play a role in reducing the transmission of the virus while allowing businesses to trade for the majority of the evening. We have also seen in Belgium that the package of measures introduced, including early closures in some regions, was effective in controlling transmission rates.

The Government keeps all of its COVID-19 restriction measures under review and will closely monitor the impact of this policy.

Hospitality settings have higher environmental risks than other places. We saw in Bolton how, when the 10pm curfew was deployed as part of a package of measures, the weekly average number of cases fell from 31 to 28 cases per 100,000. Cases were previously higher than anywhere else in Greater Manchester.

This is supported with Public Health England’s Weekly Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance report highlighted that from 21-27 September, 13% of those testing positive for COVID-19 reported eating out in the time before symptom onset, when there is a high risk of asymptomatic transmission.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies will continue to publish minutes from its meetings and the supporting scientific papers on GOV.UK, as has been the case since the start of the pandemic.

We will publish an evaluation of the Isle of Wight and Newham findings in due course.

The NHS COVID-19 App will have functionality to trace and contact people who have been in close contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.

England's NHS Test and Trace programme has worked extensively with tech companies, international partners, scientists, privacy and medical experts and at-risk communities – and learned from the trials – to develop an app that is secure, simple to use and will help keep our country safe.

The more people who use the NHS COVID-19 App, the better it works therefore we are aiming for mass adoption. We will ensure a strong focus on building trust and coverage in communities that are at greater risk from COVID-19 and/or are currently less likely to engage with NHS Test and Trace.

The source of this data is the Test and Trace Weekly Statistical bulletin. The data provided immediately and there are some cases where a test is registered after the day it has been taken, which means that the number of tests can increase slightly over time.

The updated data is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/number-of-coronavirus-tests-processed-by-local-authority-england-28-may-to-16-september-2020

We are expanding capacity further, having already met our testing capacity target of 500,000 tests a day by the end of October. More laboratories are joining the network and we are investing in new technology to process results faster. We are automating parts of the process, installing new machines and hiring more permanent staff.

We continue to target testing capacity at the areas that need it most, including those where there is an outbreak, and prioritising at-risk groups.

At times during the National Testing Programme, demand has been high and as such test sites in areas with higher prevalence were prioritised. Public Health England, the Joint Biosecurity Centre and National Health Service Test and Trace monitor infection levels across the country so higher volumes of testing are targeted where they are needed most. We are working closely with local authorities and local Directors of Public Health, sharing data on a daily basis to understand and tackle outbreaks

Further we regularly redistribute completed tests across the Lighthouse Lab network to ensure best possible utilisation of the network. We are ‘future-proofing’ capacity so that we can respond to increases in demand. We can expand testing to new use-cases – such as asymptomatic testing of NHS staff in high-prevalence areas and the mass testing pilot in Liverpool.

The Government is taking a cross-Government approach to address bereavement support and help ensure that families and friends of those deceased get the support they need.

In May, the Government awarded £4.2 million to mental health charities and charities providing bereavement support. This funding is part of an overall £750 million package for the voluntary sector announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in April.

From Monday 14 September, when meeting friends and family you do not live with (or have formed a support bubble with) you must not meet in a group of more than six, indoors or outdoors. This is against the law and the police will have the powers to enforce these legal limits, including to issue fines (fixed penalty notices) of £100, doubling for further breaches up to a maximum of £3,200.

In England, a support bubble is a close support network between a household of any size and a single adult household. Support bubbles are to assist the loneliest and most isolated in society. It is to provide extra support to some of those most impacted by the most difficult effects of the current social restrictions, while ensuring we continue to keep the rate of transmission low.

My Rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has met with a wide range of individuals who have been impacted in different ways by the COVID-19 pandemic to understand how they have been affected. This includes meetings with relatives of those who have sadly lost their lives to the virus.

The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all pre-registration undergraduate and postgraduate National Health Service health professionals’ education under close review, to ensure that students are appropriately supported.

In 2017 pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students became eligible for tuition fee and maintenance loans, receiving at least 25% more funding for living costs support than under the previous system. The Government introduced the Learning Support Fund which provides a child dependants allowance, reimbursement of all additional travel costs to attend clinical placements and an exceptional hardship fund.

From September 2020, all eligible new and continuing pre-registration nursing, midwifery and most allied health profession students studying at English universities would benefit from a new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year in addition to the funding available already through the Learning Support Fund.

Ministers regularly meet with key stakeholders including trade union and royal college representatives, to discuss the Government’s approach to National Health Service workforce supply and the financial support available to nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare students.

In 2017 pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students became eligible for tuition fee and maintenance loans instead of receiving an NHS Bursary. We also introduced the Learning Support Fund which provides a child dependents allowance, reimbursement of all additional travel costs to attend clinical placements and an exceptional hardship fund.

In December 2019, the Government announced that from September 2020, all eligible new and continuing pre-registration nursing, midwifery and most allied health profession students studying at English universities would benefit from a new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year in addition to the funding available already through the Learning Support Fund.

Students on the loans system receive at least 25% more funding for living costs support than under the previous system.

Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office officials are working at pace to implement the announcement for removing health and care workers from the Immigration Health Surcharge and further information will be available shortly.

Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office officials are working at pace to implement the announcement for removing health and care workers from the Immigration Health Surcharge and further information will be available shortly.

There is a huge global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), which is why we are both sourcing and shipping stock from abroad, alongside working with British manufacturers so we can be confident we can meet the PPE needs of health and social care over the next seven and 90 days.

Lord Deighton is leading our national effort to buy and produce more PPE. We have signed contracts for over 2 billion items of PPE through United Kingdom-based manufacturers, including facemasks, visors, gowns and aprons, ensuring we build and maintain a domestic base for the future.

Public Health England published ‘COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE)’ updated guide on 17 April. This advises that suitable decontamination arrangements for some PPE items should be obtained from the manufacturer, supplier or local infection control. This guidance also included advice on when PPE can be reused.

We have been giving the National Health Service and the social care sector everything they need to tackle this outbreak. We have delivered millions more items of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff over the last few days to hospitals, ambulance trusts, general practitioner practices, pharmacists, care homes, home care providers and hospices. The full weight of the Government is behind this effort and we are working closely with industry, the NHS, social care providers and the army to ensure the right equipment is delivered to the right people. This includes working with all partners to reprioritise PPE for use on the frontline.

The National Health Service has expert teams in every ambulance service and a number of specialist hospital units with highly trained staff and equipment ready to receive and care for patients with any highly infectious disease.

The NHS practises and prepares its response to disease outbreaks and follow tried and tested procedures, following the highest safety standards possible for the protection of NHS staff, patients and the public.

All guidance is published on GOV.uk and standard operating procedures are published on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website. Guidance is also available to healthcare professionals on NHS England and NHS Improvement’s website, with specific guidance for those in ambulance services. This includes information on personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as infection prevention and control guidance. More information can be found at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/872745/Infection_prevention_and_control_guidance_for_pandemic_coronavirus.pdf

The United Kingdom maintains stockpiles of protective equipment for healthcare staff who may come into contact with patients with the virus.

These stocks are being monitored daily, with additional stocks being ordered where necessary.

NHS England is in regular contact with all hospitals and has published regular updates to its guidance and advice.

NHS England published a letter, on 17 March, detailing the next steps, in response to the COVID-19, which builds on multiple actions already in train. The letter can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/publication/next-steps-on-nhs-response-to-covid-19-letter-from-simon-stevens-and-amanda-pritchard/

We have launched a public information campaign to help the public understand the risks of the virus and how they can protect themselves, including publishing a series of guidance documents on how to handle suspected cases in different sectors of the economy, including schools. We will keep this under review and publish more guidance as necessary.

More information can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

From 20 March, parents have been asked to keep their children at home wherever possible. Schools, and all childcare providers, are being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable, and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home. More information on this can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

The Department is considering carefully all available evidence around the potential of different medicines for use in treating COVID-19.

Clinical trials are being developed to assess the benefits of a number of different medicines in treating COVID-19. Further medicines may be trialled should evidence indicate to the Department this would be an appropriate course of action.

The Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Public Health England and the National Health Service are working together to ensure that trials can begin as soon as possible. The first trial in the United Kingdom in hospitalised patients should begin later this week.

Officials are working with the LGAs (local government associations), Public Health England and NHS England on continuity planning, to support social care providers.

We know social care will be at the frontline of our response to COVID-19, with social care providers looking after many of the most vulnerable in society.

Social care guidance is being worked on urgently and updated regularly. The latest advice which the government keeps under review is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-social-or-community-care-and-residential-settings-on-covid-19

The Chancellor has set out a £12 billion package of temporary, timely and targeted measures to support public services, individuals and businesses through the economic disruption caused by COVID-19.

We are scaling up intensive care beds. NHS England is looking at National Health Service organisations critical care capacity - including the availability of additional facilities of independent sector providers.

It is also making sure that they have as much ventilation equipment as possible and, crucially, the skilled and trained people to use it.

There are no plans to provide ventilators at home as this would not be viable.

Public Health England have published guidance for companies and care workers. This advice will be regularly updated as the scale of the outbreak increases. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-social-or-community-care-and-residential-settings-on-covid-19

We know social care will be at the frontline of our response to COVID-19, with social care providers looking after many of the most vulnerable in society.

Social care guidance is being worked on urgently and is due to be published in due course.

Officials are working with the local government associations, Public Health England and NHS England on continuity planning, to support social care providers.

Data showing the proportion of time between booking an appointment with a general practice and the appointment taking place by National Health Service regions in England in the 12 months up to December 2019 are presented in the attached table.

NHS Digital publishes ‘Appointments in General Practice’. This is an experimental data collection which is still being refined and improved.

It should be noted that the ‘time from booking to appointment’ refers only to the time elapsed between the successful booking of an appointment and the appointment taking place. The data does not take into consideration that many patients will be appropriately booking ahead as part of the continuity of care they receive for long-term conditions.

This Government is clear that no one should be without a roof over their head. It is widely recognised that being homeless or sleeping rough can have a significant impact on the mental and physical health of individuals, including children, disabled people and the elderly.

The Rough Sleeping Strategy, published in August 2018, set out actions to address the needs of all people sleeping rough, including disabled people and elderly people. NHS England has committed to spending up to £30 million over five years on mental health services for people sleeping rough and we have promoted guidance on care for homeless people at the end of their lives. We are providing £2 million in funding to test ways to improve access to health services for people with co-occurring mental ill-health and substance misuse problems who are currently, or at risk of returning to, sleeping rough.

This Government has committed to eliminating rough sleeping in the term of this parliament.

The Department works with NHS Improvement and key stakeholders (including health professional bodies) to continuously review the National Health Service overseas visitors charging regime, to ensure it is fit for purpose and in line with current practice.

The Overseas Visitor Improvement Team at NHS Improvement does not have a target; but continues to work to maximise the total income opportunity of correctly identifying and charging overseas visitors to ensure that the National Health Service is fairly funded for this activity.

NHS Improvement also looks to ensure accuracy and consistency of approach across the NHS Overseas Visitors Charging Regime.

The Overseas Visitor Improvement Team at NHS Improvement does not have a target; but continues to work to maximise the total income opportunity of correctly identifying and charging overseas visitors to ensure that the National Health Service is fairly funded for this activity.

NHS Improvement also looks to ensure accuracy and consistency of approach across the NHS Overseas Visitors Charging Regime.

The FCDO continues to have regular contact with prison authorities in Pakistan to check on Mr Rafique's welfare and have sought assurances that medical staff will continue to monitor his health. His family are being kept informed of all developments and we continue to speak to Mr Rafique, his friends and lawyers. Whilst prison visits are suspended due to the pandemic, we continue to arrange telephone calls with Mr Rafique to discuss any welfare and health issues. Mr Rafique has engaged new lawyers to support him through the next stage of his legal case.

We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan. On 20 February, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed our human rights concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights.

The FCDO continue regular contact with prison authorities in Pakistan to check on Mr Rafique's welfare and have sought assurances that medical staff will continue to monitor his health. His family are being kept informed of all developments and we continue to speak to Mr Rafique, his friends and lawyers. Whilst prison visits are suspended due to the pandemic, we continue to arrange telephone calls with Mr Rafique to discuss any welfare and health issues. Mr Rafique and his lawyer have lodged an appeal against his sentence. We hope that a pro bono legal panel, arranged by the FCDO, will provide support to his lawyers during this next stage of his legal case.

We regularly raise our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan at a senior level. On 20 February, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed our human rights concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights.

The Government is committed to working with international partners, including the UN, to hold China to account for its human rights violations in Xinjiang. Ministers and Officials are in regular contact with counterparts at the UN in New York and Geneva. For example, the Minister for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, spoke to the High Commissioner for Human Rights in September. In February, the Foreign Secretary used a personal address at the UN Human Rights Council to reiterate his call for China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, or another independent expert, urgent and unfettered access to Xinjiang.

The Government remains gravely concerned by the human rights situation in Xinjiang and is committed to continued robust action to hold China to account for its human rights violations in the region. In February, the Foreign Secretary used a personal address at the UN Human Rights Council to reiterate his call for China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, or another independent expert, urgent and unfettered access to Xinjiang. On 22 March, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK had imposed, under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime, asset freezes and travel bans against four senior Chinese government officials responsible for the violations that have taken place and persist against the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Alongside those individuals, the UK also designated the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the organisation responsible for enforcing the repressive security policies across many areas of Xinjiang.

The FCDO continue regular contact with prison authorities in Pakistan to check on Mr Rafique's welfare and have sought assurances that medical staff will continue to monitor his health. His family are being kept informed of all developments and we continue to speak to Mr Rafique's friends and lawyers. Whilst prison visits are suspended due to the pandemic, we continue to arrange telephone calls with Mr Rafique to discuss any welfare and health issues. We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan. On 20 February, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed our human rights concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights.

The FCDO continues to speak to Mr Rafique about any health and welfare concerns through telephone calls as visits are still suspended due to the pandemic. Officials are in regular contact with the prison authorities to check on his welfare and his family are being kept informed of all developments. We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan. On 20 February, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed our human rights concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights.

We are aware of these reports but do not comment on individual cases. The Government engages in regular dialogue with businesses in Hong Kong and as a matter of course monitors the operation of the financial sector and its participants. Financial institutions operating in Hong Kong do so within a strict legal and regulatory framework. We are concerned that a number of recent decisions by the authorities in Hong Kong are further evidence of a determined campaign to stifle opposition and silence dissent. As a signatory to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, China must abide by the legally binding commitments it made to uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, and respect Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years from 1997. The UK will continue to pursue an approach in Hong Kong that is rooted in our values, defends the rights of the people of Hong Kong and respects the provisions of the Joint Declaration.

The Foreign Secretary last spoke to his New Zealand counterpart on 12 November 2020. They discussed COVID-19 in relation to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations, and protecting vulnerable countries. As one of our closest international partners, UK Government officials have frequent contact with New Zealand counterparts on a range of COVID-19 issues, including border policy. The UK has some of the strongest safeguards against importing COVID-19. We have taken decisive action in relation to new variants identified in South Africa and South America. We have also, as a precautionary measure, suspended the travel corridors and ensured that we have a system in place requiring a pre-departure negative test. In addition, we have reintroduced quarantine on arrival, backed up by increased enforcement by both Public Health England and Border Force.

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have publicly stated their position on the shocking events at the Capitol on 6 January 2021. Officials at the British Embassy in Washington are in regular contact with senior Democrats and have amplified the concerns expressed by the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary.

The Foreign Secretary has conveyed to the US Administration the UK's shock at the events in the Capitol on 6 January.

The UK Government condemns the scenes at Congress. There is no justification for violent attempts to frustrate the lawful and proper transition of power.

The UK is concerned about violence against women and girls in Bangladesh and strongly supports action to tackle this issue. Through the British High Commission in Dhaka, we work with partners to press for better implementation of legislation that protects and promotes the status of women and girls. UK programmes support access to security and justice and health services for survivors of violence, as well as women's and girls' education, health, and economic empowerment. We also work with men and boys to tackle social norms around gender-based violence and early marriage.

This month, the British High Commission in Dhaka will join the Government of Bangladesh and international and local partners for 16 Days of Activism to end gender based violence and impunity and to support survivors.

The UK strongly supports action to tackle violence against women and girls in Bangladesh. This month, the British High Commission in Dhaka will join the Government of Bangladesh and international and local partners for 16 Days of Activism to end gender based violence and impunity and to support survivors.

Through the British High Commission in Dhaka, we continue to raise concerns about violence against women and girls with the Government of Bangladesh. We also work with international partners and civil society to press for better implementation of legislation that protects and promotes the status of women and girls, and in support of justice for survivors of gender based violence.

FCDO staff have monitored Mr Tanveer Ahmed Rafique's health and welfare through phone calls, as he was detained during the Covid-19 pandemic so physical access to Mirpur Central Prison is not possible. We will raise any welfare concerns with local authorities with Mr Rafique's consent in line with our public guidance set out in the FCDO guide: Support for British Nationals Abroad. We regularly remind the Pakistani Government of its human rights obligations.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working around the clock, through our Posts overseas and in London, to make sure all British people who need help are receiving the support and information they need. We have now brought home nearly 31,000 people on 144 flights organised by the Foreign Office from 27 countries and territories. The vast majority of the 8,000 British nationals in Zambia are long-term residents. The High Commission currently has no requests from British nationals for assistance in departing Zambia and commercial flights from Lusaka continue to operate. Information and support for British nationals in Zambia can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/zambia/return-to-the-uk. The number of British nationals seeking to leave Sudan has sharply increased following the extension of airport closures to 20 May. We are looking at all options to help British travellers looking to return home from Sudan, and we encourage them to register their details via our Travel Advice page: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/sudan/return-to-the-uk. We are working to establish whether a repatriation flight from Sudan would be possible later this month. Further information on this option for travellers will be shared on the Travel Advice page as soon as it is available.

Our longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. We encourage India and Pakistan to open channels of communication and engage in dialogue as a means to resolving differences. We have welcomed India’s commitment to economic and social development in India administered Kashmir and have asked the Indian Government to provide more detail on how their plans will be realised. We do not currently have any aid programmes in India administered Kashmir or Pakistan administered Kashmir. The UK seeks to reduce poverty, foster prosperity and build sustainable inclusive markets in India and Pakistan, while generating a return for the UK and creating trade, investment, and partnership opportunities.

?In London, across India (where we have our largest diplomatic network) and in multilateral institutions across the world British officials engage daily with Indian counterparts. Our engagement covers the full range of issues in a broad and deep relationship.

We are monitoring the situation in Kashmir carefully, and are in regular contact with the Governments of India and Pakistan. The Prime Minister has underlined the importance of resolving issues through dialogue to both of his counterparts. Most recently the Foreign Secretary discussed the situation in Kashmir with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan and Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon raised the issue with the Indian Minister of State for External and Parliamentary Affairs. Our longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

We are monitoring the situation in Kashmir carefully and keep our travel advice under constant review. If anyone in the UK is concerned about family or friends in Kashmir who are British Nationals, they should contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office directly for advice. We should also stress that our consular services are very limited due to restrictions on communications in India-administered Kashmir. The safety and security of all people in India and India-administered Kashmir, including British nationals, is the responsibility of the Indian authorities.

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We recognise that there are human rights concerns in India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Any allegation of human rights violations or abuses is deeply concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. We encourage all states to ensure domestic laws in line with international standards. We raise our concerns with the Governments of India and Pakistan.

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The Foreign Secretary has set out our concerns about the situation in Hong Kong directly to both the Chinese Foreign Minister, State Councillor Wang Yi and the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam. The Foreign Secretary made clear that meaningful political dialogue is the only way to resolve the situation. The Foreign Secretary also raised Hong Kong with the Chinese Ambassador in London on 19 November 2019. Senior officials have remained in regular contact with the authorities in Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. The leadership in China and Hong Kong is in no doubt about the strength of UK concern over the current situation, and our commitment to seeing the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Joint Declaration upheld.

We have particularly serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang including the extra-judicial detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in “political re-education camps”, systematic restrictions on Uyghur culture and the practice of Islam, and extensive and invasive surveillance targeting minorities. On 26 September during an Urgent Question on Hong Kong the Foreign Secretary set out the UK’s serious concerns about the credible reports of over a million Uyghur Muslims being held in so-called “re-education camps”. He stated in the House that the British Government will continue to ensure that these concerns are expressed directly with Chinese authorities. Most recently, the UK Ambassador to China raised our concerns with Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang on 24 December 2019. The UK also regularly raises the human rights situation in Xinjiang at the UN Human Rights Council.

The Prevent Duty has been in place since 2015. All staff working in NHS Trusts in England and Wales have a legal obligation to safeguard against radicalisation and report concerns via a Prevent referral.

The Department for Health and Social Care funds a network of 7 NHS England Regional Serious Violence and Contextual Safeguarding Leads, who provide healthcare specific advice to all NHS organisations within their region on integrating Prevent into their safeguarding practices. The Home Office works closely with this network and with DHSC to support the delivery of the Prevent Duty within the healthcare system.

The responsibilities for safeguarding form part of the core functions for all NHS organisations. Prevent is embedded within safeguarding in the NHS, ensuring the duties of safeguarding children, young people, and adults at risk are applied consistently and conscientiously and with over 300,000 patient contacts every day, the NHS has an important role to play in preventing vulnerable people from being drawn into terrorism.

The Home Office does not hold information on the proportion of Channel Panel members who are a) Black, b) Muslim, c) from other minority ethnic backgrounds and d) female.

Channel Panels are run by the Local Authority they sit in, and information on their composition is not held centrally.

Information and guidance on the use of, and access to, the central Prevent referral database is owned by the Police and not by the Home Office. We do not hold this information centrally.

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Information on how many visas for the Hong Kong BN(O) route have been granted between 31 January and 31 March was published in the quarterly migration statistics release on 27 May and can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

Since the Prime Minister’s announcement last year, the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care have worked together continuously to ensure overseas health workers are refunded the Immigration Health Surcharge.

The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O) route opens for applications from 31 January 2021.

We recognise children of BN(O) status holders born on or after 1 July 1997 may not have had the opportunity to be registered as BN(O) status holders. We do not wish to split family units and therefore the children of a BN(O) status holder who fall into this category who form part of the same household will be able to apply for this route with their BN(O) parent. We do not currently have any plans to change these requirements.

Individuals born after 1 July 1997, who no longer live with their BN(O) parents, can consider the other UK immigration routes available, these include the Student, Family and Skilled Worker routes. The new Skilled Worker route enables individuals to come to the UK in a much wider range of roles and at a lower general salary threshold than under the previous visa it replaced.

There is also our existing youth mobility scheme with Hong Kong which is open to those aged between 18 and 30 and offers a two-year grant of leave in the UK. There are 1000 places currently available each year.

Government discussions on the most appropriate response to COVID-19 are ongoing and evolve in line with developments and assessments. Measures at the Border are a continuous topic of discussion during meetings between Cabinet colleagues; and the Government will continue to announce policy developments at the appropriate stage.

The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O) route opens for applications from 31 January 2021.

Guidance for BN(O) citizens will be kept updated on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hong-kong-british-national-overseas-visa-applications

Further details of this new immigration route will be published in due course.

This government looks forward to realising its commitments to BN(O) citizens and their family members and receiving applications for the Hong Kong BN(O) route in due course.

The Government has been clear that it will provide police forces with the support they need to continue protecting the public and keeping communities safe through the coronavirus pandemic.

In October 2020, the Government announced an additional £30m funding for police forces in England and Wales to step up their enforcement of coronavirus rules. Bedfordshire Police has received £ 270,485 from this additional funding.

The department continues to work closely with the policing sector to monitor and make decisions on their current and future needs.

In March, April and May, the level of racially and religiously aggravated offences in 2020 was lower than the previous year. In April the number of offences was down almost a quarter (24%) on the same month in 2019. However, the number of racially or religiously aggravated offences in June 2020 was a third higher (34%) than in June 2019 and remained high in July. More information can be found online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2019-to-2020/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2019-to-2020

These offences are completely unacceptable and the UK has a robust legislative framework to respond to them.

The Home Office is working closely with the National Police Chief’s Council to ensure that all police forces are providing reassurance to affected communities and encouraging hate crime reporting during the pandemic.

The Prevent programme is fundamentally about safeguarding and supporting vulnerable individuals to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works best when it is locally-led and delivered in partnership with communities. As part of the Prevent Duty, Local Authorities have an obligation to deliver a programme of engagement tailored to the needs of the local community. The Home Office supports areas with engagement to increase transparency and communicate proactively about Prevent delivery in the local area. The Home Office has previously engaged with Luton Council's Elected Members Prevent Engagement Group on the Prevent Strategy.

Information relating to Health measures at the border and compliance with quarantine restrictions are available on GOV.uk at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-health-measures-at-the-uk-border/data-on-health-measures-at-the-uk-border.

Information relating to Health measures at the border and compliance with quarantine restrictions are available on GOV.uk at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-on-health-measures-at-the-uk-border/data-on-health-measures-at-the-uk-border.

The Home Office is working as part of a cross-government effort to ensure that when the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) Visa route opens in January it operates smoothly.

All children who live in the UK are eligible for a school place in England irrespective of their nationality.

BN(O) families moving to the UK under the Hong Kong BN(O) Visa route will be able to access a state-funded or independent school place for their children on the same basis as every other family in the UK. Those BN(O) families who choose not to avail themselves of our migration offer, and who remain in Hong Kong, will, as now, be able to send their children to the UK to access an independent school place under the UK study visa rules.

The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) Visa route will open from 31 January, and will allow BN(O)s and their family members to come to the UK to live, work and study.

Further details of the route were put before Parliament on 22 October, when the Immigration Rules were laid.

We have been clear people should arrange their accommodation before they travel to the UK and the vast majority of travellers have complied.

For the small minority who don’t, the Government will support them in finding appropriate accommodation.

We are working to ensure non-exempt arrivals without the means to effectively self-isolate are supported in making alternative arrangements, including accommodation, for their period of self-isolation.

The statistical information currently recorded in a death registration (and subsequently on certificates) is determined by the Office for National Statistics and prescribed by law. There are currently no plans to record ethnicity.

In developing the Public Health regulations which introduced the 14-day self-isolation requirement, and the exemptions to be applied, there were discussions between the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Transport, as well as other Cabinet colleagues. These discussions took place through Cabinet meetings, including the General Public Sector Ministerial Implementation Group (GPSMIG), and further exchanges in developing the policy, exemptions to apply, and its announcement.

In developing the Public Health regulations which introduced the 14-day self-isolation requirement, and the exemptions to be applied, there were discussions between the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Transport, as well as other Cabinet colleagues. These discussions took place through Cabinet meetings, including the General Public Sector Ministerial Implementation Group (GPSMIG), and further exchanges in developing the policy, exemptions to apply, and its announcement.

The following companies attended the meeting:

Airport Operators Association (AOA);

Regional and Business Airports Group (RABA);

Airlines UK; Board of Airline Representatives UK (BAR UK);

International Air Transport Association (IATA);

Heathrow;

Gatwick;

MAG;

Edinburgh;

Virgin Atlantic;

EasyJet;

Jet2;

TUI;

Swissport;

Eurostar;

Eurotunnel;

Port of Dover;

UK Chamber of Shipping;

Maritime UK;

BPA;

UKMPG;

RHA;

FTA;

The International Airlines Group were invited to attend, but they declined the invitation.

As the health measures being put in place at the border are cross-HMG measures, the Home Office has worked closely with the Department for Transport (DfT) on engagement with airlines.

The aviation sector is important to the UK economy and the government recognises the challenging times it is facing as a result of COVID-19. Through the Department for Transport, Government has kept an open dialogue with the aviation sector and put in place regular structured engagement at both Ministerial and official levels. Recent discussions have included the impact of the proposed 14 day quarantine period.

Home Office and DfT officials jointly held an Implementation Task and Finish Group with the aviation industry on 2 June to discuss implementation of the health measures at the borders and listen to operational impacts and concerns from Industry partners. Easyjet, BA and other major UK airlines dialled in to this meeting. The Home Secretary and DfT Aviation, Maritime and Security Minister held an extensive virtual roundtable discussion on 4 June with various aspects of the aviation and maritime industry on the border health measures due to come into effect. Easyjet, Virgin and Jet2 attended this meeting.

In addition, the International Aviation Taskforce has been established to develop plans for how to restart the aviation sector safely, as well as looking at some of the unique challenges that sector is facing. Both BA and Easyjet are members of the Taskforce’s industry Expert Steering Group. BA were invited to the round table but they turned down the invite for unspecified reasons.

The Home Office publishes data on citizenship in the . https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Data on applications for British citizenship are published in tables Cit_D01 and Cit_D02 of the https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/managed-migration-datasets

Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending December 2019. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the summary tables. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on citizenship.

Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

The Home Office recently completed a procurement for “Continuity Cloud Services”. We assessed a wide number of Cloud Service Providers available on G-Cloud 11.

This was awarded to Amazon Web Services via G-Cloud 11 on the basis of best technical fit for existing Home Office requirements and met all of our ‘must have’ requirements.The procurement has enabled the Home Office to take advantage of discounts and savings opportunities available on G-Cloud 11.

Under this new contract we are already on track to save 28% or over £6m over the next 12 months on our cloud spend with Amazon Web Services compared to what we would have spent if we had extended our previous contract based on old terms. The Home Office follows best practice for Cost Efficiency, we continually review our cloud spend to ensure that we are getting best value for money.

We take regular action to ensure that our usage is optimised, and we receive regular support from AWS via their Enterprise Support Programme. The Home Office is looking to achieve further efficiencies on cloud services by contracting with a wider number of cloud service providers in the future.

Amazon Web Services have publicly available policies and statements on access to customer data, which broadly state that they do not access data available within AWS accounts without receiving consent from the account holder. In line with wider government policy we follow the NCSC’s ‘Cloud Security Principles’ & ‘Standard Architecture for UK-Official on AWS’.

The Home Office has policies in place to ensure that our data is protected when it is hosted with Public Cloud Service Providers and we have full control of access to our accounts and data within them. Specifically, our policy is to mandate that all data is encrypted during transit and at rest, this means that if data is accessed by a third party from outside of the Home Office it is protected.

The Home Office collects and publishes statistics annually on the number of religious hate crime offences recorded by the police in England and Wales. However, information on the location of these offences is not collected.

The latest ‘Hate Crime, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2018-to-2019

In January 2019, the Government accepted the proposed amendment to include an independent review of Prevent within the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill. Royal Assent was given to the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 on 12 February 2019.

We are currently considering next steps. We will make further announcements about its progress on the prevent review, as soon as possible.

In January 2019, the Government accepted the proposed amendment to include an independent review of Prevent within the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Bill. Royal Assent was given to the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 on 12 February 2019.

We are currently considering next steps. We will make further announcements about its progress on the prevent review, as soon as possible.

The Prevent programme is fundamentally about safeguarding and supporting vulnerable individuals to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Prevent is about safeguarding people who are at risk of radicalisation. Prevent does not target a specific faith or ethnic group - it deals with all forms of extremism.

The Home Office does not hold the information in the format requested or routinely publish data to answer this question. To obtain it would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold.

Published data on the processing of visa applications is available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data.

• Information on UKVI’s service standards is available at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-visas-and-immigration/about-our-services#service-standards.

Cutting crime is a priority for this Government and we recognise that there are strong links between drug misuse and crime.

Tough enforcement is a fundamental part of our approach to tackling drugs and we are working across Government to address the drivers behind drug-related crime and help prevent further substance misuse and offending.We continue to surge law enforcement action to tackle county lines and its associated violence and exploitation. The Home Secretary has announced £25m of targeted investment across 19-20 and 20-21 to significantly increase law enforcement’s response to the issue.

The Home Office has also announced that a UK Drugs Summit will take place on 27 February, which will bring together all four nations of the United Kingdom, to consider the challenges we are facing and to reflect on what more can be done to address drug supply and reduce drug harms.

The Prime Minister has also established a Cabinet committee on crime which will help to drive cross-Government action in this area.

The Government’s domestic abuse consultation in 2018 asked whether further action should be taken to strengthen the coercive control offence introduced in 2015. In the response to that consultation the Government agreed to update the statutory guidance and Crown Prosecution Service legal guidance on the offence.

The Home Office will also work with other departments to improve understanding of the offence throughout the justice system, and seek to dispel stereotypes by promoting the updated statutory guidance for the offence through the courts and justice system. This will help to increase the number of cases that are brought, charged and convicted under this offence.

We have been reviewing the effectiveness of the existing coercive control legislation, both in terms of understanding and awareness, but also how adequately the legislation protects victims of this type of abuse. The findings of the review will be announced later this year.

In 2018/19, the conviction rate across all domestic abuse-related offences was 76.5% - the highest rate ever recorded.