1 APPG membership (as of 8 Apr 2024)
Bingo18 Former APPG memberships
Allergy, Central Bank and Digital Currency, Child and Youth Crime, Child Health and Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Disability, East Coast Main Line, Furniture Industry, Future of Work, Housing and Planning, Internet, Communications and Technology, Learning Disability, Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, Literacy, Liver Disease and Liver Cancer, Respiratory Health, Ticket Abuse, Timber Industries, TunisiaDivision Voting information
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 35 Conservative No votes vs 305 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 484 Noes - 76
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 33 Conservative No votes vs 320 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 322 Noes - 253
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 12 Conservative No votes vs 322 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 524 Noes - 16
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 13 Conservative No votes vs 328 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 335 Noes - 212
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 349 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 359 Noes - 265
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 349 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 360 Noes - 265
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 3 Conservative No votes vs 346 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 357 Noes - 268
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 2 Conservative No votes vs 347 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 359 Noes - 55
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 353 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 362 Noes - 202
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 53 Conservative No votes vs 290 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 291 Noes - 78
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 33 Conservative No votes vs 308 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 516 Noes - 38
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 14 Conservative No votes vs 327 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 332 Noes - 279
Stephen McPartland voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 36 Conservative Aye votes vs 301 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 282 Noes - 306
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 31 Conservative No votes vs 320 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 320 Noes - 256
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 32 Conservative No votes vs 321 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 322 Noes - 256
Stephen McPartland voted Aye - against a party majority and against the House
One of 15 Conservative Aye votes vs 289 Conservative No votes
Tally: Ayes - 251 Noes - 296
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 38 Conservative No votes vs 271 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 441 Noes - 41
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 97 Conservative No votes vs 224 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 369 Noes - 126
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 60 Conservative No votes vs 258 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 385 Noes - 100
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 308 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 309 Noes - 249
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 312 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 315 Noes - 246
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 14 Conservative No votes vs 282 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 290 Noes - 14
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 277 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 280 Noes - 199
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 278 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 281 Noes - 201
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 1 Conservative No votes vs 279 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 285 Noes - 203
Stephen McPartland voted No - against a party majority and against the House
One of 2 Conservative No votes vs 289 Conservative Aye votes
Tally: Ayes - 297 Noes - 166
Debates during the 2019 Parliament
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
Sparring Partners
(34 debate interactions)
(30 debate interactions)
Department Debates
(124 debate contributions)
(19 debate contributions)
(3 debate contributions)
(2 debate contributions)
Legislation Debates
(33,184 words contributed)
(4,090 words contributed)
(1,738 words contributed)
Stevenage Petitions
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
of 65,162 signatures (0.18%)
of 74,643 signatures (0.15%)
of 200,506 signatures (0.14%)
of 103,505 signatures (0.12%)
of 200,506 signatures (0.14%)
of 103,505 signatures (0.12%)
of 65,162 signatures (0.18%)
of 74,643 signatures (0.15%)
of 26,591 signatures (0.37%)
Latest EDMs signed by Stephen McPartland
National Museum of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic History and Culture
Tabled by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)That this House recognises the important role played by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC since it opened its doors to the public on 24 September 2016, documenting and enabling the study of the life, history and culture of African Americans; notes that …
(Most recent: 15 Jul 2020)
Signatures by party:
Conservative: 9
Liberal Democrat: 2
Scottish National Party: 1
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Independent: 1
Labour: 1
LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE FOR THE SIXTH TIME
Tabled by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)That this House congratulates Liverpool Football Club on its sixth European Cup title victory; applauds the club's players and those of Tottenham Hotspur for providing a competitive all-English final to Europe's most prestigious club competition; further applauds the club's manager Jürgen Klopp, staff, and dedicated supporters on this magnificent and …
(Most recent: 25 Jul 2019)
Signatures by party:
Labour: 14
Scottish National Party: 5
Conservative: 4
Independent: 3
Democratic Unionist Party: 1
Commons initiatives
These initiatives were driven by Stephen McPartland, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Stephen McPartland has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Stephen McPartland has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Stephen McPartland has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
4 Bills co-sponsored by Stephen McPartland
Cladding Remediation Works (Code of Practice) Bill 2022-23
Sponsor - Tom Hunt (Con)
Child Maintenance (Assessment of Parents' Income) Bill 2017-19
Sponsor - Heidi Allen (LD)
Child Maintenance (Assessment of Parents’ Income) Bill 2016-17
Sponsor - David Burrowes (Con)
Farm Produce (Labelling Requirements) Bill 2015-16
Sponsor - Anne Main (Con)
Latest 50 Written Questions
(View all written questions)The Central Digital and Data Office, in the Cabinet Office, does not hold a specific estimate of the environmental and economic impact of data storage contracts.
Improving sustainability is a commitment within the Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data, and a requirement within the Technology Code of Practice, which is a set of criteria to help government design, build and buy technology.
Data storage requirements across departments will not solely be met through specific contracts for these services; they will be met through capital purchase of hardware and through agreements for broader services, such as the provision of cloud platforms, or of software-as-a-service solutions.
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Commercial benefit, as assessed by the Crown Commercial Service using third party market intelligence, shows that existing Government organisations save 51% by using Crown Hosting Data Centres.
On relocation of their back-office IT infrastructure to Crown Hosting, Government organisations typically save 75% of their costs, when comparing before and after relocation. Savings are made through a combination of energy efficiency and economy of scale of Crown Hosting.
Using data reported by the EU Resource Efficiency Coordination Action (EURECA) 2018 study, Crown Hosting reduces electricity consumption by approximately 300% compared to the average public sector data centre.
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Commercial benefit, as assessed by the Crown Commercial Service using third party market intelligence, shows that existing Government organisations save 51% by using Crown Hosting Data Centres.
On relocation of their back-office IT infrastructure to Crown Hosting, Government organisations typically save 75% of their costs, when comparing before and after relocation. Savings are made through a combination of energy efficiency and economy of scale of Crown Hosting.
Using data reported by the EU Resource Efficiency Coordination Action (EURECA) 2018 study, Crown Hosting reduces electricity consumption by approximately 300% compared to the average public sector data centre.
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, is responsible for the Government’s Cloud strategy and for advising government departments on Cloud.
CDDO has a quarterly data commissioning process that collects metrics across a number of strategic areas including cloud adoption. Central government organisations report their estimated percentage of technology assets hosted on cloud. Further to this, CDDO operates the Quarterly Business Review, a joint Cabinet Office-HM Treasury assurance review of departmental delivery that allows CDDO to query departmental progress on implementing cloud first adoption.
Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not hold information centrally on the number of primary schools that are used as polling stations. It is the responsibility of the relevant Returning Officer to choose venues for polling stations.
For the 2019 General Election, the Government offered to reimburse the additional cost of using alternative venues where schools or other community spaces ordinarily used as polling places were already booked for other planned events on the day of the poll in order to avoid disrupting activities in the run up to the festive season. The Minister for the Cabinet Office provided such reassurance in the following letter to Returning Officers:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-returning-officers
2 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions
(View all Stephen McPartland's BEIS questions)The Energy Bill Relief Scheme for non-domestic customers was announced on 21 September and details can be found at the link below:
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) continue to play an important role in providing a business voice to inform investment decisions and drive economic growth. Government continues to support LEPs in fully implementing the recommendations in the ‘Strengthening LEPs’ report, published in July 2018, in order to maximise this role.
The department aims for all children and young people, to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life, including those with visual impairments, dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions. The department is creating a new single national Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) system which will focus on how needs are identified and met across Education, Health and Care. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available in mainstream settings, including for children with visual impairments, and when specialist provision, including AP, is most appropriate for meeting a child or young person’s needs.
Early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including those with dyslexia. The department already has numerous measures to help teachers do this, including the Phonics Screening Check and statutory assessments at the ends of key stage 1 and 2. The department has also introduced a package of measures to support the effective teaching of reading, including for those at risk of falling behind. This includes the launch of the English Hubs programme; the publication of the Reading Framework; and an updated list of high-quality phonics programmes for schools.
The department is committed to ensure a steady supply of teachers of children with visual impairments in both specialist and mainstream settings. To teach a class of pupils with visual impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification in sensory impairment (MQSI). There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh from September 2024. In addition, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) is developing a new occupational standard for teachers of sensory impairment, expected to launch in 2025.
On 11 July 2023, the department published an updated version of the Reading Framework. The Reading Framework includes guidance on teaching reading to pupils with moderate to severe SEND and complex needs. It is primarily aimed at mainstream schools where, with the right support, the vast majority of pupils will be able to make expected progress.
It is for individual schools to decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils, including whether to employ a qualified librarian. Many head teachers recognise the important role school libraries play in improving literacy and encouraging pupils to read for pleasure and ensure that suitable library facilities are provided.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department is aware of the importance of giving primary schools as much notice as possible of the funding for the PE and sport premium in order to support its effective use. The department will confirm the level of funding for the PE and sport premium for the 2022/23 academic year in due course.
The department is considering arrangements for the primary PE and sport premium for the 2022-23 academic year and beyond and will confirm the position as early as possible in the new year.
As a part of our major investment in education, the department has announced significant increases to high needs funding. This year, we have already provided an £780 million increase into high needs, which will be followed up by an additional £730 million in the 2021-22 financial year. This means that the high needs budgets will have grown by over £1.5 billion, nearly 25%, in just 2 years.
High needs funding for the 2022-23 financial year will be drawn from the overall core schools budget. As announced last year, the core school budget for the 2022-23 financial year will total £52.2 billion, which is a year-on-year increase of £4.8 billion. We will announce the high needs budget for 2022-23 in due course. Funding for the 2023-24 financial year will be determined in the next Spending Review.
This additional high needs funding will be allocated via the high needs national funding formula. This formula was introduced in the 2018-19 financial year after extensive consultation and was a significant step forward in making the allocation of funding fairer. The formula is based on the population of 2 to 18-year olds in a local authority area, and includes a number of factors which together are intended to reflect the level of need in the area.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), our delivery partner on the Tuition Partner strand of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), launched the funding criteria on 31 August. Organisations will be selected to become NTP Tuition Partners through an open competition - the process is transparently set out on their website, together with information on criteria and expectations of partners: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/ntp-tuition-partners/for-tuition-partners.
As this is a competitive process, there are no plans to offer specific support for individual companies. Quality is the core principle of this programme, and EEF are seeking high quality tutoring organisations of any size, who can manage delivery in line with robust quality, safeguarding and evaluation standards. EEF anticipate inviting a large number of organisations to be Tuition Partners. In addition to existing tutoring providers, EEF are happy to accept applications from other organisations, for example, charities, local authorities or universities who are able to meet the necessary criteria. Applications will also be welcome from partnerships made up of a number of organisations with differing, but relevant, experience.
EEF will not have an appeals system for this process. They will, however, offer feedback on all applications, to help unsuccessful applicants understand how they might improve their offer in the future.
1 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Questions
(View all Stephen McPartland's Defra questions)The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force (2023) and so this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the scope of the Regulations and consider any changes.
During the review we will consider all aspects of the Regulations, including whether there is a need to explore introducing licencing arrangements for cat breeders.
As part of planning for this review, we are proactively working with partners, including local authorities, to collate data that can provide a picture of licensed and unlicensed activities involving animals in England. A wide range of stakeholders, key trade associations, and the Canine and Feline Sector Group will be integral to coordinating input from this diverse sector to inform Defra’s review.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is not proposing to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans, merely to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, this would not affect the second hand market in these vehicles. The Ten Point Plan confirmed £1.3 billion in funding to support the rapid expansion of the charging network in the 2020s, which includes £950 million in future proofing grid capacity along the Strategic Road Network. One of the aims of this funding is to support the growing private sector investment and expanding market opportunities in electric vehicle infrastructure. As set out in the National Infrastructure Strategy, we will produce an electric vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy in 2021 to facilitate this further. We will be engaging with local authorities and stakeholders across the EV and energy sector to identify opportunities to harness private sector investment to deliver comprehensive UK EV charging infrastructure arrangements. This will ensure chargepoint infrastructure is rolled-out efficiently across all regions to deliver on the government’s levelling up agenda.
Electricity network operators at both the distribution and transmission levels are responsible for assessing the need for new investment to support electric vehicle charging as part of their business plans, which are then approved by Ofgem, the independent regulator. My officials regularly meet with network operators across Great Britain to discuss the impacts of the electric vehicle transition, including how the increasing demand will be managed whilst minimising the impact on businesses, workers and consumers.
‘Smart’ charging can help reduce constraints on the network by allowing electricity demand to be shifted throughout the day. In 2019 the Government consulted on mandating that all private charge points sold or installed in the UK must be smart enabled. We intend to lay the relevant legislation this year.
The UK electricity market is already set up to bring forward investment in generation to meet demand. For example, the Contracts for Difference scheme supports significant investment in low carbon generation. The Government is also investing more than £1.3bn to support new EV charging infrastructure, including £950m on future proofing electricity network capacity along the Strategic Road Network. The necessary investment in infrastructure and the adoption of smart charging will ensure that the electricity network is able to support the mass charging of electric vehicles.
The Government recognises the scope for fleets to be at the vanguard of the transition to zero emission driving, including the recently announced 2030 phase out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans and the phasing out of the sale of new diesel heavy goods vehicles, which we will be consulting on. We will continue to work with fleet operators towards this. Fleet operators are able to take advantage of a range of grant funding schemes for cars and vans which are provided through the £1.5 billion the Government committed to support the early market.
To continue to accelerate the transition we have now pledged a further £2.8 billion package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This includes £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure over the next four years, targeting £950m support on rapid chargepoints on motorways and major roads to around long journeys, and £365m for installing more on-street chargepoints near homes and workplaces to make charging as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car. We will consider what additional support might be appropriate to support large fleet operators and publish a clear delivery plan in 2021.
With the support of the Department for Transport, the Government Car Service (GCS) is replacing its fleet with Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles as they become due for replacement. Currently 50% of the GCS fleet is now either battery electric or petrol/electric hybrid and we are actively looking at options to accelerate this transition.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government supports the creation of an inclusive transport network, and ensuring that disabled and non-disabled people can travel together onboard bus and coach services is key to making this a reality.
Officials engage regularly with stakeholders and we have received a range of representations concerning the impact of the application of the Regulations and of the exemptions we have issued, including from coach operators and bus and coach industry representatives.
It is the Government’s view that it is wrong to require a child to travel in a separate vehicle, segregated from their peers, simply because they are disabled. Every delay in achieving full compliance prevents disabled people from travelling with the same freedom, dignity and choice that others take for granted.
We have provided temporary exemptions to help ease the implementation of the Regulations, but once these have expired we expect all vehicles subject to the Regulations and used on home to school services to comply with them.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We do not hold data on the number of vacancies which offer home or hybrid working. We are exploring how to improve the service to help jobseekers identify vacancies by this criterion.
We are working to ensure that individuals have tailored personal support in order to make the most of their talents, for some this will mean remote working for some hybrid and for others face to face.
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The consultation closed on Monday 30 October. Over 1300 individuals and organisations submitted a response and 14 public consultation events were held, both face-to-face across Great Britain, and virtually.
The department has developed estimates of the number of claimants impacted across the range of options that were considered in the Work Capability Assessment consultation.
We will continue to refine these estimates as responses are considered following the end of the consultation period.
Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Data on the number of children on a waiting list for an assessment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and waiting for a diagnosis is not held centrally but may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts. The Department is investigating options for improving data collection and reporting on waiting times for ADHD assessments and diagnoses, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE guideline on ADHD.
With respect to autism, NHS England publishes data on how many people are waiting for an autism diagnosis and for how long, which provides useful information nationally and locally to support local areas to improve their performance and to reduce assessment and diagnosis waiting times.
The statistics published on 8 June 2023 provide data up to 31 March 2023. Of the total 157,579 patients with an open referral for suspected autism (diagnosis not yet complete) in March 2023, 92,622 were aged zero to 17 years. 6,940 of this age group with an open referral received a first contact appointment within 13 weeks. Data on children and young people in this dataset is expected to be an underestimate. The next data release will be published on 14 September.
The current reported autism data comes from the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) only. Several providers of MHSDS data were affected by a cyber incident which impacted the data for August 2022 onwards. Data presented for August 2022 onwards are imputed estimates based on data from providers not impacted by the cyber incident. The trends and activity reported by these providers are, for the most part, reflective of the providers who were impacted by the cyber incident. However, caution should be used when interpreting these statistics.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following table shows the number of frontline National Health Service healthcare workers (HCWs) vaccinated with the flu vaccine, for each of the last five years.
| Number of HCWs with direct patient care where vaccination data has been provided | Numbers vaccinated | Percentage vaccine uptake |
1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022 | 1,105,078 | 461,803 | 41.8% |
1 September 2021 to 28 February 2022 | 813,435 | 492,125 | 60.5% |
1 September 2020 to 28 February 2021 | 1,124,370 | 863,792 | 76.8% |
1 September 2019 to 28 February 2020 | 1,040,360 | 772,872 | 74.3% |
1 September 2018 to 28 February 2019 | 1,051,851 | 739,187 | 70.3% |
1 September 2017 to 28 February 2018 | 1,025,547 | 704,242 | 68.7% |
Source:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-influenza-and-covid-19-vaccine-uptake-in-frontline-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2022-to-2023
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-and-covid-19-vaccine-uptake-in-frontline-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2021-to-2022
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2020-to-2021
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2019-to-2020
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2018-to-2019
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake-in-healthcare-workers-monthly-data-2017-to-2018
Notes:
- All data is final end of season data apart from the 2022 to 2023 season.
- This data is provisional monthly data (published on 22 December 2022) and may vary slightly following further data validation checks.
- The 2022 to 2023 season includes independent sector health care providers. In previous seasons this data was reported as part of general practitioner data returns rather than as part of NHS Trusts in England.
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England and NHS Improvement have published a human resources framework, co-developed with stakeholders, which sets out principles and guidance to support local organisations implement a safe and effective transition of staff from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to integrated care boards (ICBs). Whilst staff below board level in CCGs are protected by an ‘employment commitment', this does not apply to senior ‘board level’ roles which includes those in the current CCG governing bodies. The framework recognises the need to retain clinical leadership talent wherever possible as this will be central to ICB decision making and has set out a talent approach.
A member nominated by primary medical care providers will have a mandatory seat on every ICB and when designing and developing the new arrangements, NHS England has been clear that they should involve strong clinical leadership at every level.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
All vaccination services, including general practitioner and pharmacy local vaccination services, hospital hubs and vaccination centres, are delivering vaccinations in line with available supply. Across all services, over 8 million vaccinations have been delivered. We will continue to make more sites available to local communities.
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 considers frontline health and social care workers who provide care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination, which includes paramedics and ambulance drivers.
Whilst there is no legal requirement for a profession to be regulated before it can be given prescribing responsibilities, all healthcare professions that have prescribing responsibilities in the United Kingdom are regulated. This is because prescribing is a high-risk activity.
Physicians associates (PAs) are not regulated and therefore do not have prescribing responsibilities. Work to bring PAs into regulation is underway and the Department plans to consult on draft legislation later this year.
Arrangements can be made under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 when a disease is, or is imminently anticipated to be, a pandemic. These arrangements can set aside the usual prescribing arrangements and allow medicines to be supplied under a protocol approved by Ministers or a National Health Service body.
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
During the IMF Annual Meetings, the Chancellor met with Ms Nadia Fettah Alaoui, the Moroccan Minister of Finance.
The UK works closely with Morocco to maximise cooperation in a number of areas, including in bilateral trade and investment. The UK Morocco Association Agreement, which entered into force in January 2021, facilitates this trading relationship. Under this agreement, bilateral trade between the United Kingdom and Morocco was worth £3.4 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023, up £661 million on the same period the previous year. The Government frequently engages with Morocco to promote and support green investment into Morocco, while the UK and Morocco are co-leads on the Power Breakthrough, which aims to make clean power the most affordable and reliable option for all countries by 2030.
Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
During the IMF Annual Meetings, the Chancellor met with Ms Nadia Fettah Alaoui, the Moroccan Minister of Finance.
The UK works closely with Morocco to maximise cooperation in a number of areas, including in bilateral trade and investment. The UK Morocco Association Agreement, which entered into force in January 2021, facilitates this trading relationship. Under this agreement, bilateral trade between the United Kingdom and Morocco was worth £3.4 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2023, up £661 million on the same period the previous year. The Government frequently engages with Morocco to promote and support green investment into Morocco, while the UK and Morocco are co-leads on the Power Breakthrough, which aims to make clean power the most affordable and reliable option for all countries by 2030.
Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Like all taxes, benefit-in-kind tax rates for company cars, also known as Company Car Tax (CCT), are kept under review. The Government aims to announce CCT rates at least two years ahead of implementation to provide certainty for employers, employees and fleet operators.
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government currently maintains a zero rate of VAT on the construction of new build residential homes.
Remediation work may also qualify for a zero rate as ‘snagging’. This applies when the remediation work forms part of the original construction and the person requesting the remediation work is either the owner, developer, or contractor during the original construction works. Otherwise, remediation work falls under repair and maintenance and attracts the standard rate of VAT.
Going further would come at a cost to the Exchequer. Given this, the Government has no current plans to change the VAT treatment of construction.
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The UK currently applies a reduced rate of 5 per cent to the installation of air source heat pumps in residential accommodation. Further information can be found in the public notice VAT 708/6 on energy-saving materials and heating equipment: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-on-energy-saving-materials-and-heating-equipment-notice-7086
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Budget announced a three-month extension to the business rates holiday for eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that was provided at Budget 2020. This means over 350,000 properties will pay no business rates for three months.
From 1 July 2021, 66% relief will be available subject to a cash cap that depends on whether businesses have been required to close or were able to open. This additional relief takes the total value of support in 2021-22 to £6 billion and means the vast majority of businesses will on average receive 75% relief across the year.
The VAT payments deferral scheme ended on 30 June 2020, as planned. There are no current plans to launch another VAT deferral scheme.
As part of the Winter Economy Plan, the Government announced further support for those with deferred VAT. Instead of paying the full deferred VAT outstanding by 31 March 2021, businesses can spread what they owe over up to 11 smaller monthly payments.
More information is available at www.gov.uk/hmrc/vat-deferral.
Under the current VAT rules, domestic fuels such as gas and electricity are already subject to the reduced VAT rate of five per cent. Although the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no plans to change the current VAT treatment of domestic energy.
The Government has already announced that a fourth grant for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be made available from February to April 2021. Details of the grant will be published in due course.
Insurance Premium Tax is a tax paid by insurers on all general insurance premiums. Insurance pricing is a decision which is affected by a wide range of factors, and the taxes that insurers pay are just one part of this. It is hard to predict the impact of an exemption on insurance pricing for leaseholders, as this largely depends on how the insurers would react. In addition, any loss in tax revenue would have to be balanced by a reduction in public spending, increased borrowing or increased taxation elsewhere.
While there are no current plan to introduce an exemption on insurance pricing for leaseholders, all taxes are kept under review and the views expressed to us are carefully considered as part of the annual Budget process.
The Government is working closely with lenders and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to address problems faced by homeowners caught up in EWS1 processes.
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The existing 100 per cent first year allowances, which are available for the purchase of electric vehicles in respect of business cars and zero emission goods vehicles, are being extended to 2025 in order to continue to incentivise the transition to zero CO2 emission vehicles. First year allowances are not available for equipment purchased for leasing; there are no plans to introduce this for zero emission goods vehicles or to reintroduce it for low emission cars, as such assets could be leased overseas. This ensures that the environmental benefits of such incentives remain within the UK to assist the Government in achieving its wider commitment to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
The upcoming Spending Review is a one-year exercise that will set departmental resource and capital budgets for 2021-22.
My RHF the Chancellor will set out the government’s spending plans that will focus on tackling Covid-19.
The government is committed to the multi-year resource settlement for schools that was announced at Spending Round 2019. This has provided for a £780 million boost to high needs funding this year, and an additional £730 million next year, which will bring the total high needs budget to over £8 billion in 2021-22.
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Under the current VAT rules, the supply of a garage or parking is exempt from VAT if supplied at the outset at the same time as the residential accommodation. This VAT treatment is consistent for both council and non-council tenants.
The Government will continue to look at how to adjust its support in a way that ensures people can get back to work, protecting both the UK economy and the livelihoods of people across the country. The Government considers all reliefs in the round, against the broader fiscal and economic impacts of COVID-19, as part of the Business Rates Review.
Services linked with sport or physical education provided by certain bodies are exempt from VAT provided they are not run for profit. The services of profit making bodies are subject to the standard rate of VAT in line with the rules for normal business activity.
Extending the current exemption would come at a cost to the Exchequer. The Government has no plans to change the current VAT treatment of health and leisure memberships.
For an employee to be eligible for the CJRS, the employee must have been notified to HMRC on a real-time information (RTI) submission on or before 19 March.
Those paid annually are eligible to claim, as long as they meet the relevant conditions, including being notified to HMRC on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020 which relates to a payment of earnings in the 2019/20 tax year.
Anyone paid annually and notified on an RTI submission after that date will not be eligible for the scheme. This position also applies to those who are paid more frequently and were not notified to HMRC on or before 19 March.
The 19 March date allows as many people as possible to be included by going right up to the day before the announcement, and mitigates the risk of fraud that exists as soon as the scheme became public.
The UK has one of the most generous self-employed COVID-19 support schemes in the world. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) opened on 13 May, ahead of schedule, and it provides support worth up to £7,500 each to millions of individuals. Recipients will have the grants in their bank accounts within six working days of making an application.
The Chancellor indicated that the SEISS would be temporary when he announced it at the end of March, and that it could be extended if necessary. The Government is keeping this under review.
The Government will also continue to work closely with lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure that borrowers are supported during the present challenging times, especially if they are facing financial distress. Lenders are continuing to show forbearance as required, working together with borrowers to establish how they can best affordably and gradually get back on track. Borrowers concerned about their current financial situation should contact their lenders at the earliest possible opportunity.
VAT is an important source of revenue for the Exchequer, raising approximately £132 billion in 2018/2019. This plays an important part in funding the Government's spending priorities including hospitals, schools, and defence.
Reducing the standard rate would come at a considerable cost to the Exchequer, and that cost would have to be balanced by increased taxes elsewhere, or reductions in government spending. Therefore, while all taxes are kept under review, there are currently no plans to reduce the standard rate of VAT.