Simon Jupp

Details of expenditure relating to Financial Assistance to Opposition Parties received for financial year 2022–2023 is published in the House of Commons Members 2022–2023 Annual Report and Accounts (HC1685) which will be available on the Parliamentary website before the House rises for the summer recess.

The National Audit office (NAO) complete an audit of the House of Commons; Members, this includes a breakdown of Financial Assistance to Opposition Parties.

Once certified and agreed by the NAO the House of Commons Members Annual Report and Accounts can be laid, and then made available on the Parliamentary website.

The budgeted allocations and breakdown for 2022–23 is available on the Parliamentary site:
https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/freedom-of-information/information-we-already-publish/house-of-commons-publication-scheme/members-and-members-staff/financial-assistance-to-opposition-parties/

House of Commons Members Accounts, Parliamentary site:
https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/commons/resource-accounts/

Supporting grassroots sport is a key Government priority and we recognise the positive impact participating in sport can have on health and wellbeing, as well as the benefits that sport clubs have on local communities.

Since 2019, Sport England has invested more than £8.6 million into bowls, including over £19,000 in the East Devon constituency.

Bowls clubs looking for funding up to £15,000 can apply for the Sport England small grants programme. Further information on this can be found at - https://www.sportengland.org/funds-and-campaigns/our-funds/small-grants-programme

We appreciate that some bowls clubs may be struggling with rising energy costs. That is why we announced the £18 billion Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) in September last year. The EBRS was always time-limited, and has now been replaced with the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS). Under the EBDS, bowls clubs will continue to receive discounts on their gas and electricity bills during the 12-month period from April 2023 to March 2024.

The Government’s consultation on our proposals to ban conversion therapy closed on 4 February. Analysis of the responses will be used to further refine our proposals and inform the process of developing legislation for Spring, to be introduced when Parliamentary time allows. Once legislation is passed, Government will work with the relevant parties in the usual way to ensure it is clear how to comply with the law.

The majority of expatriates living in the EU should not see any change to their banking at the end of the transition period. The Government expects banks to treat customers fairly and provide timely communications to enable them to make appropriate decisions. The Financial Conduct Authority continues to engage with firms to ensure they are meeting these expectations.

Our Plan To Rebuild, the Government's COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, is published on gov.uk and includes details on plans for weddings. We understand the frustration couples planning a wedding must be feeling at this time. We are keeping these restrictions under review and will ease them as soon as it is safe to do so. We will continue to work closely with faith leaders and local government over the coming weeks to go through the practicalities of doing so.

Marriages and civil partnerships under the special procedure for those who are seriously ill and not expected to recover, are taking place in some cases where it is safe to do so in line with PHE guidance.

The Department has a wide range of programmes and is pleased that the first of the new Regions and Nations Funds includes East Devon constituency. The new South West Investment Fund launched in July 2023 and has already invested £32,000 into Exeter Eyewear based at Exeter Science Park.

Through its business as usual programmes and Covid support schemes, the British Business Bank facilitated funding to the following number of businesses in East Devon in the last three years:

• 2023: 15 (up to September 2023)
• 2022: 40
• 2021: 254

As of 31 December 2022, the outstanding balance for Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans that have yet to be repaid was £13.29 billion. A sector breakdown of this information is not available. 25.13% of facilities have been fully repaid, at a value of £7.15 billion.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme delivered 109,877 loans worth £26.39 billion and closed on 31 March 2021. A breakdown of facilities by sector for Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, to 2 July 2021, can be found on the British Business Bank website: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/press-release/analysis-of-final-coronavirus-loan-scheme-data-shows-79-3bn-of-loans-to-1-67m-businesses-evenly-distributed-across-whole-of-the-uk/

As of 31 December 2022, the outstanding balance for Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans that have yet to be repaid was £13.29 billion. A sector breakdown of this information is not available. 25.13% of facilities have been fully repaid, at a value of £7.15 billion.

The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme delivered 109,877 loans worth £26.39 billion and closed on 31 March 2021. A breakdown of facilities by sector for Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, to 2 July 2021, can be found on the British Business Bank website: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/press-release/analysis-of-final-coronavirus-loan-scheme-data-shows-79-3bn-of-loans-to-1-67m-businesses-evenly-distributed-across-whole-of-the-uk/

The Energy Bill provides powers for the Government to introduce a Heat Network Market Framework.

Subject to the passage of the Bill, the Government intends to introduce regulations implementing these powers across 2024, with initial measures coming into effect in 2025. The Market Framework will be fully operational by 2026.

It is the Government's ambition to achieve fully decarbonised electricity by 2035, subject to security of supply. The Government is focused on delivering the policies and programmes which support this goal, while maintaining a secure, reliable and low cost energy system.

Over 95% of premises in East Devon already have access to a superfast broadband connection (over 30Mbps) and over 71% have access to gigabit-capable broadband (>1000 Mbps). This is slightly below the national average of 97% for superfast coverage and 79% for gigabit coverage respectively.

As part of Project Gigabit, in September 2023 we launched a procurement to invite suppliers to bid for a contract to bring gigabit-capable broadband to the remaining premises in Mid and East Devon and West Somerset that are unlikely to be reached by broadband suppliers' commercial rollout plans. We aim to award a contract to the successful supplier in summer 2024.

The Queen’s Speech on 10^th May confirmed that the Government has now committed to legislating to regulate the heat networks market in this parliamentary session as part of the Energy Security Bill. In December 2021, the Government announced that Ofgem will take on the role of heat networks regulator.

Until now, there have been no sector specific protections for heat network consumers, unlike for people on other utilities such as gas, electricity or water. However, heat networks consumers have had some protection through The Heat Network Metering and Billing Regulations 2014 (HNMBR). HNMBR 2014 (as amended in 2015 and 2020) contain requirements related to the notification of heat networks and to the metering of heat and cooling as well as billing for customers on heat networks.  Heat meters support fair and transparent billing based on actual consumption and can drive energy efficiency savings and cost reductions.

We recognise the need to ensure heat network consumers receive a fair price for their heating. That is why we are committed to legislating within this parliament to regulate the heat networks sector and in December we announced that Ofgem will take on the role of regulator. We will therefore give Ofgem new powers to regulate prices in this sector as a matter of priority. This will enable equivalent protection for domestic heat network customers as well as ensuring heat network operators are securing good purchasing deals for their consumers. This will mean that consumers are charged a fair rate for heating whilst encouraging investment in heat networks.

Frontline enforcement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for consumer use, including the removal from sale of unsafe or non-compliant motorcycle rider protective equipment, is conducted by local trading standards authorities supported by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), and by the Health and Safety Executive where it is used in the workplace. OPSS has been working with the PPE trade association and its Primary Authority where specific allegations of non-compliance have been made.

Trade unions do not register taxpayer’s money with the Certification Officer. Section 32 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 requires trade unions to provide an annual return to the Certification Officer detailing their income and expenditure for a given period. Trade unions are not required to include specific details of payments received from Government departments, agencies or arms-length bodies in this annual return.

The Government is not able to publish information about employers who have used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and who are also trade unions. This is in relation to HMRC’s duty of confidentiality. HMRC cannot publish identifying information that relates to one of its functions. The CJRS is one of HMRC’s functions and publishing a list of organisations would provide identifying information.

The management of competitive programmes is a matter for the relevant National Governing Body which, in this instance, is the Football Association (FA), but clearly it is incumbent on the FA and Premier League to explain this decision and why it is in the interests of fans.

We expect the FA and Premier League to consult with the English Football League (EFL) and other leagues further down the pyramid on moves such as this and reach agreements collectively.

The Secretary of State and I regularly engage with national governing bodies, and I will shortly be meeting with the FA to discuss this, alongside a range of issues.

We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport including cricket through our Arms Length Body, Sport England - which receives over £100 million in Exchequer funding each year.

As a system partner of Sport England the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has received £11.6 million of funding covering the years 2022-2027 to grow and develop cricket across the country.

Since 2019, Sport England has invested a further £23.6 million in projects and schemes which enable participation in cricket. This includes £9,564 of support that has been provided to clubs in the East Devon constituency in response to issues such as Covid-19 and emergency funding for storm-damaged facilities.

Further information on funding options available from both the ECB and Sport England can be found on the ECB’s website- Here

The Tourism Recovery Plan sets out the government’s commitment to provide the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee with an annual update on the progress of the plan and the tourism industry more generally as it recovers, with the first update in 2022.

We plan to provide the first update in the coming months.

In the last two financial years, an average 98% of the English apprenticeships budget was spent. The apprenticeships budget in England is ring-fenced for apprenticeships only and is used to fund training and assessment for all employers, both those who pay the levy and those who do not. It is therefore important that the apprenticeships budget remains ring-fenced for apprenticeships to ensure continued affordability of the programme and to ensure that employers of all sizes, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not pay the levy, can continue to access high-quality apprenticeships training.

If employers were able to use 25% of their levy funds for non-apprenticeships training, the department estimates that this would create an additional cost of up to approximately £700 million per annum. Allowing employers to use up to 50% of their funds for non-apprenticeship training would increase this cost to up to £1.5 billion per annum. Without making additional funding available to support this flexible use of levy funds, the department estimates that this would require a significant reduction in new apprenticeship starts to approximately 140,000 per annum. This is around a 60% decrease on the 350,000 apprenticeship starts reported for the 2021/22 academic year.

The apprenticeship levy was introduced to increase employer investment in high-quality apprenticeships training, and with the intention that large employers’ levy contributions would fund access to apprenticeships for all employers. The Government wants to support SMEs across England to offer more apprenticeship opportunities and so in April we removed the restriction on the number of apprentices SMEs can recruit. The department continues to pay for 95% of the apprentice training costs for SMEs, rising to 100% for the smallest employers recruiting apprentices under the age of 19.

Employers can already choose to spend their levy funds on any of the 680 plus apprenticeship standards available, or to transfer 25% of their funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses. They can also benefit from a range of other government-funded skills programmes, including skills bootcamps, higher technical qualifications and T Level industry placements.

On 12 July 2022, the department announced the next round of 61 schools to be included in the school rebuilding programme. A list of these schools is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-2022-to-2023-approved-schools/school-rebuilding-programme-2022-to-2023-prioritised-schools.

The department is assessing all other nominations and we intend to make another announcement later this year to confirm additional schools, selecting up to 300 in total in the 2022/23 financial year.

Music Education Hubs have a vital role to play not only in core school music but also ensuring our children have access to all the benefits of a wider musical education through instrumental lessons and ensembles. They have acted swiftly and innovatively to support schools through the COVID-19 outbreak, including the continuation of continuing professional development to classroom teachers.

Following the one year Spending Review settlement announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 15 December 2020, the Department will continue to fund Music Education Hubs for the financial year 2021-22. Funding has been confirmed with Arts Council England and all Music Education Hubs organisations have recently been updated on this matter. An announcement on the national funding will be made shortly, followed by further details on specific funding allocations issued to individual hubs.

In the 2020/21 academic year, it is a statutory requirement for schools to administer a past version of the phonics screening check for Year 2 pupils during the second half of the 2020 autumn term.

The autumn assessment will ensure that pupils who need extra support to decode phonics are identified. Those who meet the expected phonics standard will not be required to repeat the assessment. Those who do not meet the expected standard will be expected to retake the statutory check in June 2021, alongside current Year 1 pupils.

The Department acknowledges current concerns raised in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. It recognises that pupils have missed a critical period of their education due to school closures in the 2019/20 academic year and further disruption in the 2020/21 academic year. As a consequence, the Department is planning that primary assessments will take place in the 2020/21 academic year as a test of the national curriculum, with the standard unchanged. This will not only allow better targeted support to those who need it most but will also ensure that schools have the information they need to help inform ongoing teaching for the pupils affected by school closures.