Stephen Morgan

The Equality Hub Ministers and officials have met with healthcare professionals in developing the policy approach to protecting all individuals from conversion practices. Many such organisations responded to the public consultation that closed in February 2022.

We will continue to meet with healthcare professionals to inform our approach and will respond to the consultation in due course.

The Equality Hub Ministers and officials have met with healthcare professionals in developing the policy approach to protecting all individuals from conversion practices. Many such organisations responded to the public consultation that closed in February 2022.

We will continue to meet with healthcare professionals to inform our approach and will respond to the consultation in due course.

Throughout the UK’s COP26 and G7 Presidencies, we have made significant progress. The $100bn Delivery Plan, which the COP President has asked Germany and Canada to lead, shows that the goal to mobilise $100 billion per year for developing countries will be met by 2023 at the latest, continuing on a rising trajectory through to 2025. In the five years to 2025, $500bn will be mobilised. This is significant progress, driven by ambitious new climate finance commitments that have been made in recent months.

We have also prioritised the issue of fiscal space and debt sustainability, for example in engagements with the IMF, World Bank and climate vulnerable countries. We welcome the progress that has been made. The IMF has implemented an historic $650bn allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to boost global liquidity and provide fiscal space. G7 Leaders have also agreed to consider options for voluntary SDR channelling of $100bn to further support developing and vulnerable countries. The G20 and Paris Club agreed to a further final extension of the Debt-Service Suspension Initiative in April and have continued implementation of the Common Framework for Debt Treatments.

Throughout the UK’s COP26 and G7 Presidencies, we have made significant progress. The $100bn Delivery Plan, which the COP President has asked Germany and Canada to lead, shows that the goal to mobilise $100 billion per year for developing countries will be met by 2023 at the latest, continuing on a rising trajectory through to 2025. In the five years to 2025, $500bn will be mobilised. This is significant progress, driven by ambitious new climate finance commitments that have been made in recent months.

We have also prioritised the issue of fiscal space and debt sustainability, for example in engagements with the IMF, World Bank and climate vulnerable countries. We welcome the progress that has been made. The IMF has implemented an historic $650bn allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to boost global liquidity and provide fiscal space. G7 Leaders have also agreed to consider options for voluntary SDR channelling of $100bn to further support developing and vulnerable countries. The G20 and Paris Club agreed to a further final extension of the Debt-Service Suspension Initiative in April and have continued implementation of the Common Framework for Debt Treatments.

We have undertaken research to understand practices, experiences and impacts associated with conversion therapy and will publish this in due course. We will consider the findings alongside the responses to the consultation on our conversion therapy proposals that we will launch in September.

An Equality Impact Assessment, which includes information on voter identification, was published alongside the Elections Bill:

https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3020/publications

We continue to work with local authorities, the Electoral Commission, charities and civil society organisations to make sure that reforms, including the provision of the free, locally issued Voter Card, are delivered in a way that is inclusive for all voters.

Everyone who is eligible to vote will continue to have the opportunity to do so.

On 13 April, the Office for National Statistics released the latest statistics on EU-UK trade which show a welcome growth in the value of trade with the EU, with goods exports close to the average 2020 level.

The vast majority of traders and hauliers have adapted well, and our focus now is on making sure that any business that is still facing challenges gets the support they need. We are continuing to monitor and assess the situation, including any potential change in trade patterns.

We have made an additional £20m available to support SMEs with new requirements when trading with the EU. More info can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-20-million-sme-brexit-support-fund

The MoD is continuing to work closely with Help for Heroes to transfer management responsibilities for the Personnel Recovery Centres whilst Help for Heroes’ introduce a new community based support model. Remote services will continue to be offered to veterans and the Government is continuing to monitor the situation, to ensure veterans can continue to access the support they need, whether via the NHS or the charitable sector.

This Government has provided unprecedented support to the service charity sector throughout the pandemic. As well as being able to access broader charity sector support, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the sector has benefitted from a £6million COVID Impact Fund. In addition to the £10million per annum that the Government provides to the sector through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, in this year’s budget, the Trust has been allocated a further £10million to deliver charitable projects supporting veterans mental health needs.

As I stated in my answer given to the hon. Member on 11 January 2021, the MOD’s Health Safety and Environmental Protection directorate, alongside the Defence People function will work with the Office for Veterans’ Affairs to explore potential health issues related to exposure to asbestos during service, and to continue to coordinate MOD's asbestos management approach. Claims for compensation in respect of injuries or illnesses arising as a result of service can be made by veterans through the Ministry of Defence.

The Government is committed to providing the necessary support for our Veterans. The vast majority of veterans currently access mental health services available to the general population. For veteran specific mental health services, in 2020-2021 NHS England provided £16.5m, which will be increased to £17.8m for 2021-2022, alongside the launch of the new High Intensity Service across England and Op Courage pathway for accessing all veterans’ mental health services within NHS England.

Service charities are supported by the Government through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which benefits from £10m annually, and in both years an additional £10m has been allocated to support veterans’ mental health needs. During 2020, the COVID-19 Impact Fund has provided nearly £6m in grants to over 100 Armed Forces charities across the United Kingdom. Of the charities awarded funding, 68% of grants sampled supported members of the Armed Forces and veterans’ community for mental health and crisis support, and 77% for easing isolation and loneliness.

Guidance for small marriages and civil partnerships was published on 22 March and can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-small-marriages-and-civil-partnerships/covid-19-guidance-for-small-marriages-and-civil-partnerships#wedding-and-civil-partnership-ceremony-venues

We recognise that any restrictions on wedding venues may be disappointing for those planning such events, but we have to take necessary steps to limit transmission of COVID-19. This includes the closure of some settings and restrictions on social contact, including wedding and civil partnership ceremonies. By their very nature, weddings and civil partnership ceremonies are events that bring families and friends together, making them particularly vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19. We appreciate the sacrifices people have had to make across the COVID-19 pandemic and we do not wish to keep any restrictions in place longer than we need to.

In the COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021, the Government has set out the gradual and cautious approach to reopening in England, guided by science and the data, including the staged return of weddings and civil partnerships, as well as sporting events.

In order to inform the pace and sequencing of the roadmap, the Government commissioned advice and modelling from SAGE and its sub-groups. Scientific evidence supporting the government response to coronavirus is regularly published here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19.

Throughout the pandemic, we have consistently adapted our response as we have learnt more about the virus and how best to tackle it. Decisions on when to lift restrictions, and in which order, seek to strike a balance between the epidemiological evidence and advice, the impact lockdown is having on people’s health (including mental health and disproportionate impacts on certain groups), wellbeing, and the economy. Scientific evidence supporting the government response to coronavirus is regularly published here - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-coronavirus-covid-19.

On 22 February the Government published its 'COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021'

roadmap to recovery. The roadmap outlines four steps for cautiously easing restrictions across England. The first measures of Step 1 took place on the 8th March. Schools breaking up for the Easter holidays will provide an opportunity for further, limited relaxation particularly in outdoor settings where there is less risk. Therefore from 29 March, outdoor sports and leisure facilities will reopen and organised sport (for adults and children) will resume.

The design of the roadmap has been informed by the latest scientific evidence and seeks a balance between our key social and economic priorities, whilst preserving the health and safety of our country.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.

The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF) team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based on the recommendations of the PIF Team.

The Fund received 53 applications from a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment phase.

It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of funding available to support border readiness.

Ports will need to fund the remaining 34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66% award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.

The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF) team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based on the recommendations of the PIF Team.

The Fund received 53 applications from a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment phase.

It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of funding available to support border readiness.

Ports will need to fund the remaining 34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66% award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.

The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF) team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based on the recommendations of the PIF Team.

The Fund received 53 applications from a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment phase.

It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of funding available to support border readiness.

Ports will need to fund the remaining 34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66% award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.

The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF) team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based on the recommendations of the PIF Team.

The Fund received 53 applications from a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment phase.

It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of funding available to support border readiness.

Ports will need to fund the remaining 34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66% award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.

In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions within Government are not normally disclosed. Cabinet Office officials are in regular contact with ports across the UK as part of their regular engagement. This includes all ports which applied to the fund. This contact is ongoing. There were no discussions between Cabinet Office officials or ministers and the Rt Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell regarding the Port Infrastructure Fund.

The Port Infrastructure Fund (PIF) team worked with an independent eligibility and assessment team, with specialist experience and technical expertise in rail, air and maritime port infrastructure design and build to assess the funding applications. The Fund Allocation Authority (FAA), which is made up of representatives from across the relevant government departments such as HMRC, Defra and Border Force, subsequently made decisions about allocations based on the recommendations of the PIF Team.

The Fund received 53 applications from a range of sea ports, rail facilities and airports. Of the 53 ports that applied to the fund, 41 were successful in their application and a total of £200M has been provisionally allocated. 12 ports were not considered eligible or were unsuccessful at assessment phase.

It is a commercial decision for ports as to whether to provide these facilities. In normal circumstances, ports would be expected to fund such facilities themselves. However - in recognition of the unique circumstances of EU Exit, and the tight timescales for putting infrastructure in place - Government has made £470m of funding available to support border readiness.

Ports will need to fund the remaining 34% themselves. As the maximum amount of funding available was £200 million, a 66% award was applied across all applications ensuring all successful bids received a fair and proportionate level of taxpayer funded support.

As we have set out previously, the Government's immediate focus is on protecting the lives and livelihoods of the nation, but there is nonetheless the need to mourn those who have died, and to mark and remember this period as one of immense struggle. We will set out the Government’s proposed approach to this important matter in due course.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQ107708 on 03 November.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to PQs 106475 and 106474 on 28 October 2020.

Ministers have regular conversations with interdepartmental colleagues on a range of topics, including the Government’s ongoing commitment to make it as easy as possible to access the clinical and welfare support available to veterans and their families. The Chief Coroner has given coroners clearer guidance so that deaths, including suicide, are recorded more consistently.

The Government continues to invest in mental health support and training whilst individuals are serving in the Armed Forces, as well as significant research to understand and tackle the risks and causes of suicide amongst those who have served. This includes a study commissioned by the MOD to investigate causes of death, including suicide, amongst all those who served in the UK Armed Forces between 2001 and 2014, covering combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2019, we extended this study to include all those who served after 2014, now and into the future. This will be complemented by a new Manchester University study, funded jointly by the MOD and NHS (England), looking at risk factors in the year leading up to a veteran taking their own life. Combined, these studies will provide increasingly robust data, in order to better understand ‘at risk’ groups and support better targeted interventions.

I refer the hon. Member to the Urgent Question responded to by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 30 June 2020.

The position as outlined on gov.uk is that everyone who can work from home should do so.

When that is not possible, people should go into work provided they are not symptomatic, isolating or shielding. Relevant guidance including from Public Health England should be followed.

The Government has placed restrictions on the operations of certain businesses as part of the strategy of enhanced social distancing. Separate guidance has been published on this and is also available on gov.uk.

The Market Compliance Review is still ongoing and is a matter for Ofgem. However, recent changes published by Ofgem in relation to involuntary PPM installations are due to be implemented into licence conditions on 8^th November and state that Suppliers will not be able to restart involuntary PPM installations until they have:

• Demonstrated to Ofgem that they are ready to comply with the new rules
• Conducted an independent audit to identify wrongfully installed involuntary PPMs & offer compensation
• Been given a clean bill of health from Ofgem’s initial PPM Market Compliance Review

The Government identifies the majority of eligible households through data matching with energy suppliers. As a result, most eligible households are identified in late autumn, and provided with a rebate before and during winter. Further households are identified through the Warm Home Discount helpline, which is open over the winter. Although the Government encourages suppliers to make the payments as soon as possible, suppliers have until 31 March to provide the rebate.

In Scotland, households can apply to their supplier for a rebate under the Broader Group element of the scheme. The application processes and timings vary between suppliers.

Ofgem monitors suppliers’ compliance against their obligations.

The proposed AQUIND Interconnector Project is being redetermined by the Secretary of State. There is no statutory deadline for the redetermination of this application.

The Government sets the annual spending envelope and, under the Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales, identifies eligible households through data matching with participating energy suppliers.

The Government sends ‘instructions to pay’ to energy suppliers to provide payments to these customers. Energy suppliers are legally required to provide the rebates to those customers, or provide a reason why they cannot, once they have received an instruction to pay. Ofgem monitors suppliers’ compliance against their obligation.

The Government sets the annual spending envelope and, under the Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales, identifies eligible households through data matching with participating energy suppliers. However, the rebates are not funded by the Government; energy suppliers are responsible for providing the payments.

The Government sends ‘instructions to pay’ to energy suppliers to provide payments to these customers. Energy suppliers are legally required to provide the rebates to those customers, or provide a reason why they cannot, once they have received an instruction to pay. Ofgem monitors suppliers’ compliance against their obligation.

Households with solar panels are required to have a certificate under the independent Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) to receive payment under the Smart Export Guarantee. These certificates should be issued by installers within 10 days of the system being commissioned. Households should contact the MCS Helpdesk if they do not receive their certificate within this period.

For consumer protection purposes, households are required to demonstrate that their solar panels and installer are suitably certified to receive payment under the Smart Export Guarantee. Certificates issued under the independent Microgeneration Certification Scheme should be issued by installers within 10 days of the system being commissioned.

The Department does not hold data on the average time taken to issue an MCS certificate.

The Government consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes closed on 8th January 2021. The Government is refining the policy design to ensure the costs and circumstances relating to energy efficiency improvements are fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants. The Government will publish a summary of responses by the end of this year.

National Security is a key priority for this Government. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ensures protection of infrastructure and critical services through a broad range of mitigations, including legislative and regulatory powers. Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny.

In taking the decision on any application for development consent for a nationally significant energy infrastructure project, the Secretary of State will consider all relevant matters, including environmental impacts.

Given the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in determining this planning application, it would not be appropriate to comment on any specific matters regarding the application.

The proposed AQUIND Interconnector Project is being redetermined by the Secretary of State. There is no statutory deadline for the redetermination of this application.

The Department has been unable to confirm receipt of the hon. Member’s correspondence of 25 January on the Aquind Interconnector Project.

Please resubmit the correspondence to the Department and a response will be expedited for the Hon. Member.

The Government keeps energy efficiency support for all non-domestic organisations, including private nurseries, under review. Existing initiatives which may be applicable include an exemption on business rates for green technology and grants under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

The Government is reviewing the additional levers that could be introduced to help improve energy efficiency of organisations, including financial support. As part of this, the Government has launched a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce to help achieve its target to reduce energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030.

The Energy Price Guarantee will continue to support households with their energy bills from April 2023. During the winter, the Government has covered around half of a typical household’s energy bills, cutting the average bill by around £1,300. The Government keeps all levels of support under review.

The Government is firmly committed to investing and developing the renewable industry in the UK. The Contracts for Difference scheme, the Government’s main mechanism for supporting low carbon generation, is awarded through a competitive process, ensuring that the most cost-effective projects are supported regardless of their location.

The Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) provides energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating measures to low-income households living in the worst performing, off gas grid homes in England. Phase 1 of HUG is being delivered as part of the Sustainable Warmth Competition. Up to £700 million has been made available for local authorities for phase 2 of HUG to be delivered from April 2023 to March 2025. This investment forms part of a wider package in which the Government taking our total investment to date to over £6.6bn over the lifetime of this parliament. There are currently no plans for a third phase of the Home Upgrade Grant. The Government will continue to work with HM Treasury to secure further funding at future spending reviews.

Ofgem, as the independent regulator, are responsible for the enforcement of licence conditions on suppliers in the energy market.

On 21 February Ofgem outlined the scope of its in-depth Market Compliance Review into the issue of how prepayment meters are handled across the market, to include targeted engagement accounting for experiences of real consumers. This review could lead to compliance action and redress where appropriate. As part of this Ofgem are also seeking views on further measures that could reduce the need for prepayment meters to be installed or improve the prepayment meter experience for customers.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to domestic energy suppliers asking them to report back to him on what steps they plan to take to identify consumers who may have had a prepayment meter installed inappropriately, and confirm that where such customers are identified, appropriate action will be taken. Following this, energy suppliers have agreed to pause the forced installation of prepayment meters until 31 March. Ofgem has called for suppliers to use this period to proactively check if any prepayment meters have been installed incorrectly and, where rules have been broken, to act now to offer customers appropriate redress.

Energy suppliers must follow strict rules when changing a customer from a credit to prepayment meter, whether a through a meter installation, or remotely if they have a smart meter.

The regulator, Ofgem, is reviewing energy supplier compliance with these requirements and has made it clear they will take strong action where suppliers have failed to follow them.^[1]

Ofgem has recently launched a call for evidence to consider rules and protections for domestic pre-payment energy consumers.^[2]Both traditional prepayment meters and smart meters in pre-payment mode are in scope of this work.

^[1] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/energy-regulator-outlines-next-steps-forced-prepayment-meter-ppm-installations

^[2] https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/prepayment-rules-and-protections-call-evidence#:~:text=We%20are%20now%20calling%20for,or%20switching%20customers%20to%20PPM.

Ofgem, as the independent regulator, are responsible for the enforcement of licence conditions on suppliers in the energy market.

Following intervention from the Government, all suppliers have agreed to cease the forced installation of prepayment meters and the remote switching of smart meters to prepayment mode until 31 March 2023.

During this period Ofgem is undertaking an intensive consultation process to look at what further protections may be needed around PPMs and seek views on other measures that could reduce the need for PPMs to be installed or switched to remotely.

The AQUIND Interconnector Project is a development proposed by Aquind Limited, a private limited company.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero is responsible for the redetermination of the application for development consent for the Aquind Interconnector.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a discount on the wholesale element of gas and electricity bills to ensure that all eligible businesses, including nurseries and childcare providers, who receive their energy from licensed suppliers, are protected from high energy costs over the winter period. Following an HMT-led review into the EBRS, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme will run from April until March 2024 and continue to provide a discount to all eligible non-domestic customers, including nurseries and childcare providers.

The Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency / Insulation Assurance Authority is a TrustMark scheme provider and is required to operate within TrustMark’s Framework Operating Requirements, which covers financial protection.

Any concerns regarding CIGA shared with the department have been investigated and followed up with CIGA where appropriate. However, the Government does not intervene in any relationship between insurance or guarantee providers and customers with cavity wall insulation.

The Government is committed to creating the required market conditions to mobilise investment into green industries. Many of the UK’s regulators will play a role in facilitating delivery of the infrastructure, technologies and activities that will deliver the net zero transition. In the the Net Zero Strategy, the Government set out several examples of how it is working with different regulators for example on the publication of the Strategic Policy Statement for Ofgem. The Government is working closely with regulators including FCA, the Bank of England, and IFRS to roll out climate-related disclosures, to provide confidence to businesses and investors on the risks and opportunities within UK green industries.

The Government’s net zero target covers the whole UK, and all four parts of the UK have an integral role to play in delivering the Government’s carbon budgets.

The UK Government is working closely with local government and partners in the devolved administrations to achieve our carbon emission reduction ambitions and net zero targets.

The Domestic and Economic Affairs (Energy, Climate and Net Zero) Cabinet Committee leads on bringing together departments to consider matters relating to energy, and to ensure the effective delivery of the United Kingdom’s domestic and international climate strategy leading up to the net zero 2050 target.

The Net Zero Strategy sets out its commitments to enable local areas to deliver net zero and recognises that local authorities can, and do, play an essential role in driving local climate action. UK100’s Local Net Zero Delivery Progress Report forms part of a growing body of evidence and views on Local Net Zero.

Driving investment into net zero is a priority for the Government and backing its ambition with specific policies. The Government has committed £30 billion of public green investment and is putting in place regulatory frameworks to spur private investment into green projects, such as through the Energy Bill. Its policies are expected to drive an unprecedented £100 billion of private investment and support 480,000 jobs by 2030. The Government has already made significant progress - Bloomberg estimates that in 2021, £24 billion of new green investment was committed in the UK across sectors like clean energy, heating and transport.

The Green Finance Strategy, supported by the Greening Financing Roadmap, sets out how the Government is working with local authorities and institutional investors to attract finance into green investment opportunities.

As part of the Government’s overall approach, the BEIS Local Net Zero Hubs support local authorities to develop net zero projects that can attract commercial investment.

In 2022 there was a call for evidence to update the Green Finance Strategy, and this asked for evidence on how local authorities can best support the mobilisation of public and private investment. An updated Green Finance Strategy will be published in due course.

The UK Investment Bank pilots will be taken into account in the ongoing policy work on financing net zero.

A meeting between Ministers and local government leaders is expected to take place early in the new year.

The Autumn Statement announced a new national ambition to reduce the UK’s final energy consumption from buildings and industry by 15% by 2030 against 2021 levels.

In order to support the delivery of this target, a new Energy Efficiency Taskforce will be established. More details on the scope and membership of the Taskforce will be announced in due course.

In the Autumn Statement, the Government also announced £6 billion of new Government funding that will be made available from 2025 to 2028 for energy efficiency.

Despite extremely high levels of transactions in the property market in recent times, HM Land Registry has continued to deliver the most essential services required to support the property market.

HM Land Registry received approximately 1.8 million more service requests in 2021 than in 2019. As a result of this demand, routine applications are taking longer to process. Any application that is urgent can be expedited free of charge and will be completed within 10 days.

Improving speed of service is the top priority for HM Land Registry and it is addressing this urgently through a combination of recruitment, training, and automation.

BEIS is working with DfE and local partners to ensure green skills are considered through Local Skills Improvement Plans. The Government is also working with the Green Jobs Delivery Group to explore how central Government, local Government and businesses can further support local areas to deliver a successful net zero labour market transition.

Businesses in Portsmouth South will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, which will save SMEs approximately £4,200 on average, cut to fuel duty for 12 months and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, to protect small businesses from high energy costs over the winter. In addition, the Recovery Loan Scheme is available to SMEs across the UK.

The Government is also providing financial support for business through the Start Up loan scheme - 185 SMEs in Portsmouth South have received loans to the value of £1,595,221 as of October 2022.

The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses, including those in Portsmouth South, and is engaging with businesses across the UK to understand these challenges and explore ways to mitigate them.

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Businesses in Portsmouth South will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs £4,200 on average, cut to fuel duty for 12 months and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which is shielding businesses across the country from soaring energy prices, saving some around half of their wholesale energy costs.

In addition, at the Autumn Statement, my Rt Hon Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.

The Government is committed to improving the energy performance of homes across the country, including in Portsmouth South.

The Government is already investing £6.6 billion over this parliament on decarbonising heat and energy efficiency measures.

An additional £6 billion of new Government funding, announced in the Autumn Statement, will be made available from 2025 to 2028. This provides long-term funding certainty, supporting the growth of supply chains, ensuring we can scale up our delivery over time.

The Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database shows that as of 31 October 2022, seventeen heat pump installations were registered in the Portsmouth South constituency.

The database does not include all heat pump installations, for example, those installed without Government funding support, such as in new buildings, which are not typically recorded in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database.

At the end of October 2022, there were 614 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Portsmouth South constituency.

BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, around 3,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 1,100 loft insulation measures, 5 under floor insulation measures and fewer than 5 external wall insulation measures have been installed in Portsmouth South constituency.

Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.

BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, around 3,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 1,100 loft insulation measures, 5 under floor insulation measures and fewer than 5 external wall insulation measures have been installed in Portsmouth South constituency.

Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.

BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, around 3,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 1,100 loft insulation measures, 5 under floor insulation measures and fewer than 5 external wall insulation measures have been installed in Portsmouth South constituency.

Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.

BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, around 3,300 cavity wall insulation measures, 1,100 loft insulation measures, 5 under floor insulation measures and fewer than 5 external wall insulation measures have been installed in Portsmouth South constituency.

Data for ECO covers January 2013 to September 2022. Data for the GHG schemes cover October 2020 to September 2022.

As set out in the Net Zero Strategy, the Government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037. To support this, £2.5 billion is being invested through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme over the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25 to provide grants for public sector bodies in England, to fund heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

The Government Property Function has recently published its Government Property Strategy, which commits to delivering a range of measures designed to create a smaller, better, and greener public estate.

We have cut business rates by 50% for eligible retail businesses in 2022-23, increased the Employment Allowance to £5,000 cutting the cost of employment for 495,000 small businesses, and increased the Annual Investment Allowance to £1 million.

We have also cut fuel duty by 5p for 12 months, and our Help to Grow programmes will enable eligible SMEs to mitigate the effects of rising costs by providing financial discounts on approved digital technologies up to a value of £5000 and improving SME leadership and management skills though subsidised courses.

An application for judicial review has been made on behalf of Aquind Limited in respect of the Secretary of State’s decision of 20 January 2022 to refuse development consent for the AQUIND Interconnector. The Government will not make any further statement on this matter as it is an ongoing legal process.

In recognition of the impact that the spread of the Omicron variant had on hospitality businesses during December, the Government announced further support for businesses in recognition of the impact that the spread of the Omicron variant had on hospitality. The Government is providing one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sectors in England plus more than £100 million discretionary funding will be made available for Local Authorities to support other businesses.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we have also provided businesses with an unprecedented support package of £400 billion, including grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT cuts and the job retention scheme. This includes a total of over £26 billion in business grants.

In July 2021, the Department launched the first-ever hospitality strategy to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of England’s pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. We have also launched the Hospitality Sector Council to oversee the delivery of the strategy, including working with the sector to make hospitality a career option of choice and looking at the labour and skills shortages.

I and officials in the Department continue to engage regularly with the hospitality sector to understand their needs and issues, including monitoring trading conditions.

To support all businesses across the UK economy throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we have provided businesses with an unprecedented support package of £400 billion, including grants, loans, business rates relief, VAT cuts and the job retention scheme. This includes a total of over £26 billion in business grants. The Government announced on 21 December that additional support will be available for businesses in recognition of the impact that the spread of the Omicron variant had on hospitality during one of their busiest months. The Government is providing one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England plus more than £100 million discretionary funding will be made available for Local Authorities to support other businesses – a lifeline for many small hospitality businesses.

In July 2021, the Department launched the first-ever hospitality strategy to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of England’s pubs, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs. We have also launched the Hospitality Sector Council to oversee the delivery of the strategy.

I and officials in the Department continues to speak regularly with the hospitality sector to understand their needs and issues, includes trading conditions and represent these across Government.

The protection of infrastructure and critical services is a key priority for the Government, and new projects are assessed on a case-by-case basis. Foreign investment in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest level of scrutiny.

The Government carries out rigorous checks and assessments to ensure the protection of infrastructure and critical services through a broad range of mitigations, including legislative and regulatory powers. Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny.

The Department ensures protection of infrastructure and critical services through a broad range of mitigations, including legislative and regulatory powers. Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny.

The Department ensures protection of infrastructure and critical services through a broad range of mitigations, including legislative and regulatory powers. Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny.

Foreign involvement in critical national infrastructure undergoes the highest levels of scrutiny.

This Government is committed to making the UK a hostile place for illicit finance and economic crime.

On 21 October 2021, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State extended the statutory deadline for taking the decision on the AQUIND interconnector application for development consent to 21 January 2022. A statement announcing the new deadline was made to the House of Commons and House of Lords on 21 October 2021 in accordance with section 107(7) of the Planning Act 2008.

The Department is supporting the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, as well as a range of research and innovation programmes to develop technologies that will have spill-over benefits in various markets, including the shipbuilding sector.

The Department is also supporting several green shipping projects, including hydrogen ferry trials in Orkney and a hydrogen refuelling port on Teesside. Innovate UK is also facilitating the delivery of the Department for Transport’s £20 million Clean Maritime Demonstration Programme to bring forward green propulsion solutions for the maritime sector.

In addition, the Department is working closely with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to ensure that UK shipyards are aware of the organisation’s funded programmes and facilities, so that they have the opportunity to access these.

A direction under Section 35 of the Planning Act 2008 was granted for the UK elements of the proposed AQUIND Interconnector on 30 July 2018. This directed that the project should be treated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project for which development consent is required. The Section 35 Direction sets out the reasoning for the decision. That document is publicly available on gov.uk and can be found using the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/742186/Section35DirectionAquindInterconnector.pdf.

The Government has brought forward a substantial package of financial support for the hospitality sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £65 billion plan to provide support for jobs and businesses (including the hospitality sector), with extensions to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, self-employed support, business grants, loans and VAT cuts – bringing total fiscal support to over £352 billion.

Following the close of the examination in respect of the application for development consent for the Aquind Interconnector project on 8 March 2021, the examining authority is currently writing its report for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State which will contain its conclusions and recommendation on the project. Once he has received the report, which is expected no later than the 8 June 2021, the Secretary of State will have three months to take his decision to grant or refuse development consent.

I meet regularly with the industry-led Weddings Taskforce, established to represent all parts of the UK Weddings sector, to understand the impact of COVID-19 on wedding businesses and jobs in the sector.

I understand these are extremely challenging circumstances for businesses. That is why we have put in place one of the most generous packages of business support in the world, worth £285 billion. This includes a business rates holiday, various loan schemes and the extended furlough scheme. Closed businesses such as hairdressers can also receive a grant of up to £3,000 per month and a one-off payment of up to a maximum £9,000. Government continues to keep under review all the measures needed to control the virus, as well as the appropriate business support.

The Government has published clear COVID-Secure guidance which outlines the measures which need to be put in place for shops to open safely in all tiers. We continue to review this guidance as the situation evolves.

Following the introduction of national restrictions, independent book shops must close. All shops can continue to offer click and collect, and delivery services which will help businesses keep trading.

The Government continues to offer a comprehensive support package for small businesses which independent bookshops can access, including  one-off top up grants for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses worth up to £9,000 per property to help businesses through to the Spring, an extension to the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme to the end of April 2021, extension to the existing Loan Schemes to the end of March 2021, and cash grants of up to £1,500 per 2-week closure period, for businesses which are closed during local or national restrictions.

The Government continues to offer a comprehensive support package for small businesses which independent bookshops can access, including the extension to the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme to the end of April 2021, extension to the existing Loan Schemes to the end of March 2021, and cash grants of up to £1,500 per 2-week closure period, for businesses which are closed during local or national restrictions.

Independent book shops can continue benefitting from 100% business rates relief for the financial year 2020/21.

Following the introduction of new national restrictions, independent book shops can continue to offer click and collect, and delivery services which will help businesses keep trading.

Independent retailers, including book shops, play a valuable role in our communities.

The Government continues to offer a comprehensive support package for small businesses which independent bookshops can access, including the extension to the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme to the end of April 2021, extension to the existing Loan Schemes to the end of March 2021, and cash grants of up to £3,000 per month for businesses which are closed.

Following the introduction of new national restrictions, independent book shops can continue to offer click and collect, and delivery services which will help businesses keep trading.

The UK Space Agency is working closely with organisations across the sector to understand their varied requirements for SQEP. We are undertaking a nationwide Space Skills Survey to map the current learning landscape and identify gaps in provision of support. A Space Skills Advisory Panel, including expertise from across government, academia and industry, will then prioritise new training opportunities to ensure we can deliver a skilled and enthusiastic workforce for the space sector.

The UKSA has worked with the Space Engineering Trailblazer group to develop a new apprenticeship standard at level 4, and continues to work with industry to finalise the standards for a level 6 apprenticeship in Space Systems Engineering. Work also continues with other Trailblazer Groups to address other space skills issues such as data applications.

The UKSA also continues to raise awareness in the student body of the career opportunities presented by the space sector. This is delivered through country-wide careers engagements as well as through the Space Placements in Industry (SPIN) scheme. This successful scheme provides small grants to enable SMEs in particular to employ university students for short placements within their business, providing both meaningful work experience and developing skills in the interns to improve their employability. This year we received a record number of applications for the programme which was able to proceed with many projects being offered remotely, a threefold increase over previous years.

We are committed to making the UK a world leader in space and other high-tech industries. The UK’s first comprehensive national space strategy is therefore being developed under the direction of the National Space Council.

We are committed to making the UK world leader in space, building on our excellence in science to deliver solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges. Our UK Space Strategy will help the UK lead the way in this fast-growing, high-technology sector, levelling up our economy, strengthening our global influence and keeping people safe, including through a dedicated space innovation programme.

We are committed to making the UK a world leader in space and will put in place the right structures and governance to ensure our strategy’s success, overseen by the new National Space Council.

The Government is committed to making the UK a global leader in space. As we develop the UK’s first comprehensive national space strategy, we are working closely with partners across the sector to realise our shared ambition for the UK’s world-class space industry.

For security reasons, the Government cannot divulge how the vaccine will travel across borders. A number of scenarios have been investigated and we have put in place robust contingency plans to ensure that vaccine freight will continue unimpeded.

The UK welcomes President-elect Biden’s commitment to re-join the Paris Agreement and to put the US on a path to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

As the incoming Presidency of the G7 and COP26, we look forward to working with the new US administration to address the urgent challenge of climate change and to encourage countries across the world to increase their climate ambition.

China’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is welcome and significant as part of wider global efforts to limit climate change. We look forward to hearing more details on how the target will be translated into a long-term strategy and implemented in the short-term through China’s 14th Five Year Plan and NDC. We will continue to work with China on areas of mutual interest as we approach COP26 and CBD COP15, the UN biodiversity conference, which China is hosting next year.

Independent retailers,?including book shops, play a valuable role in our communities, acting as hubs for local people and having a positive impact on the communities they serve.

Book shops are able to benefit from additional financial measures announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, including the extension to the Coronavirus Job retention Scheme, extension to the existing Loan Schemes to January 2021 with the ability to top-up Bounce Back Loans, and cash grants of up to £3,000 per month for businesses which are closed.

All shops can continue to offer home delivery and click and collect services to customers during the November lockdown.

The Government have previously published COVID-Secure guidance for retailers and have published guidance on the New National Restrictions. All shops can continue to offer home delivery and click and collect services to customers during the national restrictions in place in November.

During the new national restrictions in place from 5 November, pubs and bars are permitted to sell alcohol through delivery or via click and collect where remote ordering has been utilised.

The Planning Inspectorate is responsible for the conduct of examinations into applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects. The examination of the application for the proposed Aquind Interconnector project is being carried out by The Planning Inspectorate in accordance with Government advice for dealing with such matters during the Covid-19 outbreak. The Planning Inspectorate is mindful of the need to ensure fairness and open access to all parties throughout the examination process.

The Planning Inspectorate’s report on the development consent application for the Aquind Interconnector will be carefully considered once it is submitted to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The Planning Inspectorate is currently examining the application for development consent for the proposed Aquind Interconnector project. The application seeks authorisation for the compulsory acquisition of land and rights over land in connection with the project and those matters will be considered during the examination of the application.

The Planning Inspectorate’s report on the development consent application for the Aquind Interconnector, including any compulsory acquisition matters that have been raised, will be carefully considered once it is submitted to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The application for development consent for the proposed Aquind Interconnector has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate and is currently being examined by them. Neither my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State, who has recused himself from any part in the decision-making process, nor his Ministers have had any discussions with representatives of Aquind Limited, the developer of the Aquind Interconnector, about route options for the proposed Interconnector.

The Planning Inspectorate is currently examining the application for development consent for the proposed Aquind Interconnector. The Examining Authority will examine all relevant issues before submitting its report to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

As the decision to grant or refuse consent to an application for development consent is quasi-judicial, it would not be appropriate for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State, who has recused himself from any part in the decision-making process, or his Ministers to comment further on any aspect of this live development consent application or to meet with any interested party to discuss it.

The Planning Inspectorate is currently examining the application for development consent for the proposed Aquind Interconnector. The Examining Authority will examine all relevant issues before submitting its report to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

As the decision to grant or refuse consent to an application for development consent is quasi-judicial, it would not be appropriate for my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State, who has recused himself from any part in the decision-making process, or his Ministers to comment further on any aspect of this live development consent application or to meet with any interested party to discuss it.

The Government has put forward a package of support for businesses in recognition of the disruption caused by Covid-19. As part of this, as at 21 June, local authorities in Hampshire had paid out over £225 million to over 18,000 business premises under the Small Business Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund.

On 1 May, the Government announced the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund to support businesses previously out of scope of the existing grant funding schemes. In Hampshire, a further £12 million has been made available to support local businesses through this additional fund.

The Government is working closely with all local authorities to ensure grant funding reaches businesses as quickly and efficiently as possible. As part of this, we have provided detailed guidance and FAQs, regular briefings, and one-to-one support from the Department, as well as a communications toolkit.

Once the schemes have closed, any unallocated funds will be subject to a reconciliation exercise with the Government. We will also provide additional funding to local authorities to meet the administrative costs of delivering this policy.

We are keeping in close contact with local authorities to understand how the schemes are rolling out.

During this difficult time, employers should act responsibly and only use the Job Retention Scheme to protect jobs. We would urge employers not to use the Job Retention Scheme to make someone redundant on less favourable terms than they would otherwise have received.

Terms and conditions of employment are for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives). Provided they do not discriminate unlawfully, for example on grounds of race, sex or disability, employers are free to offer the terms and conditions of employment which best suit their business needs.

Once agreed, however, they form a legally binding contract of employment. While it is always open to either party to seek to renegotiate the terms of the contract, if the employer changes any of the terms without the employee’s agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress.

Any redundancy process should be fair and reasonable, with appropriate equalities considerations. Employees can appeal to their employer if they feel they have been unfairly selected or they may be able to make a claim to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks annual leave, which should be paid as if workers were still at work and working. Annual leave continues to accrue as long as the worker maintains their employment relationship with their employer, which is the case whilst an employee is on a period of furlough through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Workers on furlough are able to take annual leave, and employers are able to require them to do so. This will prevent large build-ups that would need to be used at the end of the lockdown measures.

The Government has been clear that employment rights remain unchanged under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Therefore, as holiday rights are unaffected by the scheme, no assessment has been made.

Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Government has emphasised that people’s health is the top priority. We have been clear that construction work can continue in England if it is undertaken in a manner consistent with the guidelines issued by Public Health England. We have also published bespoke guidance to help those who work in outdoor environments, including construction workers, to understand how to work safely at this time.

The Health and Safety Executive has set out that dust from construction work does not usually pose a health risk to members of the public if the exposure is low and the duration is short. If high exposure and longer duration is likely, controls have been adopted to protect the workforce on a construction site; these are also likely to reduce the risk to members of the public. These controls include the use of low-dust products, as well as the use of water suppression or exhaust ventilation.

The Government is not aware of specific instances of brick dust affecting the respiratory functioning of people located near to construction sites during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Government has emphasised that people’s health is the top priority. We have been clear that construction work can continue in England if it is undertaken in a manner consistent with the guidelines issued by Public Health England. We have also published bespoke guidance to help those who work in outdoor environments, including construction workers, to understand how to work safely at this time.

The Health and Safety Executive has set out that dust from construction work does not usually pose a health risk to members of the public if the exposure is low and the duration is short. If high exposure and longer duration is likely, controls have been adopted to protect the workforce on a construction site; these are also likely to reduce the risk to members of the public. These controls include the use of low-dust products, as well as the use of water suppression or exhaust ventilation.

The Government is not aware of specific instances of brick dust affecting the respiratory functioning of people located near to construction sites during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The health and safety of construction workers is a priority for the Government. To help ensure that it is safe for construction workers to operate in their workplace, the Government has worked with Public Health England (PHE) to develop sector-specific guidance on social distancing, and has also worked with the Construction Leadership Council to develop Site Operating Procedures (SOP), which provide practical advice to those seeking to implement the guidance.

The Health and Safety Executive has the powers to take enforcement action if a site is not consistently implementing the measures set out by PHE.

We are in regular contact with a wide range of representatives of the retail sector.

I host a weekly call with non-food retailers and business representative organisations covering a range of subjects including operational challenges faced by the sector as we transition to a new normal.

The most recent call took place on 7^th May and the next one is scheduled for 14^th May.

Government is grateful to retailers and representative organisations who are engaging constructively with Government on how retailers can safely operate as restrictions begin to ease.

Ministers and officials have regular engagement with a large number of businesses, representative organisations and trade unions across all sectors including the British Retail Consortium, in advance of easing the lockdown.

As this work is complex and multifaceted, we are working with industry, business representative organisations, unions, Public Health England, and the Health and Safety Executive to consider what might be needed to adapt workplaces to further improve the safety of these places and thereby minimise the risk of transmission as much as possible.

I host a weekly call with non-food retailers and business representative organisations including the British Retail Consortium with the most recent call taking place on 30^th April. The next one is scheduled for 7^th May.

We welcome the publication of jointly agreed advice by the British Retail Consortium and the Union for Shop Distributive and Allied Workers on the recommended implementation of social distancing practices for non-food retail stores.

Ministers and officials have regular engagement with a large number of businesses, representative organisations and trade unions across all sectors including the British Retail Consortium, in advance of easing the lockdown.

As this work is complex and multifaceted, we are working with industry, business representative organisations, unions, Public Health England, and the Health and Safety Executive to consider what might be needed to adapt workplaces to further improve the safety of these places and thereby minimise the risk of transmission as much as possible.

I host a weekly call with non-food retailers and business representative organisations including the British Retail Consortium with the most recent call taking place on 30^th April. The next one is scheduled for 7^th May.

We welcome the publication of jointly agreed advice by the British Retail Consortium and the Union for Shop Distributive and Allied Workers on the recommended implementation of social distancing practices for non-food retail stores.

The scheme is designed to help employers who are unable to operate or have no work for an employee to do because of coronavirus and those who otherwise would have been made unemployed. There is flexibility in that staff can be rotated and rolled on and off furlough, so long as each period on furlough is for a minimum of 3 weeks.

This Government is working to minimise any social and economic disruption as a result of Covid-19.

We would urge employers to take socially responsible decisions and listen to the concerns of their workforce. Employers and employees should come to a pragmatic agreement about these arrangements.

While most employers act responsibly, a small number fail to respect their workers employment rights. Labour market enforcement bodies continue to respond to complaints from workers either received directly or through the online form on gov.uk.

Everyone must comply with the rules issued by Government in relation to Coronavirus, in order to protect both themselves and others.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 are the regulations in England that cover enforcement of violations of the Government’s rules on social distancing (Scotland and Wales have their own legislation).

In England, Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor compliance with these regulations, with police support provided if appropriate.

Government is clear that people should only leave the house for four reasons, which includes shopping for food and other essentials if they have to. Government have not published a list of goods it deems essential nor asked supermarkets to reduce the range of products they sell.

We have set out the general principles and measures for how social distancing can be implemented in the workplace, including staggering processes which would enable staff to continue to operate both effectively and where possible at a safe distance from one another.

We have also set out tailored advice for different scenarios as an example of how social distancing and other measures that might be implemented by employers in England to help protect their workforce and customers from coronavirus while still continuing to trade.

Everyone must comply with the rules issued by the?Government in relation to coronavirus, in order to protect both themselves and others. In England, Environmental Health and Trading Standards officers will monitor compliance with these regulations with police support if appropriate.

Government advice is clear. If at all possible, people should work at home and where they cannot, employers should ensure that the work environment is a safe one and follow all relevant public health guidance.

Businesses and employees can get advice on individual employment issues by visiting the Acas website at www.acas.org.uk. Businesses can also ring the BEIS Business Support Line, 0300 456 3565, for further advice on support for business.

Cases of pregnancy and maternity discrimination are recorded. When submitting an Employment Tribunal Claim Form (ET1), a claimant is required to specify the details of the case. This involves stating whether they have been discriminated against, including on the grounds of pregnancy and maternity.

There are a number of sources of support for pregnant women seeking to take a claim to an employment tribunal.

Acas (Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service) provides free and impartial information and advice to employees on all aspects of workplace relations and employment law. It produces advice and guidance on discrimination, bullying and harassment and has specific content covering pregnancy and maternity.

In addition, anyone who believes that they may have suffered from discrimination or had their human rights infringed can access the EASS helpline, which offers bespoke advice to clients to help them understand their rights and the resolution options that are open to them.

Legal aid is available for legal advice and representation for cases alleging unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation under the Equality Act 2010, or a previous discrimination enactment, which can arise in a variety of contexts – for example, consumer, education or employment matters. Legal aid for cases of this type must usually first be sought through the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) telephone gateway, before being referred onwards for face-to-face advice.

The Government is determined to do more to promote workplace equality. That is why we committed to introduce measures in an Employment Bill to extend redundancy protections to better prevent pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

The work that the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is conducting to develop an evidence base is ongoing. It is continuing to assess new and emerging data and will report in due course.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

The Government’s manifesto committed to reform the law so that women returning from maternity leave receive additional protection from redundancy.

We will extend the redundancy protection period for six months once a new mother has returned to work and provide similar protections for those parents taking adoption leave and shared parental leave. This will be part of an Employment Rights Bill to deliver the greatest reform of workers’ rights in over 20 years.

The UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory publishes an annual assessment of greenhouse gas emissions by source and removals. Fireworks are listed under the Waste Incineration sector (5C) according to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Common Reporting Format sector classifications.

Greenhouse gas emissions from fireworks used in public displays are not included in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as they have been judged not to be a significant source of greenhouse gases in the UK. It is estimated that 10-20 thousand tonnes of fireworks are typically used in the UK each year. Even assuming the fireworks are entirely made of carbon and entirely oxidised, the greenhouse gas emissions from this level of activity would be less than 100kt CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalents). This is below the threshold of significance for including a source of greenhouse gas emissions in the inventory. The threshold was set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as being both less than 500kt CO₂e and 0.05% of the total national greenhouse gas emissions (which is 236kt CO₂e for the UK).

The Government understands concerns about the potential impact caused by fireworks on individuals, animals and the environment. This is why the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. This includes looking at data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether further action is appropriate.

The Government understands concerns about the potential impact caused by fireworks on individuals, animals and the environment. This is why the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. This includes looking at data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether further action is appropriate.

We understand concerns about the potential impact caused by fireworks on individuals, animals and the environment. We also receive representations from a wide range of stakeholders, including members of the public, organisations and charities, with diverse views on what the issues are and what action they would like to see. This is why the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. Officials in OPSS have also been in contact with Government Departments including Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Devolved Administrations as part of this work. Therefore, the review includes looking at data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether further action is appropriate.

We understand concerns about the potential impact caused by fireworks on individuals, animals and the environment. We also receive representations from a wide range of stakeholders, including members of the public, organisations and charities, with diverse views on what the issues are and what action they would like to see. This is why the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) is developing a fact-based evidence base on the key issues that have been raised around fireworks. Officials in OPSS have also been in contact with Government Departments including Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Devolved Administrations as part of this work. Therefore, the review includes looking at data on noise and disturbance, anti-social behaviour, non-compliance, environmental impact, and the impact on humans and animals. This will build a full picture of the data around fireworks in order to identify whether further action is appropriate.

The Government remains disappointed that the BBC is planning to reduce parts of its local output. Ministers have met with the BBC on several occasions since the announcement where they have expressed the concerns shared across the House about the BBC’s plans.

While it is up to the BBC to decide how it delivers its services, the Government has been clear with the Chair of the BBC Board and the Director General that the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local radio services, with content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK. These services are a key part of the BBC’s public service remit and an example of how the BBC can use its licence fee funding to provide content that is directly relevant to audiences, particularly in areas that may be underserved by the market.

The BBC is editorially and operationally independent, and the decision over whether to proceed with these changes is for them. It is also the BBC’s responsibility to consider the potential impacts for audiences and staff of these changes under their public sector equality duty.

Since its initial announcement of these cuts, the BBC has confirmed that all local radio stations will retain the ability to break out of shared programming and respond to breaking local stories including extreme weather conditions or public health emergencies.

The Government also expects Ofcom, as regulator of the BBC, to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account in delivering its public service duties. As part of this, the BBC will be required to monitor the impact of changes on audiences and publish more information about how it delivers high quality, distinctive content and services for audiences across the UK.

In the publication of the BBC’s new Operating Licence, Ofcom sets out that it will hold the BBC to its commitments on local radio in England in relation to news and travel, breaking news and major incidents and its contribution to local democracy.

As a public authority, the BBC is itself responsible for undertaking equality impact assessments under the Public Sector Equality Duty (as contained in the Equality Act 2010). The BBC Director General was asked whether the BBC has carried out an equality impact assessment regarding the local radio proposals at his 13 June appearance at the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and has committed to sharing relevant information on this with the Committee.

The Government has taken action to support charities across the country, including in Hampshire, with rising energy prices.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provided charities and voluntary organisations with support for their energy bills up to 31 March 2023, and they continue to receive support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

As announced in the Spring Budget, the government will also provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk from cost of living pressures, due to increased demand and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency. Work is underway to finalise the delivery time frames and eligibility criteria. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.

The Government has taken action to support charities across the country, including in Hampshire, with rising energy prices.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provided charities and voluntary organisations with support for their energy bills up to 31 March 2023, and they continue to receive support under the Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

As announced in the Spring Budget, the government will also provide over £100 million of support for charities and community organisations in England. This will be targeted towards those organisations most at risk from cost of living pressures, due to increased demand and higher delivery costs, as well as providing investment in energy efficiency. Work is underway to finalise the delivery time frames and eligibility criteria. Further details will be announced as soon as possible.

Following last year's Call for Evidence, in December 2022 the Government introduced a registration scheme for short-term lets in England in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. On 12 April 2023, a consultation was published which sought views on details about how the scheme will operate. The consultation closed on 7 June 2023, and the Government is working to analyse responses.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will work with the relevant Government departments on the design of the registration scheme and to ensure that different measures which apply to short-term lets are proportionate, complementary and easy to understand.

Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Government and National Lottery to fund grassroots sports projects so that everyone is able to access quality sport and physical activity opportunities, and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that exercise provides.

There are a range of funding options available to sport clubs struggling with increased costs.

Since its creation, Sport England’s Together Fund has invested more than £3.6 million into projects to support with the cost of living. Additionally, Sport England’s Active Together fund supports campaigns that encourage grassroots community sport and youth participation. Since 2020, the fund has committed £3.5 million to successful projects, with funding going towards supporting rising energy costs, ensuring that these activities remain affordable for communities.

At the Spring Budget, the Government announced a £63 million package to address the cost pressures facing some public swimming pool providers, and provide investment in energy efficiency measures to make facilities sustainable in the long-term. This intervention aims to ensure that children and adults up and down the country have accessible opportunities to get active.

Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Government and National Lottery to fund grassroots sports projects so that everyone is able to access quality sport and physical activity opportunities, and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that exercise provides.

There are a range of funding options available to sport clubs struggling with increased costs.

Since its creation, Sport England’s Together Fund has invested more than £3.6 million into projects to support with the cost of living. Additionally, Sport England’s Active Together fund supports campaigns that encourage grassroots community sport and youth participation. Since 2020, the fund has committed £3.5 million to successful projects, with funding going towards supporting rising energy costs, ensuring that these activities remain affordable for communities.

At the Spring Budget, the Government announced a £63 million package to address the cost pressures facing some public swimming pool providers, and provide investment in energy efficiency measures to make facilities sustainable in the long-term. This intervention aims to ensure that children and adults up and down the country have accessible opportunities to get active.

Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. Last year, Sport England received almost £350 million from the Government and National Lottery to fund grassroots sports projects so that everyone is able to access quality sport and physical activity opportunities, and enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that exercise provides.

There are a range of funding options available to sport clubs struggling with increased costs.

Since its creation, Sport England’s Together Fund has invested more than £3.6 million into projects to support with the cost of living. Additionally, Sport England’s Active Together fund supports campaigns that encourage grassroots community sport and youth participation. Since 2020, the fund has committed £3.5 million to successful projects, with funding going towards supporting rising energy costs, ensuring that these activities remain affordable for communities.

At the Spring Budget, the Government announced a £63 million package to address the cost pressures facing some public swimming pool providers, and provide investment in energy efficiency measures to make facilities sustainable in the long-term. This intervention aims to ensure that children and adults up and down the country have accessible opportunities to get active.

The Government recognises the important role that BBC Local Radio services play in delivering local news and reflecting local experiences in Portsmouth and the South East. The Government is therefore disappointed that the BBC is planning to reduce parts of its local radio output.

While it is up to the BBC to decide how it delivers its services, I have met with BBC leadership and shared concerns expressed in recent parliamentary proceedings about reductions to BBC Local Radio. The Government has been clear that, as our national broadcaster, the BBC must make sure it continues to provide distinctive and genuinely local radio services, with content that reflects and represents people and communities from all corners of the UK. The BBC should set the standard in the UK and internationally with high-quality output across its services.

The BBC has outlined that, under current proposals, overall investment in local services is being maintained, which includes £19m from broadcast services being moved to online and multimedia production to adapt to audience changes. The BBC has confirmed that it is protecting local news bulletins throughout the day, and local live sport, and community programming across all 39 stations, and that there will be fully local programming between 6am and 2pm, with neighbouring or regional sharing in most of the remaining listening hours.

Ofcom, as the independent regulator of the BBC, is responsible for ensuring that the BBC continues to meet the public service obligations set out in the BBC Charter, Agreement, and Operating Licence. The Government understands that Ofcom is continuing to discuss the proposed changes to local radio output with the BBC.

The Secretary of State has not met the Communications Workers Union to discuss the ongoing industrial disputes related to Royal Mail or BT since taking office.

The online space should not be a refuge for violent misogyny, and this Government is committed to ensuring there are sufficient protections for women and girls online.

Under the Online Safety Bill, all companies will need to protect children and tackle illegal content online, whilst holding platforms to account for their terms of service. Where incel behaviour relates to a criminal offence, or poses a risk to children, platforms will need to tackle this content.

All services will need to proactively remove and prevent users from being exposed to priority illegal content. This includes offences that disproportionately affect women and girls, such as offences relating to sexual images - i.e revenge and extreme pornography - and harassment and stalking.

Women and girls will also be better able to report abuse and should expect to receive an appropriate response from the platform.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers, including ukactive to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £9,564,322 in swimming and diving projects since April 2019, which includes £6,260,502 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund, which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers, including ukactive to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £9,564,322 in swimming and diving projects since April 2019, which includes £6,260,502 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund, which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.

Phase 1 of the Youth Investment Fund, administered by BBC Children in Need, delivered funding for local youth organisations in levelling up priority areas in England. The funding has enabled local youth providers to invest in capital projects that expand the reach, number and range of services they currently offer.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport plans to announce and publish a list of successful recipients of the grant on GOV.UK in due course.

We firmly believe that increasing the level of financial redistribution between the leagues will help improve the financial health of football clubs.

The Fan Led Review recommended that football should seek to resolve issues related to financial distribution itself, and the government agrees that the ideal outcome is for football to solve this problem. We are continuing to push for a football led solution, and we remain in close engagement with all relevant parties in seeking this. We remain open to granting backstop powers to the regulator if football cannot come up with a solution to distributions, and we will provide an update on this in the White Paper.

The Queen’s Speech confirmed our commitment to an independent regulator for English football. A White Paper will be published in the summer that will set the details on the implementation of our football governance reforms, and we will legislate when parliamentary time allows.

We are working at pace to deliver these measures that will bring sustainable reform that ensures current and future fans continue to enjoy our national game.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

The Local Government Finance Settlement makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. The majority of this funding is un-ringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, such as leisure and cultural services. Swimming and leisure services are not currently statutory requirements for local authorities, however we continue to work with partners to consider whether this should continue to be the case.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites. There are an estimated 14 swimming pools in Portsmouth.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites. There are an estimated 14 swimming pools in Portsmouth.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites. There are an estimated 14 swimming pools in Portsmouth.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites. There are an estimated 14 swimming pools in Portsmouth.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the impact rising energy prices will have on businesses of all sizes. Ofgem and the government are in regular contact with business groups and suppliers to understand the challenges they face and explore ways to protect consumers and businesses.

Sport England has invested £25,027,478 in swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £15,724,500 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic, with 1,176 separate pools supported across 701 sites. There are an estimated 14 swimming pools in Portsmouth.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools. Swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy as well as being a crucial life skill in terms of water safety.

The Government has provided a range of support for swimming pools during the pandemic. The £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country.

Sport England continues to invest in access to swimming, awarding £9,112,544 in grassroots swimming and diving since 2019, including £6,230,502 directly to Swim England. This supports Swim England’s work to develop the swimming workforce, including the Institute of Swimming which delivers training for swimming teachers.

Swim England are running a Recruitment Academy to help tackle the issue of teacher shortages across the sector, offering an end-to-end service which seeks, recruits and trains swimming teachers. There are currently 48 academies in progress with over 200 learners going through the programme.

Under the Online Safety Bill, tech companies will have to put in place proportionate and effective systems and processes to protect children from harmful content.

Legislation will not require the removal of legal but harmful content accessed by adults. The biggest tech companies will be held to account for the consistent enforcement of their terms and conditions.

The onus will be on companies to ensure that their systems are sufficiently effective. Ofcom will be able to take robust enforcement action against companies that fail to fulfil their duties to keep children safe.

Age verification technologies are well established and are widely used across a number of sectors, including online gambling. They are proven to be able to verify a user’s age whilst protecting both their privacy and data. This government takes the issue of data privacy and security extremely seriously and that is why safeguards for users’ privacy are included in the Online Safety Bill. Furthermore, the Data Protection Act 2018 sets high standards of data protection and security and includes strong sanctions for malpractice. This will apply to age verification technologies. Both services in-scope of online safety regulation and age verification providers must comply with data protection laws or face enforcement action from the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Many third party age verification solutions provide an anonymised yes/no answer to the question of whether a user is over 18. This can remove the need for a service to process a user’s personal data.

The final findings and recommendations of the Fan Led Review were published on 24 November 2021. The Government is working at pace to consider the recommendations, including those made on enhancing the existing owners’ and directors’ test, and to determine the most effective way to deliver an independent regulator.

The Secretary of State committed to Parliament on 3 March to bring forward our response as soon as possible. We will issue a formal response in the coming weeks.

The final findings and recommendations of the Fan Led Review were published on 24 November 2021. The Government is working at pace to consider the recommendations, including those made on enhancing the existing owners’ and directors’ test, and to determine the most effective way to deliver an independent regulator.

The Secretary of State committed to Parliament on 3 March to bring forward our response as soon as possible. We will issue a formal response in the coming weeks.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy.

There are an estimated 4291 publicly accessible swimming pools in England, with 855 in the South East and 14 in Portsmouth.

Sport England have awarded £25,753,616 to swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £16,149,002 of funding directly to Swim England. The responsibility of providing access to swimming pools lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to indoor and outdoor pools and that swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy.

There are an estimated 4291 publicly accessible swimming pools in England, with 855 in the South East and 14 in Portsmouth.

Sport England have awarded £25,753,616 to swimming and diving projects since January 2017, which includes £16,149,002 of funding directly to Swim England. The responsibility of providing access to swimming pools lies at Local Authority level, and the government continues to encourage Local Authorities to invest in swimming facilities.

The government recognises the importance of local newspapers to communities and the continued need to reach out to people who cannot, or prefer not to, digitally access information. The government is also mindful of the potential impact that any changes to the existing publicity requirements for statutory notices, including planning notices, might have on transparency and local democracy, as well as the potential effect on the sustainability of the local newspaper industry.

Newspapers play an invaluable role in the fabric of our society. They remain uniquely placed to undertake the investigative journalism and scrutiny of public institutions, including local councils and our courts, that is vital to helping ensure a healthy democracy both nationally and at a local level.

The government commissioned Plum Consulting’s research to better understand the link between newspapers and democratic engagement, alongside wider sector trends, in doing so supporting policy development to ensure the sustainability of the sector. The findings of the research confirm the importance of a free press to our democracy, drawing a direct correlation between local newspaper provision and electoral turnout. It also provided a snapshot of which areas have strong or poor coverage from local newspapers.

To date, a total of £1.2bn has been distributed through the Culture Recovery Fund, supporting around 5000 individual organisations and sites across England.

We will announce the organisations that will receive funding from the third round of the CRF in due course following the completion of Arm’s-Length Bodies’ application processes. Arm’s-Length Bodies have published target time-frames within which they hope to inform applicants.

It is important that, in spending taxpayers money, we do our due diligence to ensure it is being spent correctly.

As of 8/7/21, 89% by value of all Round 1 CRF awards (from the loans, resource grants and capital grants) have been paid to date.

Payments through the Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) are typically made in multiple tranches. Final payment is typically made at the very end of the grant period, once activities and costs have been reported.

In both rounds of the CRF revenue grants programme, DCMS has been able to give recipients the flexibility to extend the grant period. For CRF1 awardees, they have been able to extend until 30 June 2021, and for CRF2 awardees until 31 December 2021.

As such, a significant number of CRF 1 awardees have only very recently concluded the grant period.

In addition to the above, payment schedules can be impacted by a number of factors, such as the provision of bank details and activity reports from applicants, as well as assurance processes undertaken by distributing arms-length bodies, in order to ensure best use of tax-payers’ money.

I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I can assure you that everyone across the Government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.

However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.

We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. As set out in the roadmap, we hope to remove all legal limits on social contact at step 4. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.

I know that the restrictions on singing are frustrating to large numbers of amateur choirs and performance groups across the country and that many people have made sacrifices in order to drive down infections and protect the NHS over the last year. I can assure you that everyone across the Government wants to ease these restrictions as soon as possible.

However, it is important that we take a cautious approach in easing restrictions. We have followed the views of public health experts on singing. We are aware, through the NERVTAG and PERFORM studies that singing can increase the risk of COVID-19 transmission through the spread of aerosol droplets. This was backed up by a consensus statement from SAGE, resulting in the suggested principles of safer singing being published.

We will continue to keep guidance and restrictions under review, in line with the changing situation. As set out in the roadmap, we hope to remove all legal limits on social contact at step 4. Further detail on step 4 will be set out as soon as possible.

This Government understands that the cultural and creative sectors rely on the ability to move people across borders quickly, simply, and with minimal cost and administration.

Being outside the European Union does not change this. It does, however, mean practical changes on both sides of the Channel that will require understanding and adaptation. UK professionals are of course still able to tour and work in the EU, and vice versa.

Since 1 January 2021, customs processes apply to all movements of commercial and non-commercials goods between Great Britain and the EU. Both parties’ include similar legislative provisions on the customs procedures governing the temporary admission of goods, which would include musical instruments and professional equipment and reflects practice set out in relevant international conventions, including the ATA and Istanbul Conventions. Where musicians or other professionals move equipment to the EU temporarily, which means they intend to return this equipment to the UK afterwards, there are several options to avoid payment of import duties in the EU and on return to the UK, including via the use of ATA Carnets and the Temporary Admission procedure.

A carnet is not required for musicians with accompanied instruments or equipment (carried or taken with the individual in personal baggage or a vehicle) travelling between Great Britain and The EU.

The management of EU import and export procedures is the responsibility of the customs authorities of the Member States. It is important that businesses and individuals confirm the processes in advance of their journey.

We are working urgently across government and in collaboration with the music and wider creative industries, including through the touring working group, to help address these issues so that touring in Europe can resume with ease as soon as it is safe to do so.

Government has prioritised the safe return of sport including team sports, contact combat sports and organised sports participation events. Organised outdoor sport, such as Parkrun, is exempt from legal gathering limits and can take place with any number of participants, as long as undertaken in line with published COVID-secure guidance. As such, Parkrun has been able to take place since 29 March as part of Step 1 of the government’s response to the Covid-19 Roadmap.

We are aware of issues at local levels around this, which is why I met with ParkRun on the 21 March to discuss the issues regarding their return. I am committed to supporting them to return as soon as possible.

The AQUIND subsea interconnector project is in the early planning stage. DCMS works with industry to manage the development of the UK’s submarine cable network including assessing and mitigating the physical, personnel, and cyber risks involved.

Indoor and outdoor performance events with a socially distanced audience are permitted from Step 3 of the Government’s Roadmap (not before 17 May). Busking is permitted from Step 3.

Busking may involve attendees converging on and congregating in a site for a specific performance or activity, and may risk audiences gathering in an uncontrolled environment.

We will continue to work with stakeholders on reopening the live music sector, in line with the timetable set out in the Roadmap.

The Government’s Film & TV Production Restart Scheme was launched on 16 October 2020 to provide support for production companies across the UK who would otherwise have been unable to film due to the lack of insurance covering covid-related risks.

There are now over 200 production companies registered to receive support from the scheme in the event of delay or disruption due to coronavirus. This means that the scheme is protecting over 22,000 jobs and over £780 million of production spend in the UK.

So far, over 50 claims have been made and these are being assessed. The scheme has now paid out on the initial claims.

Football clubs at all levels make a significant contribution to their local communities. National League clubs have demonstrated this more than ever throughout the pandemic, from delivering care packages for the vulnerable through to raising money for front-line charities, they are at the heart of their communities.

The Government therefore confirmed that Steps 3-6 of the National League System will receive up to £10 million of grant support from the Sports Winter Survival Package. This is being distributed at pace by the Football Foundation. This funding is designed to protect the immediate future of approximately 850 clubs over the winter period.

We also understand the importance of spectators to these clubs and have shown our commitment to getting fans back into stadia when infection rates are reduced. The Prime Minister is due to set out a roadmap to recovery in the week commencing 22 February.

Football clubs at all levels make a significant contribution to their local communities. National League clubs have demonstrated this more than ever throughout the pandemic, from delivering care packages for the vulnerable through to raising money for front-line charities, they are at the heart of their communities.

The Government therefore confirmed that Steps 3-6 of the National League System will receive up to £10 million of grant support from the Sports Winter Survival Package. This is being distributed at pace by the Football Foundation. This funding is designed to protect the immediate future of approximately 850 clubs over the winter period.

We also understand the importance of spectators to these clubs and have shown our commitment to getting fans back into stadia when infection rates are reduced. The Prime Minister is due to set out a roadmap to recovery in the week commencing 22 February.

On 27th January 2021, the government confirmed that Steps 3-6 of the National League System will receive up to £10 million of grant support from the Sports Winter Survival Package. This is designed to protect the immediate future of approximately 850 clubs over the winter period. This support is being distributed at pace by the Football Foundation and is available with immediate effect.

As set out in the Full Government Response to the Online Harms White Paper Consultation, the Government is developing an Online Media Literacy Strategy which will be published in Spring 2021. The Strategy will explore the existing media literacy landscape and ensure a coordinated and strategic approach to media literacy education for children, young people, and adults.

We have engaged with a broad range of stakeholders throughout the policy development process for the new online safety legislation, including with industry, civil society, academia and parliamentarians. This will continue to inform the scope of the regulatory framework, including categorisation of companies and harms they must address. We will continue to engage with a broad range of stakeholders as we develop online safety legislation.

We have engaged with a broad range of stakeholders throughout the policy development process for the new online safety legislation, including with industry, civil society, academia and parliamentarians. This will continue to inform the scope of the regulatory framework, including categorisation of companies and harms they must address. We will continue to engage with a broad range of stakeholders as we develop online safety legislation.

Local planning authorities are required to publicise certain types of planning applications in local newspapers as set out in Article 15 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.

We are mindful of the potential impact that any changes to the requirements might have on transparency and local democracy, as well as the potential effect on local newspaper revenue. Indeed the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism found that statutory notices, including planning notices, provide an important strand of revenue for many local publishers and that their withdrawal would do serious damage to parts of the sector.

Proposals to reform publicity requirements are being considered through the “Planning for the Future” White Paper which aims to make it simpler, quicker and more accessible for local people to engage with the planning system using digital tools. We recognise the importance of local newspapers to communities and the continued need to reach out to people who cannot digitally access information. MHCLG is considering consultation responses and will publish a response in due course, and the impact on transparency and local democracy, as well as on local newspaper revenue will be considered before any decisions are taken.

The Government recognises the editorial and operational independence of broadcasters but believes the broadcasting sector should reflect and represent all parts of society.

Ofcom, as the UK’s independent TV and radio regulator, sets rules in its Broadcasting Code to ensure broadcasters provide adequate protection to members of the public from the inclusion of harmful and offensive material in programmes. Ofcom can investigate and determine whether a breach of the Code has occurred, for example if the broadcast of negative stereotypes of people with Down’s syndrome is so severe that there is the potential for harm to be caused to viewers.

Racism or any form of discrimination has no place in football or society.

The Government welcomed the launch of the Football Association’s ‘Football Leadership Diversity Code’ to ensure English football better represents our modern and diverse society.

There is still more to do, however, and the Government continues to liaise closely with the football authorities to tackle this issue.

Sports and physical activity providers and facilities are at the heart of our communities, and play a crucial role in supporting adults and children to be active.

Government has provided unprecedented support to businesses through tax reliefs, cash grants and employee wage support, which many sport clubs have benefited from. On 22 October, the Government announced a £100m support fund for local authority leisure centres. In addition, Sport England’s Community Emergency Fund has also provided £210 million directly to support community sport clubs and exercise centres through this pandemic.

We are continuing to work with organisations to understand what they need and how we may be able to support them.

We appreciate the important role that the events and music industries play in the UK’s economy, and that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to these sectors.

We have not made any assessments around the development of a specific job support scheme for the live events supply chain. As you are aware, the Chancellor has announced the Winter Economy Plan to protect jobs and support businesses over the coming months, once the existing Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme come to end. From November, the Jobs Support Scheme will provide further support to returning workers, while the extended Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will aid the self-employed who are currently actively trading but are facing reduced demand.

We are also offering businesses who face a drop in demand for their services and possible cash flow issues generous terms for the repayment of deferred taxes and government-backed loans. We will give all businesses that borrowed under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme the option to repay their loan over a period of up to ten years. This will reduce their average monthly repayments on the loan by almost half. We also intend to allow CBILS lenders to extend the term of a loan up to ten years, providing additional flexibility for UK-based SMEs who may otherwise be unable to repay their loans.

In addition, the Secretary of State announced an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the cultural sector which will benefit the live music sector by providing support to music venues and many other cultural organisations to stay open and continue operating.

We continue to engage with the sector to discuss the on-going challenges facing the industry.

Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. It is vital they are protected.

The Government is focusing its support on those in the sector most in need as a result of the decision not to readmit spectators to stadia from 1 October. We are working through the details and will set that support in due course.

In parallel, we also continue work on the fan-led review of football governance and are currently considering deciding the scope and structure of the review. Whilst any thorough review could not be concluded in advance of consideration of financial need as a result of a delay to the return of fans, I am clear that the governance and financing of football are intrinsically linked, and will have that in mind as both strands progress.

On 22 September it was announced that all sports pilot events currently ongoing would be paused with immediate effect, due to the sharp upward trajectory of Covid-19 cases nationally. A?s set out in our Roadmap, sports events pilots, and the full return of fans to stadia would only ever take place when it was safe to do so.

The Government will continue to work closely with the Sports Ground Safety Authority (SGSA) and a whole range of sports to understand the latest thinking that might allow spectators to return. This includes the creation of a new Sports Technology Innovation Working Group of sporting bodies and health experts to analyse new technologies which might support this.

Football clubs form the bedrock of local communities. It is vital they are protected.

We have worked closely with football throughout the pandemic including getting the Premier League and English Football League back behind closed doors but we have been clear that we expect the game - where it can at the top tiers - to support itself. The Government will then focus our support on those in the sector most in need as a result of the October 1 decision.

We are working through the details and will set that support in the coming days.

We understand from the Premier League that broadcast rights to their matches have been sold around the world, with only five countries not covered as of 17 June - Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea, the Philippines and Turkmenistan.

The guidance published on GOV.UK specifies that ‘charity workers delivering key frontline services’ can be classified as critical workers during the covid-19 outbreak. However, the guidance also states that if children can stay safely at home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.

Local authorities in England have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. It is for individual local authorities to decide how best to provide a public library service that meets local needs within their available resources. The net expenditure on the library service by local authorities in England increased in 2018/19 from 2017/18.

DCMS works across central and local government to encourage investment in libraries to ensure they can continue to support the delivery of local and national priorities and needs. The DCMS funded Libraries Taskforce was established, by DCMS and the Local Government Association, to devise and implement the “Libraries Deliver” strategy which is helping support and reinvigorate the public library service in England. It has worked with sector partners to advocate for libraries and to share and promote good practice to help libraries better serve their communities.

In October 2019 DCMS also announced the £250 million Cultural Investment Fund, of which over £125 million will be invested in regional museums and libraries over five years from 2020/21. The funds will be used to upgrade buildings and technology so public libraries across England are better placed to respond to the changing ways people are using them.

The number of places and trainees changes each year. The table below shows the number of initial teacher training (ITT) providers and total new entrants to ITT over the past four years.

179 providers have been accredited to deliver reformed ITT from September 2024, following an accreditation process designed to drive up the quality and consistency of ITT leading to Qualified Teacher Status. This number includes 155 existing ITT providers. Together, these providers will cover all regions of the country. Where appropriate, the Department is encouraging accredited providers to consider partnering with those who were unsuccessful in gaining accreditation to bring together high-quality provision with local expertise, connections and experience.

The Department will continue to monitor the availability of provision across England to ensure that the ITT market is ready and able to deliver teacher training programmes in every part of the country from September 2024.

I continue to work closely with the trust and local authority to ensure all pupils at Sir Frederick Gibberd College receive an excellent education in a safe and secure environment.

All pupils have returned to face-to-face education, and we are working at pace to deliver long term solutions as soon as possible. I have had regular discussions with the Minister for the School System and Student Finance about the school, and with staff and department officials.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher absences due to sickness, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The Department collects information on teacher absences from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only.

More information on teacher absences is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected. The requested figures for absences by subject taught are not available.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher absences due to sickness, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The Department collects information on teacher absences from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only.

More information on teacher absences is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected. The requested figures for absences by subject taught are not available.

Information on the school workforce in England, including teacher absences due to sickness, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The Department collects information on teacher absences from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only.

More information on teacher absences is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, accessible here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected. The requested figures for absences by subject taught are not available.

Schools and their Responsible Bodies are not obliged to report leaks causing operational issues or temporary closure to the Department. Therefore, the Department does not hold the information requested.

These issues are often dealt with locally and, where applicable, using insurance providers.

Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.

The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.

Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.

Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.

The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.

Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.

Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.

The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.

Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.

Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK.

The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the maintenance of their schools. These responsible bodies may deploy temporary buildings for a wide range of reasons, not all of which will relate to building or refurbishment works. In addition, most building and refurbishment works within education settings do not involve RAAC and will not require the involvement of the Department. The Department does not therefore hold information on the number of schools using temporary classrooms.

Where schools need to vacate buildings due to RAAC, they use a range of different types of accommodation including accommodation on and off site. On site accommodation can include semi rigid structures and temporary classrooms. Where temporary units and structures are required as a result of buildings having been vacated due to the confirmed presence of RAAC, the Department has increased the supply of these, working with three contractors to accelerate the installation of temporary units in particular. The Department has not, therefore, produced central estimates of the number of temporary classrooms required, however, we can confirm that we have secured significant capacity to meet current needs, and can increase this if necessary. Our focus is on working closely with individual settings to make sure they have workable plans for their individual circumstances and context. Based on the experience where RAAC assessed as critical was found, the Department expects the vast majority will be able to continue to provide face to face teaching without any disruption.

This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.

The Department is providing responsible bodies with a range of support to identify RAAC within their estates and ensure that the associated risks are mitigated.

The Department has issued repeated guidance since 2018 to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. Our most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.

There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate being built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.

The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. The Department is pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.

The Department has also published updated guidance to support settings where the presence of RAAC is confirmed. All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-guidance-for-responsible-bodies-and-education-settings-with-confirmed-raac.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates. The published list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.

On the question of timescales, our focus is on supporting schools and colleges to put in place suitable mitigations to minimise disruption to learning. The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

All previously confirmed School Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.

This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.

The Department is providing responsible bodies with a range of support to identify RAAC within their estates and ensure that the associated risks are mitigated.

The Department has issued repeated guidance since 2018 to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. Our most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.

There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate being built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.

The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. The Department is pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.

The Department has also published updated guidance to support settings where the presence of RAAC is confirmed. All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-guidance-for-responsible-bodies-and-education-settings-with-confirmed-raac.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates. The published list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.

On the question of timescales, our focus is on supporting schools and colleges to put in place suitable mitigations to minimise disruption to learning. The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

All previously confirmed School Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.

This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.

The Department is providing responsible bodies with a range of support to identify RAAC within their estates and ensure that the associated risks are mitigated.

The Department has issued repeated guidance since 2018 to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. Our most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.

There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate being built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.

The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. The Department is pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.

The Department has also published updated guidance to support settings where the presence of RAAC is confirmed. All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-guidance-for-responsible-bodies-and-education-settings-with-confirmed-raac.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates. The published list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.

On the question of timescales, our focus is on supporting schools and colleges to put in place suitable mitigations to minimise disruption to learning. The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

All previously confirmed School Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.

This Government has taken more proactive action on RAAC than any other in the UK. Nothing is more important than the safety of children and staff. It has always been the case that where we are made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, the Department takes immediate action. It is the responsibility of those who run schools – academy trusts, Local Authorities, and voluntary aided school bodies – who work with their schools on a day to day basis, to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert us if there is a concern with a building.

The Department is providing responsible bodies with a range of support to identify RAAC within their estates and ensure that the associated risks are mitigated.

The Department has issued repeated guidance since 2018 to all responsible bodies highlighting the potential risks associated with RAAC and supporting them to identify this within their buildings, as well as to take appropriate steps in meeting their obligations to keep buildings safe. Our most recent guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-estates-guidance.

There are over 22,000 schools and colleges in England, and the vast majority are unaffected. A significant proportion of the estate was built outside the period where RAAC was used, with around one third of the estate being built since 2001, therefore, the Department has focused efforts on buildings built in the post-war decades.

The Department issued a questionnaire in March 2022, asking responsible bodies to inform the Department of any suspected RAAC identified in their estates. Responsible bodies have submitted questionnaires for over 98% of schools with blocks built in the target era, of which there are 14,900. The Department is pressing all remaining schools to get checks completed, to determine which schools require surveys.

The Department has also published updated guidance to support settings where the presence of RAAC is confirmed. All schools where RAAC is confirmed are provided with a dedicated caseworker to support them and help implement a mitigation plan and minimise the disruption to children’s learning. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-guidance-for-responsible-bodies-and-education-settings-with-confirmed-raac.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September and committed to providing further updates. The published list is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.

On the question of timescales, our focus is on supporting schools and colleges to put in place suitable mitigations to minimise disruption to learning. The Department will fund emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including installing alternative classroom space where necessary. The Department will also fund longer term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term. Where schools and colleges need additional help with revenue costs, like transport to locations or temporarily renting a local hall or office, the Department will provide that support for all reasonable requests. Longer-term refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects will also be funded where these are needed, to rectify the RAAC issue in the long term.

All previously confirmed School Rebuilding Programme projects announced in 2021 and 2022 will continue to go ahead. A full list of confirmed projects can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.

Departments have been asked to report on the current picture of suspected and confirmed RAAC in their estates as soon as possible. This will be updated on a regular basis as new buildings are identified and surveying and remediation are carried out.

The Government published lists of education settings confirmed as having RAAC on Wednesday 6 September, and committed to providing further updates.

The Minister in the Department for Education who is responsible for school building safety is Baroness Barran.

It is the responsibility of those who run schools - academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies - to manage the safety and maintenance of their schools and to alert the Department if there is a serious concern with a building. It has always been the case that where the Department is made aware of a building that may pose an immediate risk, immediate action is taken.

The Department will spend what it takes to keep children safe. This includes paying for the emergency mitigation work needed to make buildings safe, including alternative classroom space where necessary, and supporting schools with remedial works – this is the Department’s immediate focus. Where schools need additional help with revenue costs like transport to other locations, the Department is actively engaging with every school affected to put appropriate support in place. The Department expects to fund all reasonable revenue costs related to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). It will also fund refurbishment projects, or rebuilding projects where needed, to rectify RAAC for the long term.

The Department is providing funding to improve the condition of the school estate, with over £15 billion allocated since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. This funding is informed by consistent data on the condition of the estate. On top of this, the Department will transform 500 schools through its School Rebuilding Programme, prioritising buildings in the poorest condition and those with evidence of potential safety issues.

Local authorities, larger multi academy trusts and larger voluntary aided school bodies are eligible to receive an annual School Condition Allocation (SCA) for maintaining and improving the condition of the schools for which they are responsible. Small and standalone academy trusts, small voluntary aided school bodies and sixth-form colleges are instead able to bid into the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) each year for specific capital projects to improve the condition of their buildings. Further details are available at the following address: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund. Schools also receive Devolved Formula Capital (DFC) each year to spend on small capital projects or contribute to larger projects. As part of the overall condition funding allocated, the Department has provided one off allocations in some years. This includes £560 million in 2020/21 allocated through SCA and CIF, as well as £447 million allocated in 2022/23 to improve buildings prioritising energy efficiency.

Details of SCA and DFC, as well as overall funding for the Condition Improvement Fund, for the current financial year are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-capital-funding#funding-allocations-for-the-2022-to-2023-financial-year; and for previous years, including one off allocations, at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/*/https:/www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations.

The figures do not include capital funding for the Department’s rebuilding programmes, which are delivering rebuilt and refurbished school buildings across the country.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This is the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The requested figures for teachers joining and leaving service by parliamentary constituency are not available.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This is the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The requested figures for teachers joining and leaving service by parliamentary constituency are not available.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This is the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The requested figures for teachers joining and leaving service by parliamentary constituency are not available.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Secondary schools are responsible for making sure their pupils receive independent careers guidance. The Department’s statutory guidance is clear that every pupil should have opportunities for personal guidance interviews with a qualified careers adviser whenever significant study or career choices are being made. The Government’s expectation is that every pupil should have at least one such interview by the age of 16, and the opportunity for a further interview by the age of 18.

The figures in the school workforce census do not represent the total number of careers advisers, since many schools and colleges commission the services of an external, qualified careers professional. Schools are encouraged to search for qualified careers practitioners in their area on the UK Register of Career Development Professionals. As of May 2022, there were approximately 1,800 careers professionals on the register.

The Careers & Enterprise Company also connects schools and colleges with employers to provide meaningful encounters with the world of work for young people. One way they do this is through their Enterprise Adviser Network, which is an integral part of the Careers Hub Network. Enterprise Advisers commit around one day per month to work with individual schools or colleges to help unlock relationships with other local businesses and provide strategic guidance to develop their careers plan.

In addition to the careers advice offered through their school or college, pupils can also access careers information, advice and guidance through the National Careers Service, which is accessible for those aged 13 and over. Pupils can access web chat and one to one guidance via the phone service.

Information on the state funded school workforce in England, including the number of staff and subjects taught, is published in the annual ‘School workforce in England’ national statistics release, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The requested information on mental health professionals working in schools is not collected centrally.

The department collects information on staff working in state funded schools via the annual School Workforce Census but does not directly identify mental health professionals. The results are published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release, accessible at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The mental health of children and young people is a government priority. To expand access to early mental health support, the department is working with NHS England to increase the number of Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) working with schools and colleges. These teams include trained professionals who can offer support to children experiencing common mental health problems and liaise with external specialist services to help pupils get the right support. As of April 2023, MHSTs covered 35% of pupils in schools and learners in further education in England. A further 100 teams are expected to be operational by April 2024, when MHSTs will cover an estimated 44% of pupils and learners.

The Department recognises that technology, when used appropriately, including artificial intelligence (AI), has the potential to reduce workload. The Department wants to capitalise on the opportunities it presents for education as well as addressing the risks and challenges.

On 29 March 2023, the Department published a position statement on the use of generative AI in education following open access to tools such as ChatGPT, Google Bard and others, recognising that these tools are already being used in education. The Department ran a call for evidence to gather the experiences and expertise across education, to support continued evidence generation and identify where further work is required. The call for evidence closed on 23 August 2023 and the findings will be published in November 2023.

The Department is commissioning a project to better understand and test possible uses for generative AI in education, based on responses to the call for evidence to explore, for example, whether it can be used for marking and feedback. This project will help us to build a robust evidence base to inform future policy and to further explore the opportunities this technology presents. It will involve AI experts and educators. The Department intends to publish the findings of this project in Spring 2024.

The data in the attached table provided covers A levels entered by pupils aged 16 to 18 in state funded schools and colleges in England for each academic year since 2018/19. Figures are broken down by each Government Office Region and by subject. The proportion achieving grades A* to E and U within each is shown.

The number of A level awards and grades, and the proportion awarded at grade A* to E is published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release. The proportion awarded grade U in each subject was calculated by dividing those numbers by the total number of A level entries in that subject.

Due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer examination series was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. Alternative processes were set up to award grades. A level examinations returned in 2022 and adaptations were made, such as providing advance information. The approach to grading for 2022 examinations broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.

National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) provide teachers and head teachers with access to high quality professional development

A total of 63,454 teachers and head teachers have started a fully funded NPQ since the reformed suite of NPQs was introduced in autumn 2021. This equates to around 11% of the school workforce having started an NPQ in two academic years.

NPQ take up increased by 20% from the 2021/22 academic year to the 2022/23 academic year, significantly increasing the number of teachers and head teachers engaging in high quality evidence based continuing professional development. The latest publication on NPQ take up is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/teacher-and-leader-development-ecf-and-npqs-2022.

Emerging findings, reported by current NPQ participants, suggest the courses are having a positive effect on classroom practice and school wide strategies. The emerging findings are available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1131108/Emerging_findings_from_the_evaluation_of_National_Professional_Qualifications_Interim_report_1.pdf.

This information can be found in the attached file, alongside accompanying footnotes including information on the comparability of data during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This data covers attainment in state funded schools in the 2018/19 to 2021/22 academic years. The data is based on the number of entries for each subject, as opposed to the specific number of pupils although due to discounting rules, these tend to be very similar.

The number and proportion of students in receipt of T Level results and grades for 2021/22 (revised data) and 2022/23 (provisional data) are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/cc5ab632-b444-4218-cdff-08db9969b0eb.

The Department is implementing a comprehensive strategy to tackle absenteeism among pupils in school. This includes publishing new guidance in September 2022. The guidance is for all school and academy trust staff, including head teachers and governors, in addition to Local Authority attendance staff and local partners. The guidance can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf.

The guidance includes the expectation that schools work with Local Authority attendance staff and local partners to monitor attendance patterns to identify problems early and facilitate targeted, multi agency support where needed. This is intended to improve the consistency of support offered to pupils and families. To help schools track attendance trends the Department has developed a pupil attendance data tool for schools, trusts, and Local Authorities.

Following publication of the new guidance, the Department worked with high performing schools, trusts and Local Authorities to run a series of effective training webinars to embed good practice and improve attendance. The Department will continue to make support available for all schools and their headteachers in the form of good practice sharing and case studies.

The Department recently published additional guidance on supporting attendance where mental health and wellbeing is a barrier, including examples of effective practice and support, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-issues-affecting-a-pupils-attendance-guidance-for-schools.

The number of A levels entered by students aged 16-18 in England, and the grades awarded since the 2018/19 academic year are set out in the following table:

The number of A level awards and grades is published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release. The proportions are calculated as those numbers divided by total A level entries.

Due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer examination series was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. Alternative processes were set up to award grades (Centre Assessment Grades in 2020, Teacher Assessed Grades in 2021). A level examinations returned in 2022 and adaptations were made, such as providing advance information. The approach to grading for 2022 examinations broadly reflected a midpoint between results in 2019 and 2021.

Examinations and assessments for AS level, A level and vocational and technical qualifications returned to pre-pandemic arrangements in 2023. Ofqual set out that grading will include an allowance for disruption so that overall results will be similar to those of 2019. So where national performance is found to be lower than it was prior to the pandemic, senior examiners will make allowances when setting grade boundaries.

Funding for the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) has been agreed and announced. Details have been published and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-investment-areas/local-needs-fund.

The Local Needs Fund is providing up to £42 million in PEIAs to fund bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. Where poor attendance has been identified as a key factor in an area, initiatives will be funded to address this. Because the mix of initiatives funded in each area reflects local need, the funding allocated to attendance projects will vary. Some projects have begun, and the remainder will commence during the rest of the calendar year. The Department will publish further details of the funding allocations for different initiatives once all the necessary grant agreements are in place.

Alongside area initiatives funded through the Local Needs Fund, PEIAs are also benefitting from the Department’s wider strategy for improving attendance. The Department has published guidance setting out how it expects schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.

The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role, working closely with Local Authorities and some multi academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve. Every Local Authority in a PEIA has been prioritised for this support.

Earlier this academic year, the Department launched a £2.32 million attendance mentoring pilot to deliver intensive one to one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years and will support a total of 1,665 pupils in five PEIAs (Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent and Salford) with significant absence challenges. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.

The Department has also established an alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence. Several PEIAs are piloting similar local alliances to share best practice and address specific area wide challenges.

The safety of pupils and staff is vital. It is the responsibility of those who run schools, including Academy Trusts, Local Authorities and Voluntary Aided School Bodies, to manage the maintenance of their schools and alert the Department if there is a concern with a building. Local Authorities and Academy Trusts do not need to report to the Department if they are operating from temporary buildings, but the Department provides support on a case by case basis as necessary. This includes when schools have closed part or all of the site for a period of time. In most cases this is for a number of days as opposed to a longer closure. The number of schools this has applied to is changing regularly with ongoing activity to mitigate the effect, including minimising any short term influence on education. Where the Department is aware of the use of temporary buildings it works with responsible bodies to understand the effect of this, including costs.

The Department uses temporary buildings on school sites for short periods of time in centrally delivered school building programmes, and this is planned carefully to ensure disruption to education is minimised.

The Department provides support to schools and responsible bodies and has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational. This includes £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the Department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition.

The safety of pupils and staff is vital. It is the responsibility of those who run schools, including Academy Trusts, Local Authorities and Voluntary Aided School Bodies, to manage the maintenance of their schools and alert the Department if there is a concern with a building. Local Authorities and Academy Trusts do not need to report to the Department if they are operating from temporary buildings, but the Department provides support on a case by case basis as necessary. This includes when schools have closed part or all of the site for a period of time. In most cases this is for a number of days as opposed to a longer closure. The number of schools this has applied to is changing regularly with ongoing activity to mitigate the effect, including minimising any short term influence on education. Where the Department is aware of the use of temporary buildings it works with responsible bodies to understand the effect of this, including costs.

The Department uses temporary buildings on school sites for short periods of time in centrally delivered school building programmes, and this is planned carefully to ensure disruption to education is minimised.

The Department provides support to schools and responsible bodies and has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 to keep schools safe and operational. This includes £1.8 billion committed this financial year, informed by consistent data on the school estate. In addition, the Department’s School Rebuilding Programme will transform 500 schools over the next decade, prioritising schools in poor condition.

The Department’s expenditure is published each year in the Annual Report and Accounts and is available on GOV.UK.

The Government has accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) recommendations for 2023/24 Teacher Pay Awards in full. This means that teachers and head teachers in maintained schools will receive an increase of at least 6.5%, the highest STRB award in three decades. The Department will be providing an additional £525 million of funding in the 2023/24 financial year, and £900 million in 2024/25, and as the unions have agreed, this means that the award is properly funded.

Although the Department will have to make difficult decisions, all frontline services will be protected. Funding for early years, SEND, school conditions and core school and college budgets are fully protected. To help fund the pay award, the Secretary of State has secured exceptional permission from the Treasury to keep money where there have been or will be underspends, which in normal years would have to be returned to Treasury.

The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all pupils and has provided significant funding to achieve that.

The National Funding Formula (NFF) allocates funding to Local Authorities on a financial year basis. Through the 2022/23 schools NFF, Local Authorities were notionally allocated £40.1 billion in funding. This included funding for both academies and maintained mainstream schools. Out of this £40.1 billion, £22.8 billion was allocated by reference to academies. In making allocations, the NFF does not distinguish between academies and maintained schools, and the proportion of the total funding allocated by reference to academies was therefore determined by the number and characteristics of the pupils who attend academies.

Alongside the schools NFF, Local Authorities were also allocated £9 billion for high needs. Local Authorities use their high needs funding to provide the costs of special schools, both academy and maintained special schools, and the costs of special educational needs top up funding to mainstream schools, both academy and maintained.

The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all pupils and has provided significant funding to achieve that.

The National Funding Formula (NFF) allocates funding to Local Authorities on a financial year basis. Through the 2022/23 schools NFF, Local Authorities were notionally allocated £40.1 billion in funding. This included funding for both academies and maintained mainstream schools. Out of this £40.1 billion, £22.8 billion was allocated by reference to academies. In making allocations, the NFF does not distinguish between academies and maintained schools, and the proportion of the total funding allocated by reference to academies was therefore determined by the number and characteristics of the pupils who attend academies.

Alongside the schools NFF, Local Authorities were also allocated £9 billion for high needs. Local Authorities use their high needs funding to provide the costs of special schools, both academy and maintained special schools, and the costs of special educational needs top up funding to mainstream schools, both academy and maintained.

The Department’s review of time in schools found that the average mainstream school day is 6 hours and 30 minutes, which equates to a 32.5 hour week. This data draws on the COVID-19 school snapshot panel findings from a survey conducted in July 2021.The review can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-time-in-school-and-16-to-19-settings.

Spoken language is a key part of the knowledge rich curriculum and is taught from early years to GCSE level. The Department recognises the importance of spoken language which is already part of the English National Curriculum. The GCSE English Language qualification ensures that pupils are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken standard English effectively.

The Department is also providing up to £17 million of funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention to improve the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of three and four year olds. This will be delivered through the new family hubs network.

On 11 July 2023, the Department published the updated Reading Framework which outlines how vitally important talking is to reading and how teachers can support all pupils to express their ideas confidently. The £60 million English Hubs Programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousand schools.

Portsmouth’s local English Hub, Springhill English Hub, is working hard to engage and support primary schools across Portsmouth to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for Portsmouth schools. The Hub has supported four schools in the city, with another six expected to become partner schools in September 2023.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Information for entrants by age, type and academic year is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/295abd8b-e85d-478f-1bad-08db839d58e2.

The table attached provides the latest data for academic years 2010/11 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded school, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided. Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

I refer the hon. Member for Portsmouth South to the answer of 9 February 2023 to Question 121149.

The parent pledge set out the commitment that any child who falls behind in English or mathematics will receive targeted and evidence based support to help them catch up.

The Department will continue to focus on supporting all pupils to recover from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through multi year recovery funding of almost £5 billion, including the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) and the Recovery Premium. Since the NTP began in November 2020, over 3 million courses have started to support pupils who have fallen behind to catch up. The Department has also provided £1 billion to extend recovery premium funding for a further two academic years in 2022/23 and 2023/24 so that schools can deliver evidence based interventions based on pupil need.

More broadly, the pledge to support children to catch up is underpinned by ensuring high quality teaching and a strong curriculum. In September 2022, the Department established Oak National Academy as an Arm’s Length Body to provide high quality, adaptable and optional support, reducing workload for teachers and enabling pupils to access a high quality curriculum. As part of our teacher development reforms, the Department also introduced a fully funded new suite of National Professional Qualifications based on the best available research and evidence.

The Department continues to fund schools to further improve outcomes for all pupils. Overall, the core schools’ budget is rising by over £3.9 billion this year alone, compared to the 2022/23 financial year, on top of a £4 billion cash increase last year. That’s a 16% increase in just two years. Next year, school funding will be more than £59.6 billion, which is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil.

The Department welcomes the work that many schools are doing to strengthen parental engagement, for example through Parent Teacher Associations, to actively involve parents in supporting their child’s education.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. This information by gender is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7b82526d-9d49-4c9b-c47f-08db81eb944a.

Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

The requested figures for leavers by subject taught are not available.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks, such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

The Department collects information on teacher absence from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only. This information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. This information by gender is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7b82526d-9d49-4c9b-c47f-08db81eb944a.

Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

The requested figures for leavers by subject taught are not available.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks, such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

The Department collects information on teacher absence from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only. This information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. This information by gender is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7b82526d-9d49-4c9b-c47f-08db81eb944a.

Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

The requested figures for leavers by subject taught are not available.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks, such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

The Department collects information on teacher absence from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only. This information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected.

The ‘Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders’ longitudinal study explores the experiences of teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders working in schools in England. The study covers a range of areas including workload, school culture and leadership, career reflections and future ambitions.

The report, published in April 2023, summarised findings from wave 1 of the study, which was carried out in spring 2022. Although this research report does not make any recommendations, the Department will use the findings as part of its broader research programme on the teaching workforce to design policies that better support teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders.

The Department continues to take steps to support teachers with reforms aimed at increasing teacher recruitment in key subjects and areas, through an attractive pay offer and financial incentives such as bursaries, and also at ensuring teachers stay and succeed in the profession.

On 13 July 2023, the Department announced that it is accepting the School Teachers Review Body’s recommendations in full for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and headteachers, which means that teachers and headteachers in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over 30 years. This comes on top of the record pay rise in 2022/23 of 5.4% on average, meaning that over two years teacher pay is increasing by more than 12% on average. This award also delivers the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country, with a pay award of up to 7.1% for new teachers outside London.

To support teacher retention, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the School Workload Reduction Toolkit and the education Staff Wellbeing Charter. More than 2,700 schools and colleges have signed up to the Charter, which has been downloaded over 30,000 times.

Building on a successful pilot, the Department is providing over £1.1 million to provide professional supervision and counselling to school and college leaders. Over 1,000 headteachers have benefitted from the support so far. On 12 June 2023, the Department announced the expansion of the programme, doubling places this year, so that more headteachers can have access to this valuable support.

To build knowledge and expertise, novice teachers need to progressively deepen their understanding of a range of concepts and, crucially, be able to connect and apply this knowledge to their practice in any context or situation. This determines the influence a teacher can have on the pupils with whom they work.

The Core Content Framework (CCF) provides the foundation for this and by the end of Initial Teacher Training (ITT), teachers will be familiar with concepts related to teaching and will have started to apply them in their practice. Acquiring knowledge takes time, and familiarity is not the same as long term experience, which allows teachers to do this thoughtfully across a range of contexts. The Early Career Framework (ECF) intentionally returns to these concepts to develop and deepen teachers’ knowledge and expertise and enable them to become more expert practitioners over the first two years of their career.

The Department has committed to reviewing the CCF and ECF alongside each other. Building on the first few years of ECF delivery, there is a plan to review and revise the CCF and ECF into more closely combined frameworks which cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career and articulates what trainee and new teachers need to know and need to know how to do.

This revised CCF and ECF will underpin a joined up sequence of training and development over at least the first three years of new teachers’ careers to support them at the start of their new career. The Department aims to ensure that what new teachers study across these early years of their career delivers continuous, coherent and complementary knowledge for all trainees and new teachers and provides the confidence and expertise for a lifelong career in teaching.

The Department does not limit the number of trainees that lead partners of accredited Initial Teacher Training providers can recruit. Lead partners work closely with their accredited provider to determine their course capacity, ensuring they have enough placement schools to support the trainees they recruit.

Ahead of the delivery of reformed Initial Teacher Training (ITT) from September 2024, the Department is working closely with accredited ITT providers to facilitate partnerships, to help them build their capacity to cover areas that require greater provision.

The Department is encouraging accredited providers to partner with those who were unsuccessful in gaining accreditation, as this will bring together high quality provision with local expertise, connections and experience.

In December 2022, the Department published ITT Partnership guidance which contains detailed information on how accredited providers can work with unaccredited organisations to form strong partnerships. This work is also supported by the Department’s dedicated Provider Relationship Managers.

Accredited providers were also able to apply for a grant of up to £20,000 to develop partnerships to deliver ITT provision in target regions of historically low provision.

The Department is reviewing the readiness of accredited providers’ partnerships for 2024 delivery through the Stage 2 process. In this stage, ITT experts, who have experience of ITT delivery and a thorough understanding of the ITT reforms, review partnership arrangements and provide additional support to providers and their delivery partners.

The Department’s priority is to ensure that the new standards and expectations will continue to be met by all institutions delivering ITT within a partnership.

Ensuring teaching is an attractive profession in which teachers are supported to succeed is a key priority for the Department.

Flexible working is increasingly a normal expectation of employees, and teaching is no different. The opportunity to work flexibly can help to recruit and retain talented teachers, enabling the high quality teaching needed to support pupil outcomes.

The Department is taking action to expand and promote opportunities for flexible working, whilst maintaining the quality of education. This includes promoting formal flexible working arrangements, such as part time working and encouraging informal flexibility, such as agreed ad hoc days off for personal or family days. It also includes opportunity to spend planning, preparation and assessment time working remotely, away from the school building.

To promote flexible working practices, the Department has published supportive resources on GOV.UK, including non-statutory guidance and case studies. The Department is continuing to build on this collection.

The Department is also funding support. In February 2023, a culture change programme was launched, focused on embedding flexible working in schools and multi academy trusts. This programme includes the delivery of supportive webinars. As part of this package of support, the Department is funding flexible working ambassador schools and multi academy trusts to provide bespoke peer support to leaders in education. In June 2023, the Department appointed seven new ambassadors and is currently in the process of recruiting more, building on the work of a previous cohort of ambassador schools.

Helping pupils recover from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the Department’s main priorities.

The Department is committed to ensuring all schools are calm, safe and supportive learning environments that promote and support mental health and wellbeing. The Department is offering schools and colleges funding to train a senior mental health lead who can put in place an effective whole school or college approach to mental health and wellbeing. Over 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a training grant, including more than 7 in 10 state funded secondary schools.

As of September 2020, the health education curriculum has a strong focus on mental wellbeing. Pupils are taught the links between physical and mental health, how to recognise and talk openly regarding their emotions, and how and where to seek support if they are concerned for their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing.

When a pupil is struggling with their mental health, it is vital to intervene early. That is why the Department is working with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to continue the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams across schools and colleges. These teams currently cover 35% of pupils in schools and further education and will increase to an estimated 44% of pupils by April 2024.

Raising attainment for all pupils is at the heart of this Government’s agenda. The Department is committed to helping every pupil to fulfil their potential by ensuring they receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

The Government is committed to providing a world class education system for all children and has invested significantly in education to achieve that. Overall, the core schools budget is rising by over £3.9 billion this year alone, compared to the 2022/23 financial year. This is on top of a £4 billion cash increase last year, a 16% increase in just two years. School funding in 2024/25 will be more than £59.6 billion, the highest ever level in real terms per pupil.

This funding will enable headteachers to continue to spend in the areas that we know positively affect educational attainment, including high quality teaching and targeted support to the pupils who need it most.

Also, the Department’s multi year recovery funding which made available almost £5 billion continues to be delivered, and much of the extra recovery funding the Department has made available, for instance in staff development, will have benefits for years to come.

The Department is continuing to deliver the proposals set out in the Schools White Paper, which aim to improve outcomes for all pupils, with specific focus on raising attainment for disadvantaged pupils.

Schools continue to receive the Pupil Premium to enable them to provide extra support and so improve disadvantaged pupils’ academic and personal achievements. Pupil Premium rates will increase by 5% for 2023/24, taking total Pupil Premium funding to £2.9 billion.

The Department is funding 55 Education Investment Areas (EIA), of which 24 are Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIA). In each of the 24 PEIAs, the Department will also make more intensive investment on top of the significant support available in EIAs, including a share of up to £42 million through the Local Needs Fund to address specific local barriers through bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. PEIAs are also benefiting from having enhanced or priority access to a number of other programmes offered by the Department, including Maths Hubs and Connect the Classroom.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.

The table attached provides the latest data for the academic years 2019/20 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded schools, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession.

The Get Into Teaching service helps make teaching a career of choice and supports candidates to apply for teacher training. Prospective trainees can access support and advice through expert one to one teacher training advisers, a contact centre and a national programme of events. The teaching marketing campaign provides inspiration and support to explore a career in teaching and directs people to the Get Into Teaching service: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/.

The Department announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing. Additionally, for 2022/23, the Department raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000.

The Department provides a levelling up premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.

The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development for all new teachers, underpinned by the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-core-content-framework and the Early Career Framework available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-career-framework. Together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.

To support retention in the sector, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the workload reduction toolkit available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit and the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. More than 2,700 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.

Funding for the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) has been agreed and announced. Details have been published and can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-investment-areas/local-needs-fund.

The Local Needs Fund is providing up to £42 million in PEIAs to fund bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. Where poor attendance has been identified as a key factor in an area, initiatives will be funded to address this. Because the mix of initiatives funded in each area reflects local need, the funding allocated to attendance projects will vary. Some projects have begun, and the remainder will commence during the rest of the calendar year. The Department will publish further details of the funding allocations for different initiatives once all the necessary grant agreements are in place.

Alongside area initiatives funded through the Local Needs Fund, PEIAs are also benefitting from the Department’s wider strategy for improving attendance. The Department has published guidance setting out how we expect schools, trusts and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance: https://viewyourdata.education.gov.uk/.

The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role working closely with local authorities and some multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve. Every local authority in a PEIA has been prioritised for this support.

Earlier this academic year, the Department launched a £2.32 million attendance mentoring pilot to deliver intensive one-to-one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years and will support a total of 1,665 pupils in five PEIAs (Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent and Salford) with significant absence challenges. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.

The Department has also established an Alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence. Several PEIAs are piloting similar local Alliances to share best practice and address specific area-wide challenges.

Funding for the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) has been agreed and announced. Details have been published and can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-investment-areas/local-needs-fund.

The Local Needs Fund is providing up to £42 million in PEIAs to fund bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. Where poor attendance has been identified as a key factor in an area, initiatives will be funded to address this. Because the mix of initiatives funded in each area reflects local need, the funding allocated to attendance projects will vary. Some projects have begun, and the remainder will commence during the rest of the calendar year. The Department will publish further details of the funding allocations for different initiatives once all the necessary grant agreements are in place.

Alongside area initiatives funded through the Local Needs Fund, PEIAs are also benefitting from the Department’s wider strategy for improving attendance. The Department has published guidance setting out how we expect schools, trusts and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance: https://viewyourdata.education.gov.uk/.

The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role working closely with local authorities and some multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve. Every local authority in a PEIA has been prioritised for this support.

Earlier this academic year, the Department launched a £2.32 million attendance mentoring pilot to deliver intensive one-to-one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years and will support a total of 1,665 pupils in five PEIAs (Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent and Salford) with significant absence challenges. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.

The Department has also established an Alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence. Several PEIAs are piloting similar local Alliances to share best practice and address specific area-wide challenges.

Funding for the 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) has been agreed and announced. Details have been published and can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-investment-areas/local-needs-fund.

The Local Needs Fund is providing up to £42 million in PEIAs to fund bespoke interventions to improve attainment at Key Stages 2 and 4. Where poor attendance has been identified as a key factor in an area, initiatives will be funded to address this. Because the mix of initiatives funded in each area reflects local need, the funding allocated to attendance projects will vary. Some projects have begun, and the remainder will commence during the rest of the calendar year. The Department will publish further details of the funding allocations for different initiatives once all the necessary grant agreements are in place.

Alongside area initiatives funded through the Local Needs Fund, PEIAs are also benefitting from the Department’s wider strategy for improving attendance. The Department has published guidance setting out how we expect schools, trusts and Local Authorities to work together to improve attendance: https://viewyourdata.education.gov.uk/.

The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role working closely with local authorities and some multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve. Every local authority in a PEIA has been prioritised for this support.

Earlier this academic year, the Department launched a £2.32 million attendance mentoring pilot to deliver intensive one-to-one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years and will support a total of 1,665 pupils in five PEIAs (Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Doncaster, Stoke-on-Trent and Salford) with significant absence challenges. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.

The Department has also established an Alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence. Several PEIAs are piloting similar local Alliances to share best practice and address specific area-wide challenges.

The Government’s education policy reforms in England have given schools the freedom to make staffing decisions that meet their circumstances. This means schools, academies and Local Authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their workforces, including supply teachers, including whether to use supply agencies.

In August 2018, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, the Department launched the agency supply deal. The deal supports schools with getting value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary staff.

The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which:

• Will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge.
• Will agree to not charge finder’s fees for workers who have been in post for 12 weeks, when four weeks’ notice is given.
• Will conduct consistent, rigorous background screening checks in line with our statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education.
• Will be accredited by an approved accreditation body, that will audit suppliers for compliance with robust recruitment principles and the terms of the framework.

Details of the deal can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.

Education is a devolved matter, meaning the devolved administrations set their own policy on supply teacher pay and conditions.

The Department releases information from the School Census which relates to absence rates by reason for the 2021/22 academic year. This is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england/2021-22.

School Census data covering the 2022/23 academic year is expected to be published in March 2024. The Department has released absence rates for the autumn term of 2022/23, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.

The Department also publishes experimental statistics on attendance data for the 2022/23 academic year to date. This is derived from regular attendance data automatically submitted to the Department by participating schools. These statistics are regularly updated. Due to the timeliness of the data and that they are based on a subset of schools, the figures are estimates that are expected to change as registers are adjusted. The data should be viewed as an early indicator for the more detailed but less regular National Statistics on pupil absence. The data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-attendance-in-schools.

The data includes reason for absence. Absence rates by reason, since the week commencing 12 September 2022 to 16 June 2023 are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/28d62a70-df15-4171-8b3c-08db7860a436.

New school buildings delivered by the Department must meet the standards set in the school Output Specification Generic Design Brief. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-requirements-part-b-generic-design-brief. The guidance requires that people with disabilities, including those with a visual or hearing impairment, should not be placed at a disadvantage by the design of the buildings or grounds.

The Generic Design Brief requires that pre- and post-completion testing should be carried out in accordance with the ‘ANC Good Practice Guide for the Acoustic Testing of Schools’ published by the Association of Noise Consultants.

The Department also produces guidance specifically on acoustics which can be found in Building Bulletin 93: Acoustic Design for Schools (BB93). BB93 sets out minimum performance standards for the acoustics of school buildings and describes the normal means of demonstrating compliance with the Building Regulations. More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bb93-acoustic-design-of-schools-performance-standards.

The Department does not collect data on how many new school buildings built since 2019 meet the acoustic classroom standards recommended by the British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The Department has announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting initial teacher training in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth £27,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to teach mathematics. A Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free is also available for mathematics, as well as physics, chemistry and computing, teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas (EIAs).

The Department has also raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Government’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract talented people to teaching.

To support retention, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the School Workload Reduction Toolkit and the education Staff Wellbeing Charter. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit, and: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. More than 2,700 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.

The Department is launching a new fully funded mathematics National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for those leading mathematics teaching in primary schools. The Department will work with NPQ providers to make this available to primary schools from February 2024. Alongside this, an updated Targeted Support Fund will be offered for the 2023/24 academic year, providing additional funding to incentivise primary school teachers and leaders, including in the smallest schools.

The Department is providing funding to support and enhance mathematics teaching across the country. Reform of the mathematics curriculum and examinations system was accompanied by the introduction of a National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, which is now working with a network of 40 maths hubs to help local schools improve the quality of their teaching based on best practice from East Asia. On 17 April, the Secretary of State announced plans to extend the support available from maths hubs from academic year 2023/24. This was accompanied by plans to provide more intensive maths hubs support to schools that need it most.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state-funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

The Department has announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting initial teacher training in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth £27,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £29,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to teach mathematics. A Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free is also available for mathematics, as well as physics, chemistry and computing, teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas (EIAs).

The Department has also raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000 and remains committed to the Government’s ambition of delivering £30,000 starting salaries to attract talented people to teaching.

To support retention, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the School Workload Reduction Toolkit and the education Staff Wellbeing Charter. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit, and: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. More than 2,700 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.

The Department is launching a new fully funded mathematics National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for those leading mathematics teaching in primary schools. The Department will work with NPQ providers to make this available to primary schools from February 2024. Alongside this, an updated Targeted Support Fund will be offered for the 2023/24 academic year, providing additional funding to incentivise primary school teachers and leaders, including in the smallest schools.

The Department is providing funding to support and enhance mathematics teaching across the country. Reform of the mathematics curriculum and examinations system was accompanied by the introduction of a National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics, which is now working with a network of 40 maths hubs to help local schools improve the quality of their teaching based on best practice from East Asia. On 17 April, the Secretary of State announced plans to extend the support available from maths hubs from academic year 2023/24. This was accompanied by plans to provide more intensive maths hubs support to schools that need it most.

The Department has a comprehensive attendance strategy to improve school attendance.  Recent guidance has been published setting out how schools, trusts and Local Authorities are expected to work together to improve attendance, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance.

The guidance is clear that schools should develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance, have a clear school attendance policy and have effective day to day processes in place to follow up absence. The guidance sets out that schools are expected to use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance, at individual and cohort level, as soon as possible so that all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched.

The Department has employed expert attendance advisers who are playing an important role working closely with Local Authorities and a number of multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and support them to develop plans to improve.

The Department has launched a £2.32 million attendance mentor pilot to deliver intensive one to one support to a group of persistently and severely absent pupils. The pilot will run for three years supporting a total of 1,665 pupils. The findings from this pilot should enable schools, trusts, and Local Authorities to address persistent and severe absence more effectively.

The Secretary of State has also established an Alliance of national leaders from education, children’s social care and other relevant services to work together to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence.

The Department launched new attendance hubs with the Ofsted Outstanding Northern Education Trust. There are now 10 lead schools sharing their effective practice on attendance with up to 600 partner schools, reaching hundreds of thousands of pupils. This is alongside intensive support to Children in Need through Virtual Schools Heads.

Schools and Local Authorities can also use a range of measures to provide support for and/or sanctions against parents when their child’s irregular attendance in school becomes a problem. These measures are used to reinforce parents’ responsibilities and to support them in improving their child’s attendance at school.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England - an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Of the 468,400 FTE teachers in England, 22,400 were in the North East, and 63,200 were in the North West.

The Department has taken action to improve teacher workload, working with teachers and headteachers to understand and address longstanding issues around marking, planning and data management. The Department continues to work proactively with the sector to understand the drivers behind workload and wellbeing issues, and to improve policies and interventions.

The Department is supporting schools to act and remove unhelpful practice that creates unnecessary workload. The School Workload Reduction Toolkit, developed alongside head teachers, is a helpful resource for schools to review and reduce workload. Further information on the workload reduction toolkit can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit.

The Department also worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to create the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which the Department is encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. So far, 2,600 schools have signed up to the Charter. The Charter is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. The age of teachers in England who have left the profession in the academic years 2019/20 to 2021/22 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f886df55-bbc3-4c72-a8a1-08db7862b3a9.

Between 2019/20 and 2022/23, there was an increase of FTE teachers in the North East (from 21,723 to 22,435) and in the North West (from 61,346 to 63,247) over this period.

The table below provides the latest data for academic years 2019/20 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded schools in the North East, North West, and England.

FTE qualified teachers leaving and entering and the leaving and entering rates¹ from state funded schools, by geography as at November 2019 to 2021 is outlined in the table below.

Source: School Workforce Census
^1: Leaving/entering rate is the number of leavers/entrants divided by the total number of qualified teachers in post in November each year

^2: For example, 2022/23 entrants are those who joined service between November 2021 and November 2022

^3: For example, 2021/22 leavers are those who left service between November 2021 and November 2022

^x: 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.

Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.

Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England - an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.

Of the 468,400 FTE teachers in England, 22,400 were in the North East, and 63,200 were in the North West.

The Department has taken action to improve teacher workload, working with teachers and headteachers to understand and address longstanding issues around marking, planning and data management. The Department continues to work proactively with the sector to understand the drivers behind workload and wellbeing issues, and to improve policies and interventions.

The Department is supporting schools to act and remove unhelpful practice that creates unnecessary workload. The School Workload Reduction Toolkit, developed alongside head teachers, is a helpful resource for schools to review and reduce workload. Further information on the workload reduction toolkit can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit.

The Department also worked in partnership with the education sector and mental health experts to create the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which the Department is encouraging schools to sign up to as a shared commitment to promote staff wellbeing. So far, 2,600 schools have signed up to the Charter. The Charter is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter.

Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. The age of teachers in England who have left the profession in the academic years 2019/20 to 2021/22 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f886df55-bbc3-4c72-a8a1-08db7862b3a9.

Between 2019/20 and 2022/23, there was an increase of FTE teachers in the North East (from 21,723 to 22,435) and in the North West (from 61,346 to 63,247) over this period.

The table below provides the latest data for academic years 2019/20 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded schools in the North East, North West, and England.

FTE qualified teachers leaving and entering and the leaving and entering rates¹ from state funded schools, by geography as at November 2019 to 2021 is outlined in the table below.